RESULT: RUSSIA 8-3 DENMARK, VIETNAM 3-8 HOLLAND (RACE TO EIGHT, WINNER BREAKS)
RUSSIA, with a combined age of 42 making them the youngest team in the tournament, looked older than their years as they put in an excellent performance to oust Denmark from the 2009 PartyCasino.net World Cup of Pool at the SM Mall North Annex in Manila.
Konstantin Stepanov is 25 and Ruslan Chinakhov is 17 but they controlled the match from start to finish as they restricted Denmark to few chances and converted their own.
Denmark struggled throughout and failed to take their chances as Russia moved quickly into a 5-1 lead. There was no real way back from that for the Danish pair of Kasper Kristoffersen & Bahram Lotfy.
They managed another couple of racks but it was all Russia as they went forward to round two.
"We practice together and we're friends off the table as well and I think that helps in this type of format," said Stepanov after the match.
In the final round one match, Team Holland, wearing very stylish national team shirts, made it 14 out of 16 of the seeded teams into the second round at the expense of former World Cup semi-finalists Vietnam.
Niels Feijen and Nick van den Berg have always been among the favourites in the four years of this competition and they looked very methodical as they kept well ahead of the opposition.
Similar to the earlier game, the classy Dutch moved into a 5-0 lead and in the brutal race-to-eight winner breaks format. A missed 9 ball from Van den Berg let the Viet team of Luong Chi Dung and Nguyen Thanh Nam but there was to be no comeback as the Dutch took the next for 6-1.
Vietnam managed a couple more but it would be Team Holland who would take the second round spot where they would face Japan.
"We started off great, made a couple of errors and had to regain our composure and finish the job which we did," said Feijen.
MINUTE-BY-MINUTE BLOG
5.50pm: Er, no! Nguyen fails with a 2-6 combination and it is effectively the end of the match. Holland hold their nerve to win. FINAL SCORE: VIETNAM 3-8 HOLLAND
5.42pm: Vietnam pull another rack back. Can they make a sensational fightback?
5.37pm: The decisive moment in the ninth rack comes when Feijen pots the 1-ball with a kick shot off the rail but then watches in horror as the cue ball follows it into the hole. Vietnam take ful advantage. 7-2.
5.30pm: Holland run out from the break in the next and are now on the hill, one rack from a meeting with Japan in the next round
5.20pm: A dry break at the start of the seventh gives Holland an opportunity to extend their lead and do so for 6-1.
5.07pm: Van den Berg fires a bank shot on the 1-ball home but leaves Feijen reaching for the jump cue. The Terminator makes it but Van Den Berg missed a shot on the 3-ball. But Luong then leaves it out in the open, although Van Den Berg makes a rare error by missing the 9-ball and Vietnam pull one back.
5.00pm: Holland run out the fifth and look in complete control. 5-0
4.52pm: It is the longest rack of the game and Luong later misses the 2-ball, which Feijen does well to hit coming off the bottom rail and travelling up the table. Holland, playing a number of fine safety shots, eventually take charge and Feijen makes it 4-0
4.47pm: Nguyen misses a gentle kick-shot attempt on the 1-ball into the side pocket before Van den Berg is unlucky with a safety attempt as the 8-ball nudges the cue ball into danger. But Luong misses a 1-4 combination.
4.40pm: Holland lose control of the table with four balls remaining in the third but Nguyen plays safe on the 6-ball. He leaves it near the bottom rail but Van den Berg, who is playing very well, still manages to squeeze it into the corner pocket. That leads to Holland moving further head and now have a 3-0 advantage.
4.37pm: Van den Berg has been left a tricky 9-ball by his team-mate but he cuts it into the pocket and it is 2-0.
4.30pm: Feijen misses the 1-ball at the beginning of the second but both sides become embroiled in a safety battle. Van Den Berg wins it as he leaves the cue ball behind three separate balls. That forces an error from Luong who connects with the target but leaves a tempting long pot on the 1-ball, which Feijen makes.
4.26pm: The Europeans take the opening rack, although both sides had opportunities before Van Den Berg makes it 1-0 to the Dutch.
4.20pm: The second match of this session is between Holland and Vietnam. It's a hard match to call as the Vietnamese duo of Luong Chi Dung and Thanh Nam Nguyen reached the semi-finals in 2006, while Nick Van Den Berg and Niels Feijen will be representing Holland for the fourth year in a row in this tournament. However, considering both are consistently in the top ten in the European rankings, they have under achieved in this tournament and never got past the quarter-finals.
4.03pm: It seems to be the rack neither side wants to win as Stepanov also misses the 4-ball before Lotfy is forced to play safe on the 7-ball. A safety exchange follows but Kristoffersen's effort opens the door to a possible 7-8 carom. Stepanov is successful and that is effectively game over. FINAL SCORE: RUSSIA 8-3 DENMARK
4.00pm: Russia have a chance in the 11th but Chinakhov misses the 1-ball and leaves it near the side pocket. But Lotfy hands the initiative back by failing with a pot on the pink 4.
3.56pm: Chinakhov, breaking for the match, scratches to give Denmark a tournament lifeline. They live to fight for one more rack as they hold their nerve.
3.53pm: Russia move to the hill and Denmark can only sit, wait and hope for another chance. The score now shows 7-2.
3.49pm: Denmark are struggling in this match and not taking their chances. They lose the table in the eighth and Stepanov and Chinakhov are working well together. 6-2.
3.43pm: We see the three-foul rule come into place for the first time. Chinakov scratches off the break, Stepanov makes another foul and Chinakhov then hits the 8-ball and Denmark benefit by winning the rack without really doing too much.
3.37pm: Denmark have an opportunity in the sixth but Kristoffersen misses the 7-ball. That leads to Russia moving further ahead and the scoreboard now shows 5-1 in their favour.
3.28pm: But it is not long before Russia regain control of the table and they are looking good to make the last 16, where the would play Philippines A. 4-1 to Russia.
3.22pm: Chinakhov misses the 1-ball in the fourth in the first error that the Russians have made. Denmark get their first rack of the day and avoid the humiliation of a whitewash, as has already happened to Hong Kong and Belgium in this competition.
3.20pm: The Russians are looking impressive and take the third to move 3-0 ahead.
3.17pm: It is a bright start for the Russians as they quickly storm into a 2-0 lead. Stepanov pots the important 9-ball in the first, while Chinakhov does likewise in the second.
3.16pm: Russia are represented by Konstantin Stepnanov and Ruslan Chinakhov, while Kasper Kristoffersen and Bahram Lotfy make up the Danish side.
3.15pm: The next session begins with a match between 15th seeds Russia and Denmark.
