4th Rnd Victory

Still going strong. I started again with 4 run-outs. It's always a nice way to start. Well I was all the way up to a 8-1 lead when all of a sudden Nick Varner started to make his comeback. I did have a couple unforced errors in the mid-game, but I went ahead 9-4 after Nick missed a relatively easy 9ball combo.

In the end my break wasn't going as smooth as in the beginning and Nick was making the 1ball in the side a lot. Finally at 10-6 he had a dry break and I was able to play two safeties in which the latter one he missed completely. With ball in hand I cruised passed the finish line. Phew!

Tomorrow I play Shawn Putnam at 7pm.

Cheers,

Mika

US.Open under way

It's three rounds into the Open and so far, so good. My game has been getting pretty solid as the rounds go by. I will play the legend Nick Varner in the 4th rnd tonight at 9pm. Last night he edged out Luat in a nail-biter 11-10.

The choice of breaks seems to go down to the Cut-break. Last night I made a ball on every break. Lot of it had to do with the fact that I was racking my own. Which in fact was against the rules. They came and warned us that we can continue now since it was late into the our third round match with Donnie Mills. Next one will be rack for opponent. I beat Donnie 11-8. I had him 10-4 and he made a terrific comeback. I was fortunate he had to push-out at 10-8 because an 8-ball blocked the path to the 1-ball and consequently an easy run-out. I made him shoot again, he made the 1 but got hooked for the 2ball. Then he jumped and missed. I ran out.

I can't expect to get such solid racks in the future. But at least I can always study the racks if anything.

More updates soon...

Mika

5th in the World 10-Ball

For those who did not follow the proceedings online, I finished in the quarterfinals of the Manila 10-Ball event.

I'd say it's not a bad finish, but it still sucks to loose. I was playing on top of my game for quite a few rounds, but in the end
the breaks can still have a mind of their own. You just can't control every single ball on the break, right? This time I lost to the
wonder-kid Chia-Ching, Wu. He had nice lay-outs after the break and he used his opportunities well.s. All in all I missed couple shots like him, but my mistakes-it seemed- ended up costing more than his.

I expected him to go on and win but Darren Appleton bounced back from a bad semi-final performance into a guy that
would deservingly call himself a World Champion. Wu was indeed chasing a title that would have added nicely into his 8-ball
and 9-ball World Championship titles. Magically Wu also won those titles both in 2005 being his first attempt. He was only 16 at the time.
We expect to see a great deal of good play from both players for years to come.

Anyways, I am now in Holland already preparing for the next event which starts tomorrow here in Rotterdam. It's the World Cup of Pool. Doubles play, representing our respective countries.

OK that's it for now. I have to go eat and rest up for tomorrow.


Yours Truly,
Mika