Hohmann wins second world 9 Ball crown, beating Gabica in final
As Filipino hearts are broken, Germany's Thorsten Hohmann gains his second World Pool-Billiard Association World 9 Ball title ten years after his first.
The 34- year old from Fulda, in Germany outsteadied his final opponent, Filipino Antonio Gabica, 13-7 in front of hundreds of Filipino and Qatari fans last Friday in the Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar. Gabica, a native of Lapu-Lapu city in Cebu, has been living in Doha for the past four years and had plenty of support from both segments.
Hohmann earns US$36,000 for his week's efforts while Gabica takes home half that. Hohmann first burst into the world Pool firmament when he won the 2003 World 9 Ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales, defeating Alex Pagulayan in the final.
Gabica was foiled in his bid to join Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Dennis Orcollo, Ronnie Alcano, Alex Pagulayan, and Rubilen Amit in the pantheon of Filipino world champs.
Gabica started hot, taking a 3-0 lead. Hohmann rebounded but the Pinoy was still in in command at 6-4 when the turning point came in the match. The Pinoy jawed a straight-in five ball on a very easy table that would have given him a 7-4 advantage.
Hohmann took his first lead at 7-6 after an illegal break by Gabica. In the world 9 Ball championship three balls must either be pocketed or cross the head string on the break for the break to be legal.
In rack fifteen Gabica stumbled again, bobbling a two ball to allow his opponent to streak ahead 9-6.
Hohmann eventually went 12-6 ahead, seven racks in a row, before permitting Gabica to win a consolation rack. In rack 20, Hohmann fnished him off.
“Everything just worked for me” said a jubilant Hohmann afterwards. “I was in stroke. I came from a big win that meant a lot to me two weeks ago (the world 14.1 Continuous title). I'm really happy in my personal life now. And I thought I could win this from the beginning to the end. I never had a doubt.”
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Filipino fans were hoping for a live streaming of the final, and in fact they were able to see much of the semifinals on the Internet. But a late glitch meant the fans had to content themselves with live scoring updates for the last match.
Hohmann reached the final by defeating another Pinoy, Carlo Biado, 11-4 in the semifinal. The German took out a gauntlet of the world's top players in claiming the championship. In the round-of-32 he eliminated defending champ Darren Appleton of England 11-5 then followed that up with an 11-8 win over Dennis Orcollo. Appleton and Orcollo were ranked one and two in the world heading into the competition.
In the quarters Hohmann dumped yet another Pinoy, Jeff De Luna, 11-7 before vanquishing Biado and Gabica. All in all, Hohmann took out a total of five Filipinos. In the group stage he sent Francisco Bustamante packing in the loser's bracket.
Hohmann is the third German, after Oliver Ortmann and Ralf Souquet, to win the 9 Ball world title.
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The loss for Gabica means the Philippines has now put a finalist in eight of the last ten stagings of this tournament, but has only won three of those championship matches.
The last Pinoy winner was in 2010, when Bustamante defeated Kuo Po Cheng of Chinese Taipei in the final to win his first WPA World Championship.
Gabica reached the final via a stirring 11-6 win over Englishman Karl Boyes in the semifinals. Gabica won the last seven racks to close out the match, a remarkable achievement considering the tournament was played with alternate breaks.
It's nonetheless a successful campaign for the Philippines in this year's event. Thirteen Filipinos reached the round-of 64 last elimination stage out of 128 players. There were also five Pinoys in the last 16. Hopes were high for an all-Filipino final when both Biado and Gabica reached the Final Four but it was not meant to be. Biado wins US$10,000 for his joint-third finish.
Pinoy Pool fans can now train their attention to the World Cup of Pool in England, which lags on September 17. The Scotch Doubles competition run by Matchroom Sport will feature pairs from 31 different nations in a single-elimination format. The Philippines will be represented by Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333. Special thanks to Takao Takayama of onthehill.co.jp and Ted Lerner of the WPA.
