William upsets world pool champ

William upsets world pool champ

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

William Ipaenen of Indonesia edged out world pool champion
Alex Pagulayan of Canada to chalk up one of many big upsets at
the A Mild Billiard International Open here on Thursday.

The 42-year-old Jakarta-based William pulled out a 9-5 victory
over Pagulayan of Canada at the Paradiso Bowling and Billiard
Center.

Three-time world champion Efren Reyes of the Philippines and
two-time world champion Chao Fong Pang of Chinese Taipei also
crashed out.

But the biggest upset was provided by local contender,
William, who was apparently not overawed by his opponent's world
title.

William seized upon a string of good breaks to race to 6-1
lead, much to the delight of the home fans.

Pagulayan tried to claw his way back and closed the gap to 8-5
at one point. He had a chance for more, but was undone by an
unlucky break in frame 14.

William finished the game in style. He struck the second ball
to have his cue ball neatly deflected and headed to slam home the
nine ball for the billiard equivalent of a KO.

William erupted in elation and thrust his hands into the air
when he realized that he had just toppled the world champion. In
the other corner, Pagulayan was the picture of disappointment.

"I relaxed and just shot around," William said.

"During the game, I did not let myself be drawn into the frame
of thought that I was taking on the world champion out there."

He said that the victory should be a good indication of
Indonesia's billiard potential against world class players.

Pagulayan was philosophical about his loss, saying he had
played relatively well, but that William simply played better.

"I think William played very well today," the diminutive
Pagulayan said in praise of his opponent.

In other matches, Reyes, who reveled in his recent victory in
the second leg of the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour in Jakarta
last week, lost to Vietnam's Luong Chi Dung 9-5, while Chao Fong
Pang was narrowly defeated by Kunihiko Takahashi of Japan 9-8.

Reyes blamed his defeat on fatigue as he felt obliged to give
thousands of local fans time for photo sessions and autographs.

"I couldn't see the ball clearly. I couldn't control my cue
ball. I just couldn't concentrate," Reyes said.

Siaw Wieto is the only other Indonesian player still alive in
the tournament.

After a defeat on Wednesday, Siaw, the winner here last year,
hung on to remain in contention by collecting three wins. He
defeated Ibrahim bin Amir of Malaysia 7-5 on Thursday.

Sixteen players including top contenders Francisco Bustamante
of the Philippines and Mika Immonen of Finland are now remaining
in the tournament. The tournament will will wind up on Friday.