My last post ended with Kuo Po-Cheng and Oliver Ortmann locked at 6-6, the laptop had to be plugged back to the mains to recharge. Meantime, I got pulled away to be translator for local journalists wishing to interview Wu Yu-Lun. That young man needs a mentor, BADLY. An amazing talent with little or no discipline, and no one in Taiwan seems to want to reign him in and make him the next great champion. Again, a story for another day.
Coming back from that interview, things had gone wrong for Wu Chia-Ching at the Main Table, and despite leading 7-6, he suffered a crucial scratch off the soft break. Joven Bustamante went on to take a 9-7 lead before Wu pulled one back. But again the break failed Wu; it wasn’t a scratch this time, there were no clear shots. To cut a long story short, Joven won.
Right after, I helped to be translator for Filipino journalists as they asked Wu some questions about how he got started, his achievements etc. I then helped the same two with their interview of Wu Chia-Ching.
Patrick and Carmela write the 2BU Section for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the No 1 paper in the Philippines. 2BU covers youth activities exclusively, and they were especially interested in Taiwan’s Little Pool Tigers – Ko Ping-Yi, Wu Yu-Lun and Wu Chia-Ching. Ko had been ousted yesterday and did not turn up at the Coliseum. I must say there is a gulf in maturity between Yu-Lun and Chia-Ching. Yu-Lun is still lost in teenage reverie but Chia-Ching is mature beyond his years.
Coach Steven said if the best of all three – Ko is the hardest working of the lot – are combined into one, Taiwan will have an unbeatable player.
They certainly needed one today. Seven entered the fray and at day’s end, only two are standing. Kuo managed to pull away to win 10-7; and later on, Lu Hui-Chan despatched Radoslaw Babica 10-3. In between, Lee Kun-Fang lost 7-10 to Daryl Peach, Chao Fong-Pang won the lag against Pinoy Superman Roberto Gomez, missed his first shot, and it all went downhill from there. The 10-2 scoreline was just about right.
There was still the matter of Chang Jung-Lin vs Corey Deuel and surely things couldn’t go wrong. I went to watch him and Chang was in full stride, potting with confidence to go 9-6 up. And then came the unravelling. It all started with a failed jump-ball attempt. The next three racks were agonising. Chang never had an easy moment as Deuel outwitting him in every safety battle. The American’s break was working like magic, and his cue ball positioning precise. Chang’s campaign ended there at TV Table 2.
I went to watch Korea’s surprise package Ryu Seung-Woo play England’s Karl Boyes. Ryu had the lead at 8-6 but Boyes hung tough, clawing his way back to 8-8, then lead and win. I left the arena when the scores were tied, it was too agonising to watch. Boyes rode the wave and won 10-8, earning a meeting with Russian Konstantin Stepanov. Their match will lead off the TV coverage tomorrow.
Stepanov has been one of the tournament’s revelations, truly. He accounted for Jeff De Luna 10-4, making it two Pinoys in a row now. And if he wins against, he might be up against Bustamante, Joven that is. 
Joven’s no slouch, he is on fire, but he will need to be on top form against Japan’s No 1 Satoshi Kawabata.
Getting back to the hotel last night, I ran into Alex Pagulayan. I am proud to be sharing a hotel with The Lion.
