Champions Set to be Crowned Tomorrow in Willingen

Posted by admin as Juniors and Collegiate - BEF Billiard Education Foundat

Champions Set to be Crowned Tomorrow in Willingen
by Jerry Forsyth
Only four young ladies and four young men remain in the running in the WPA World Junior Championships in Willengen, Germany. On Friday all but one male and one female will fall to the wayside and make way for the new billiard champions.
On the ladies’ side, last year’s champion, Mary Rakin of the USA, has made it into the semifinals by turning aside the sharp cue of Kristina Schagan of Germany by the slimmest of margins, 9-8. She will find herself battling another German, Kim Witzel, in her semifinal match. Witzel earned her berth by destroying Si Ming Chen of China 9-4.
The other ladies’ semi will find Tina Buhnen of Germany matching up against the only remaining undefeated female, Sabrina Neverschnig (pictured) of Austria. Buhnen won 9-6 against Sina Petry, today while Neverschnig barely got by Denise Wilkinson of New Zealand 9-8.
The final four men include Kui Ming Lin of Taipei who will face his countryman, Pin Yi Ko. These two arrived here after Lin bested Tomoya Iima of Japan 11-8 and Attila Bezdan of Hungary 11-10, while Ko defeated Hao Xiang Han of Hong Kong 11-2 and Mathew Lawrenson of Great Britain by the same wide margin.
On the other half of the bracket the two advancing cueists are the defending champion, Yu Lun Wu of Taipei, and Yusuke Shibata of Japan. Wu remains undefeated this week, today overpowering Nico Wehner of Germany 11-6 and Hee Sup Kim of Korea 11-6. Thomas Luttich ended the run of the final American, Landon Shuffett, 11-6 and then lost to Shibata 11-9 after Shibata had already bested Rusian Chinahov of Russia 11-8.
For full brackets please see www.wpa-tour.com (http://www.wpa-tour.com) and click on “sheets” on the left-hand side of the page.