World Cup of Pool: Great Britain keep their cool to beat Vietnam in thriller, USA crash out
- Planet Sport writer
- 1 July 2023
Great Britain, Germany and Japan complete quater-final line-up at the 2023 World Cup of Pool.
Great Britain beat Vietnam in a hill hill finish to roll into the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup of Pool at Pazo de Feiras e Congresos de Lugo, Spain.
GB led by two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Jayson Shaw and rising star Elliott Sanderson with the pair winning the opening two racks over Duong Quoc Hoang and Nguyen Anh Tuan.
In the third, a safety battle ensued before Shaw left the four hanging in the pocket after going airborne to allow Vietnam in for 2-1 and then to level up at two apiece.
At 2-2, a dry reak from the Vietnamese brought GB to the table but they failed to make it pay as Anh Tuan played the better of the pair to bring his country ahead for the first time for 3-2.
The contest toed and froed to 4-4 before Vietnam broke away to reach the hill first at 6-4 after a costly scratch from Sanderson, a moment that was unfortunate given how well the youngster had played up until that point.
In the 11th, Shaw laid a brutal safety which forced Vietnam to foul, the British side capitalised to cut the deficit to one.
They then made lightwork of the resulting rack to go hill hill and have momentum fully in their favour.
Shaw and Sanderson fell at the first hurdle last year with a drubbing but this year would be different as they showed nerves of steel to run out from a tricky lie on the four and set up a quarter-final berth with two-time champions Austria next.
Germany headed into their second-round match with Canada looking to ensure their quest for a third World Cup of Pool title went on.
John Morra and Alex Pagulayan stood in Joshua Filler and Moritz Neuhausen's way if that was to play out like that.
Level at one apiece, Canada lost control of the table in the following rack to allow Germany to go 2-1 up before a Neuhausen golden break in the following rack gave a two rack buffer to the European outfit.
The gap was soon cut by Canada to 3-3 and then 4-4 with the pair inseparable after it seemed Germany were about to run away with the contest.
At 4-4, Neuhausen missed a cut on the six and it allowed Morra to leave Pagulayan with a bank on the seven and the chance for the lead for the first time only to see it well wide of the mark and allow Germany in for 5-4.
Filler carries the experience in the German pairing but for what Neuhausen lacked in experience he showed in flair and confidence around the table.
Germany came through strong in the end after Canada in truth struggled to threaten the former winner hopes. For Germany, Poland awaits next.
In the final second round contest, the USA's Shane Van Boening and Skyler Woodward were tasked with taking down Japan's Naoyuki Oi and Masato Yoshioka if they were to keep up the opportunity to claim a first World Cup of Pool title since 2008.
A 2-9 combo in the first from Oi allowed the early advantage to Japan before a simple second rack gave some early distance between the pair.
In the third, a cross-bank from Oi was left over the opposite pocket to bring the USA to the table for the first time and they capitalised for 2-1 down.
The USA drew level at two apiece but Woodward played arguably the worst shot he's played in the last two weeks on the nine to bring Japan in for a lead once again.
Woodward scratched on the break in the seventh after getting kicked in for Japan to come back and hold a lead again.
Japan looked the more comfortable of the sides out there with the USA looking increasingly out of sorts as their counterparts reached the hill first at 6-5 after a costly error from Woodward and Van Boening allowed them in.
A break and run sealed the Japan victory to send the USA home and a China/Japan quarter-final.
