Afternoon all. Reggie here with the Monday lunchtime update. The Goyang final is under way, Filler is still alive and Kuala Lumpur has a shock for you. All times GMT.
Goyang: same two, bigger prize
A fortnight ago David Martínez beat Cho Geon-hwi in the semis of the last PBA event. Today they play for the NH NongHyup Card PBA Championship title. The final was due off at 12:00 (9pm in Korea) and had only just started when I wrote this, so the result will be in the evening post.
- Martínez 4–1 Lee Sang-dae: 15–10, 13–15, 15–1, 15–7, 15–1. He averaged 2.607, per MK Billiards.
- Cho 4–2 Antonio Montes: 7–15, 7–15, 15–6, 15–8, 15–6, 15–4. He lost the first two sets, won the next four, and opened the last with a high run of 11.
What's at stake: Martínez and Frédéric Caudron share the PBA record of eight titles, so a win tonight gives him the record outright. Cho tops this season's prize-money list and won the opening event, so he's going for his second title of the campaign. They're 1–1 head to head. The winner gets ₩100 million.
Doha: Filler doesn't mess about
Joshua Filler had to win this morning to stay in the Qatar 10-Ball World Cup, and he beat Mohammed Al Balushi 9–1. Thorsten Hohmann also stays in after beating Meshaal Turki 9–5. At 15:30 Filler plays Jan Van Lierop and Hohmann plays Hsu Jui-an in the losers' qualification. Whoever wins goes into the last 64.
This morning's winners' qualification sent a few big names to the one-loss side:
- Hsieh Chia-chen 9–8 Carlo Biado
- Bashar Hussain 9–4 David Alcaide
- Denis Grabe 9–5 Bernie Regalario
- Mahmoud Charif 9–8 Alex Pagulayan
- Mustafa Alnar 9–7 Niels Feijen. Alnar has now beaten Feijen and Filler.
Kuala Lumpur: Bayarsaikhan knocks out Ng
Narantuya Bayarsaikhan of Mongolia beat world No. 3 Ng On Yee 3–1 in the quarter-finals of the Niche Cues Women's Open. The other quarter-finals:
- Mink Nutcharut 3–1 Anupama Ramachandran. Mink had needed a decider to beat Phakwalan Kongkaew 3–2 in the last 16.
- Reanne Evans 3–2 Panchaya Channoi, the No. 2 seed
- Bai Yulu 3–0 So Man Yan
Nanjing: who plays when
The International Championship main stage starts on Saturday 31 October. Jimmy White v Mark Selby is in the first session at 01:30. Wu Yize and Zhao Xintong play their held-over qualifiers that evening, and Jak Jones plays Wang Xinbo at 11:30. Kyren Wilson's first match is against Liam Highfield on Sunday. Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Allen both withdrew.
Tonight
- 18:00: the Ultimate Pool League National Final, live on TNT Sports
- 19:00: the WPA Blackball men's singles quarter-finals, on WPA Live
Talking point: would Martínez holding the record on his own be good for the PBA, or would you rather see Cho win again? Let me know below.
— Reggie Rutherford
Sources: MK Billiards, Kuki News; Qatar Billiard Sports Federation live scoring via Rack 9; women's tour live results; WST; Ultimate Pool Group.
Feature image: “Turniersaal Ankara EM 2023” by Carambol, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC0 1.0.
