2007 World Pool Championships: England vs. Philippines - Daryl Peach Wins

With $100K, who the heck needs hair?
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At that moment, it was the most dramatic piece of furniture to watch on the planet. A table covered in soft felt cloth, 4 holes at each corner plus 2 at the sides, traversed to and fro by 9 colored balls of cast resin, set to motion by chalk-tipped wooden sticks, held by the hands of two determined men with one goal in mind - become the 2007 World Pool Champion.

After toppling the Hungarian newcomer Vilmos Foeldes yesterday at his semis match, England's Daryl Peach earned his spot at the finals. So too did Philippine contender Roberto Gomez, after he won over Karl Boyes. It was England versus the Philippines in a classic duel that will go down in pool history as one of the best ever played.

"Superman" (Roberto Gomez' monicker) against the bald-headed "Lex Luthor" (referring to Peach although he sports the alias "Dazzler"). The former had the homecourt advantage. The latter, only his experience in international pool tourneys backed him up.

It was a race to 17. Each cue artist matched the other's stroke. They both made costly errors. They also made incredible shots. I've lost track how many times the object ball hung by the edge of the pocket - frustration wrung Gomez's and Peach's faces. Still, both men demonstrated mastery of the game.

During the first part, Daryl Peach led the game but Roberto Gomez played it close. The game tied 2-2, then 3-3. But when Peach tried to pull away at 3-8 Gomez ran a 5-rack streak to even things up again at 8-8. Again they tied at 12 a-piece. Then Gomez threatened to bury Peach at 15-12 with a barrage of safeties and counter-safeties. The Englishman however stood his ground and went on to tie the match 15 all. Daryl Peach didn't look back since. At rack 32, the final score - Gomez 15, Peach 17.

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Daryl Peach is the 2007 World Pool Champion!

This time, the Filipino crowd gave the home-bet upsetter a hearty round of applause, unlike the controversy earlier during Peach's match in the quarterfinals against Filipino pool master Francisco Bustamante. The local fans at ringside even shook his hands approvingly and offered up high-fives. That was perhaps a more satisfying catharsis for Peach - a plus after his winner's reward of the 2007 WPC title and $100,000.

Personally, I wanted Gomez to win. I thought we should have another Pinoy champion. But I've since resigned myself to the thought that the tournament indeed belonged to Peach. Pool is one of the few sports that relied largely, almost solely on skill and circumstance. This time around, Daryl Peach had a few notches more skill and circumstance than Roberto Gomez. The younger Gomez will have his own day to win. Congratulations to Daryl Peach and kudos for a game well played to both Peach and Gomez.

Catch the rack-by-rack report from "The AnitoKid on Billiards | Philippine Sports: Daryl Peach Wins the 2007 World Pool Championship!"

2007 World Pool Update: Peach's Hairline Win Over Bustamante's Heartbreak Loss

Francisco Butamante - So Unbelievably Close.
Archive Image by snookerclub.com

Daryl Peach felt the pressure of the unbelieving local crowd as he stared down at the last 9-ball and finally sinking it to edge Francisco Bustamante in their race-to-11 quarterfinals at the 2007 World Pool Championships. Only a few hands were heard clumsily applauding the Englishman's win.

Bustamante shook his hand, his head turned away.

The unnerving atmosphere in what should be a jovial occasion at the 9-ball tourney, was rooted at the previous rack which held up the match for the good part of 10-minutes. The issue - an alleged foul ball against Bustamante on what was a miraculous combination shot on the 3rd and 9th ball that would have given the Filipino cue player the shot at the semis.

Earlier in the match, Peach commanded over Bustamante as the latter committed costly errors at the pool table. Bustamante however regained his composure and with a valiant uphill climb, later takes the lead 9 to 10 over the obviously worried Peach. With just a score away from the quarterfinals win, a good soft break allowed Bustamante to proceed. A slight miscalculation after sinking the 2-ball stopped the white main ball at an angle short of a clear shot at the target 3-ball behind the striped 9.

This forced Bustamante to bank the cue ball on the rail which hit both the 3 and the 9-ball. With a good amount of velocity the 9 made its way to the corner at the far end and dropped in. The audience burst in jubilance. Peach however unconvinced called for a review. The television replay seemed to show the white ball hitting the 3 and the 9 with the 9-ball apparently moving prior to and faster than the object ball. Thus the foul was called by the officiating referee Nigel Rees and was upheld even after a second review called by Bustamante.

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Peach proceeded to win that controversial rack for a tie at 10-10. At the next rack, Bustamante didn't even have to stand up. Peach won it 11-10.

But not without a homecourt crowd in eerie disbelief sharing in the heartbreak loss of their local hero.

Parallel Quarterfinals Results
Hungary's Vilmos Foeldes upsets former champion Mika Immonen of Finland in a convincing 7-11 victory. Foeldes and Peach will battle it out in the semis for the chance at the championship later today.

Best Eight To Shoot For 2007 World Pool Championships

They came to conquer. Out of the 128 of the world's best cue masters from 46 countries around the world, the final 8 will match nerves of steel at the pool table for the illustrious 2007 World Pool Championship title and a winner's prize of $100,000.

The quarterfinals are being held as of writing, which will be followed by two semis matches later in the afternoon. The final showdown between the semis winners will rack up tomorrow, Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines 2:30pm Manila time (GMT+8).

Since it opened November 3, 2007 many of the masters already fell. The entire 4-man Australian team and the 12-man USA contingent have been eliminated. Crowd favorites and pool masters like, Efren Reyes (Philippines), Johnny Archer (USA), Earl Strickland (USA) and Ralph Soquet (Germany) were also brought down. From 128, the numbers fell to 64, then 32 then 16. Only the 8 best 9-ball pool players for 2007 remain for the coveted championship.

Four matches are currently playing at the quarterfinals. The Philippines' veteran pool artist Francisco "Django" Bustamante , seeded at number 9, plays opposite 17th seed Daryl Peach of England.

Bustamante is itching for his first world championship win following his exceptional complete sweep of the US Pro-tour Championship and besting USA's Johnny Archer at the finals earlier in June of this year. Among the most popular Filipino pool athletes such as the legendary 1999 World Pool Champion Efren "The Magician" Reyes and 2004 World Pool Champion Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, only Bustamante survived the gruelling qualifying rounds.

Daryl "Dazzler" Peach comes into the competition fresh from winning the 2007 Euro Tour German Open Championships. On the way to the quarterfinals, he defeated Filipinos Rodolfo Luat and 2006 World Pool Champion Ronato "The Volcano" Alcano.

England's Karl "The Bomb" Boyes competes versus another Filipino Joven Bustamante (not related to Francisco Bustamante). They both debut this year at the World Pool Championships, with the younger Boyes carrying more tournament wins over the up and coming Bustamante.

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Number 12 seed and the only former World Pool Champion to enter the last stages, Finland's Mika "Iceman" Immonen (2001 WPC title holder) battles unseeded Vilmos "The Magic Magyar" Foeldes of Hungary. Can Foeldes, the 3-time European Youth Champion come up with an upset and cut Immonen's bid for another WPC crown?

Also at the quarterfinals tables, the final hope of the 11-man Chinese Tai-pei contingent, "Little Monster" Kuo Po-Cheng takes on the third Philippine bet Roberto "Superman" Gomez.

Who is your bet for the 2007 World Pool Championships?