In a match with a lot of ups and downs, Phil Burford (GBR) prevailed over Christian Prager (GER) with 9:6.
It was amazing to watch the match. It seemed as if the match was divided into three periods. It started with both contestants playing quite strong. Burford opened his account with a run out to gain a 1:0 lead. Prager, who became third in the 8-ball tournament yesterday, answered that right away and ran the next rack with his own break, tying the match at 1:1. The next two racks were taken by Burford. Prager missed some tough shots and Burford capitalized from that. After four racks, the score was 3:1 in favour of Burford who was definitely the favourite in the match. At that point in time, period one seemed to end and phase two started.
The second period was determined by many errors that were really uncharacteristic for both players. Even easy shots were missed and safeties rarely turned out to be safe after their execution. It seemed as if two different players came to the table. In the 9th rack, the score was 4:4 and Phil Burford's break was coming up. He left an open table for Prager. The German pocketed all balls until he had a straight position for the 6-ball. He pocketed the 6-ball and got another tough lay for the 7-ball. He also solved that problem by playing a great shot and pocketing the 7-ball. Then he missed an 8-ball that was by far easier than the two shots before. He left no position for Burford who tried to pocket the 8-ball over one rail, but he failed. Prager then missed the 8-ball again (!) and Burford ran the remaining two balls to take a 5:4 lead. The next two racks were also determined by mistakes and missed shots and the score went to 6:5 for Burford. That was the point in time when phase 2 ended and phase 3 started.
Both players started to play better again but it was Burford who made the more spectacular and better shots. Prager simply couldn't keep up with him and in the end, Burford seized the match 9:6 and deserved the victory. Prager will get another chance in the loser's bracket.
Other notable results from this morning include the only female participant, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) winning over Valery Kuloyants (GER) with 9:4. The seeded players will join the field in the next round.