IT'S OVER!!!
England's Peach Captures World Pool Throphy
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 12 Nov 2007
DARYL PEACH showed the world that England is still a force to be reckoned with in the sport of Pool especially with the hosting of the Olympic Games in 2012 in London.
The 35-year-old Blackpool England cue artists beat Filipino Roberto Gomez in a race to 17 finals last night with a cliff hanging 17-15 victory at the Big Dome. He also took home the $100,000 cash prize.
Gomez on the other hand, took home $40,000 With the win, Peach already seeded in the main draw of World Pool Championship in five straight year by winning the title while Gomez could only be seeded in the next year's edition which possibly to be hosted again by the Philippines for the third straight year.
Peach lost to Matias Ercul of Slovakia (1-9) but eliminated Rodolfo Luat of the Philippines (9-3) and Lily (9-5) in the group stage matches to progress.
Then he eliminated last year's champion Ronato Alcano of the Philippines (10-6) in the last 64, Lee Kun Fang of Taiwan (10-7) in the last 32, Harold Stolka of Germany (11-5), Francisco "Django" Bustamante (11-10) in the last 8 and Vilmos Voldes of Hungrary (11-2) in the last 4, in that order.
"Nerves, pressure but it's amazing match," said Peach, "He is a champion, it's a lot of pressure in my part," added Peach, who broke the Asian domination from Alex Pagulayan in 2004 edition, Wu Chia-Ching of Taipei in 2005 and Ronato 'The Volcano' Alcano in 2006.
Gomez, on the other hand, reached the finals by crushing Neils Feijen of the Netherlands (9-6) and Dharminder Sing Lilly of India (9-4) in their group stage matches, then beat Alex Lely of the Netherlands (10-1) in the last 64, Chao Fong-pao of Taiwan (11-4) in the last 32, rematch Feijen in the last 8, Kuo Po-cheng of Taiwan in the last 16 and Karl Boyes of England (11-4) in the last 4.
"Ito na ang pinakamataas na tournament na pangarap kong makuha," said tearful Gomez.
"Komportable ako bago magsimula pero dahil na din sa suporta ng crowd, 'yung ingay nila ay lalo akong na pressure," he added. "Kailangan kong kontrolin ang pressure," said Gomez.
The drama is in the 31st rack which Peach saw a table-length bank on the blue 2 rattle in the jaws of the bottom left pocket but stay on the cloth.
However, Gomez then missed the orange 5. As soon as he saw the ball failed to drop he stood there motionless, knowing that he could have just blown his chance to win the championship.
There was yet another further twist as Peach lost position going from the 8-ball to the 9-ball. That left a tougher shot than anticipated and he then missed a table-length bank on the 9-ball.
But the drama was not over yet. Gomez had a shot at the 9-ball, which would have looked easy for him throughout this tournament. Though this was the pressure-cooker of the World Championship final and the pressure got to him. Peach sunk the 9-ball to move to the hill, one away from glory.
I LOST MY CHALK -- GOMEZ
Roberto Gomez admitted last night that his lucky charm chalk was lost that put him in a disadvatange position.
"Nawala ko 'yung chalk na ginagamit ko, 'yung ang lucky charm ko eh," said Gomez to the local media.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Undefeated Carl Jammes Martin Plots Next Move as New Year Unfolds
Mon, 29 Dec 2025Alvin Gayeta Roma leads Mansa Engineering Consultancy Team B to rule New York Chess Academy Team Tournament; pockets P100,000
By Marlon Bernardino, Mon, 29 Dec 2025Llover, Casimero stop foes in Japan
By Lito delos Reyes, Sun, 28 Dec 2025Organizing Committee Meets for Dr. Eugene Torre Rapid Chess Tournament Honoring FIL-CHI’s Golden Anniversary
Sun, 28 Dec 2025KEYSHAWN DAVIS RETURNS ON THE RING 6 UNDERCARD AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
Sun, 28 Dec 2025IM Datu captures 4th IIEE Chess SIKAT, Jeremy Marticio repeat champ for 5th mini-tournament
By Marlon Bernardino, Sat, 27 Dec 2025THE RING 6: NIGHT OF THE SAMURAI WEIGH-IN RESULTS AND FIGHT NIGHT RUNNING ORDER CONFIRMED AS INOUE AND PICASSO CLASH IN RIYADH
Fri, 26 Dec 2025THE RING 6: NIGHT OF THE SAMURAI PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
Fri, 26 Dec 2025THE RING 6: NIGHT OF THE SAMURAI OPEN WORKOUTS COMPLETE AS UNDISPUTED KING INOUE GETS READY FOR PICASSO CLASH IN RIYADH
Thu, 25 Dec 20253-Time, 2-Division World Champion & IBF No. 1, Mandatory Bantamweight World Title Challenger Miyo Yoshida long overdue for her 8th World title fight
Thu, 25 Dec 2025Game On! 1st Paower Pickleball Cup Ignites Action in San Fernando
By Marlon Bernardino, Thu, 25 Dec 2025Late Replacement Tellez Ready to Shock the World Against Amanda Serrano for WBA & WBO Featherweight Titles on January 3 in Puerto Rico
Wed, 24 Dec 2025The Pryce is right again!
Wed, 24 Dec 2025Postal Stamp Honoring Muhammad Ali will be present in January 15
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Wed, 24 Dec 2025O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SIGNS LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP DEAL WITH MATCHROOM BOXING
Wed, 24 Dec 2025