 | SENIORS' DIVISION FINAL COMES DOWN TO FINAL FRAME
A blow-away in the Men's final, but not the Seniors'. With the winning team needing 6 frames, it came 5-5 New Zealand v. India. New Zealand started off in a fast lead, 3-1, but India slowly came to life as the match progressed.
It started off with a safety dance, each player playing cautiously, not giving anything away. Until New Zealander Dene O'Kane made a 63-point break, leaving the match at 64-1. Next thing you know, however, Geet Sethi kept creeping forward, the reds spreading and Sethi successfully blocking O'Kane from making another shot. Finally, the game came down to the final colored balls, which Sethi potted in succession - winning the match for his team 69-64. What a match!
So that's it. India walks away with the $1200 prize. New Zealand goes home proud, having made it into the finals.
And now we can say goodbye to the first American world snooker event. All that are left are the closing ceremony and the after party.
 ENGLAND UPSETS INDIA, 8-3
The Men's World Team Snooker Champions have emerged, and they are David Lilley, Michael Rhodes, and David Craggs (in order at left) from England. They made fast work of the India 'A' team, consisting of Pankaj Advani, Manan Chandra, and Yasin Merchant. In a best of 11 frames, England easily took 8, leaving the Indian team in the lurch. This means the English lads have won the $5,000 purse, and Lilley has thus far taken home the $1000 prize for the highest break, with a 134. Stay tuned for senior results...
ENGLAND AND INDIA TO MEN'S FINALS; NEW ZEALAND AND INDIA TO SENIORS'
After David Lilley got a 134 break in the quarterfinals, England kept its power streak going to win 6 frames to 1 over China Hong Kong. The Brits also managed to wow the semifinals audience with another century break of 107. Meanwhile, India 'A' won 6-3 against Thailand. Pankaj Advani scored an 82 break in the first frame, but from then out, it was just straight up, out and out one man chasing the other snooker. With a lot of snookering. Good frames indeed.
Meanwhile, in the Seniors' set, New Zealand came from behind almost all throughout the event to win against Ireland, 5-2, securing its spot in the finals. Extremely exciting for the Kiwis - and for us, who got to watch an underdog team win. In the other Seniors' tournament play, Australia lost to India 5-3 - so it looks like India is up for championships in two divisions!
Seems the finals are going to be jam-packed as we've got many reserved seats, loads of teams watching, and hopefully you!
AUSTRALIA CRUSHES USA 'C'; INDIA 'A' CLOBBERS SWEDEN 7-2
We watched as Robby Foldvari and his team of Outbackers blew away Alan Morris and his American 'C' team. And we saw India 'A' blow away Sweden 7-2. We also viewed many a match go 6-3 as no matches really came down to the last frame.
So here's the lineup for the quarterfinals: In the Men's event, we have India 'A' v. Australia; India 'B' v. Hong Kong; Thailand v. Sweden and England v. Scotland, with a start time of 9:00 am.
DAY 7: CANADA WINS FIRST MATCH; SO DOES ISLE OF MAN
In North American excitement, the Canadian Seniors' team won their first match today, beating the Scottish team 7-2, making them much stronger contenders in the quarterfinal match. You see, unlike in the Men's event, all the Seniors' teams make it into quarterfinals, but India and Ireland (probably) will get a bye and will just have to play in the finals. Meanwhile, the other Seniors' teams will battle it out, but with their win, Canada will have an easier go at it, playing a team as yet undetermined who haven't won too many matches, either. Go Kanucks!
The Isle of Man Men's team won its first victory today, beating USA B 5-4. This is quite an accomplishment for the small island's team! Sadly, however, both those teams, as well as Japan, have no chances of winning the Championships.
Nevertheless, the Japanese team has felt this trip and competition to be exciting and grueling, everything it expected. Said Shimon Tauchi, "We've met so many great people, have seen two great American cities, San Jose and San Francisco, and cannot wait to come to next year's event."
Tomorrow's matches will solidify which teams go into the quarterfinals on Friday, so stay tuned...
DAY SIX: AMERICANS TROUNCED BY ALL
In case you were looking for report yesterday, Day Five was a free day. The guys had no matches so they could relax or go to San Francisco for the day, which most of them did. Popular places visited were Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf and... Hooters?
But the break proved no help to America; all three American teams suffered big losses. Team A lost to China Hong Kong 7-2, Isle of Man kicked some American B team butt with a score of 5-4, while USA C got tied up by the Thais, losing every frame. Meanwhile, some other victories were as expected. Australia defeated Japan 7-2 and Ireland won 5-4 v. New Zealand in an exciting Seniors' match.
The USA A v China Hong Kong brought a lot of people to the matches, and even without that crowd, word seems to be spreading and people are starting to show up earlier. Check ongoing results... Click Here!
DAY FOUR, AND THE ACTION'S HOT
So, it's the fourth day of the tournament, and things are heating up. Many century breaks are happenin', the crowds are getting larger (if still pathetic) and the boys are battling it out for the quarterfinals. In happy news, the American 'C' team just won an important game 5 matches to 4, bringing them closer to the quarterfinals. And I'm finding it less necessary to handhold spectators through their viewing pleasure, as most at least have a passing knowledge. Check ongoing results... Click Here!
A CENTURY BREAK FOR ENGLAND SPICES UP DAY THREE
David Craggs, 30, of County Durham, England, shook the IBSF World Snooker Team Championships with a century break of 104 points in the 7th frame of 9-frame match between England and Sweden. Now that's excitement, folks... Check ongoing results... Click Here!
CA GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER WELCOMES SNOOKER PLAYERS
What many may not know - Schwarzenegger is a fan of the cue sports himself. P&B's favorite table historian, Joe Newell of Clay Center, Kansas, personally handled the installation of the Terminator's custom table!
FORMER WORLD CHAMP PANJAK ADVANI WINS RATNA AWARD
 One of the Indian team Members is Pankaj Advani. The 21 year old Advani is a previous IBSF World Champion in both Billiards and Snooker. Advani won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in China in 2003 and the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Malta in 2005. As the first session of the Snooker Team Cup got underway in San Jose, Pankaj Advani received a telephone call from India informing him that he had been chosen to receive the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for the year 2005. This Khel Ratna award is for the most outstanding sports performance of the year.
Amongst other luminaries short listed for this award was the Indian Cricket captain Rahul Dravid.
Advani told reporters at a press conference that he would be flying back to India immediately after the World Team Cup. He'll be driven straight from the airport to the Office of the President of India where he will receive the award. Advani now hopes that his Indian team will be able to win this inaugural World Snooker Team Cup in San Jose so that he can add this to his impressive list of trophies.
DAY ONE AT THE SNOOKER TOURNAMENT: 17 AUGUST 2006
Snooker fever has hit San Jose, CA: All over the hotel, smartly dressed men - some as young as 21, some over 40 for the Seniors' tournament - carry long, thin, aluminum cases filled with their snooker cues, sporting vests, bow ties and dress trousers.
They come from England, Japan, the Isle of Man, India, almost every ex-English colony. Some speak English, some don't, but it doesn't matter. They communicate through the sport. There are also 3 US teams and 1 Canadian team, to keep our North American presence known, lest you think snooker is NOT an American sport. Executive Director Alan Morris of the US Snooker Association aims to bring more notice to the sport in the US.
ABOUT 2006 1BSF WORLD SNOOKER TEAM CUP CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose hosts to this international snooker competition, whose competition began today. Matches run at 10 am, 2 pm and 6 pm; admission is $5 for the regular matches, $8 for the semi-finals on the 25th and $10 for the finals on the 26th. For more information or to make reservations for the matches, please call Diana Slampyak, Press Officer, at 650.773.9633 or email her at dslampyak@comcast.net.
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