2005 Kaohsiung World Pool Championships / 2005世界花式撞球錦標賽
2005 Kaohsiung World Pool Championships
By David Jia Photos by Jung-Hui Pao
With total prize money of US$350,000, the 2005 Kaohsiung World Pool Championships caught the attention of pool experts from all over the world. From the 2nd to the 10th of July, 128 pool experts from all over the world contended for the title of World Champion, and after a gruelling competition, the champion rewarded himself with a stay in Taiwan. The champion was a 16 year old boy by the name of Chia- Ching Wu, who has also made history by being the youngest World champion ever.
This is the first time ever that the World Pool Championships has been held in Kaohsiung and was a huge success given the number of high profile players that it attracted. Amongst these pool experts were the 1993 and 2000 World Champions, Fong-Pang Chao and Ching-Shun Yang respectively, as well as the 2004 runner up, Pei-Wei Chang, of which all are local athletes. Besides the local athletes, many other top athletes competed, including last year's World Champion from Canada, Alex Pagulayan, the 2003 World Champion from Germany, Thorsten Hohmann, the current top ranking player, Ralf Souquet, the only player to win the World Championships three times, American Earl Strickland, the champion from 1999, Filipino Efran Reyes, the king of pool, Franciscio Bustamante, and the 2001 World Champion, Mike Immonen from Finland.
In the opening ceremony, the Acting Mayor of Kaohsiung, Chan Chi Mai said that due to the fact that there are many pool experts based in Kaohsiung striving day after day to raise the competitive standard of the game, Taiwan has earned the title of the "Pool Kingdom", which makes the tournament in Kaohsiung all the more meaningful.
The 2005 Kaohsiung World Pool Championships were put together by the collective efforts of the Kaohsiung City Government, ESPN STAR Sports, Matchroom Sports, the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the Chinese Taipei Billiards Association. Ten of Taiwanese most renowned pool experts including, Po- Cheng Kuo, Fong- Pang Chao, Ying- Chieh Chen, Jung- Ling Chang, Hua- Fong Wang, Chia- Ching Wu, Chun- Chiang Liu, Hui- Kai Hsia, Kun- Chang Huang, and Chien- Che Huang all made it to the final 32. Another player that deserves a mention is Kaohsiung athlete, Ching-Shun Yang, who lost to English athlete, Raj Hundal in the final 64.
On the 10th of July, the final day of competition, Chia- Ching Wu completed the "impossible" by beating another Taiwanese athlete, Po- Cheng Kuo, with a score of 12:6 to 17:16 to be crowned the champion of the 2005 Kaohsiung World Pool Championships. At just 16 years old, Chia- Ching Wu became the youngest World Champion in pool history. After the game, Chia- Ching Wu raised both his arms up into the air with excitement and collected his prize of US$75,000. Finally, the champion hugged his grandmother tightly, and said with tears, "this championship win is dedicated to my grandmother who has always been there to support and encourage me".
2005世界花式撞球錦標賽
文／賈山河 攝影／鮑忠暉 總獎金高達35萬美元、備受全球矚目的「2005高雄世界花式撞球錦標賽」，自7月2日至10日歷經9天、128位世界各國好手激烈競桿後，冠軍獎盃留在台灣，由台北縣現年僅16歲「泰山神童」吳珈慶奪得，成為該比賽史上最年輕的世界冠軍得主，也為這場國際賽會留下新紀錄與美好回憶。 世界花式撞球賽首度在高雄市舉辦，眾星雲集，除1993、2000年兩屆冠軍、也是地主選手的趙豐邦、楊清順及去年亞軍張裴瑋外，還包括去年冠軍加拿大帕古拉揚、2003年冠軍德國霍曼和目前世界排名第一的蘇魁、唯一的三屆冠軍美國史翠南、1999年冠軍菲律賓魔術師雷耶斯與一代球王巴斯塔曼蒂及2001年冠軍芬蘭伊孟南等人，也都出席這場國際賽會。 高雄市代理市長陳其邁在開幕致詞時表示，高雄市有許多優秀的撞球高手，在他們的努力付出下為台灣贏得「撞球王國」美譽，也更突顯該比賽在高雄舉辦的特殊意義。 「2005高雄世界花式撞球錦標賽」由高雄市政府、ESPN STAR Sports 與英商運動經紀公司Matchroom Sports共同主辦，行政院體委會、中華民國撞球運動協會協辦，國內好手郭柏成、趙豐邦、陳英傑、張榮麟、王華風、吳珈慶、劉峻銓、夏揮凱、黃焜璋以及黃健禎等10位好手晉級32強。令人遺憾的，莫過於近年國際大賽常勝者高雄市楊清順敗給球運極佳的英國選手亨達爾（Raj Hundal），成績止於64強。 10日晚間進行最後總冠軍戰，「泰山神童」吳珈慶完成不可能的任務，在12：6無路可退的情勢下逆轉成功，最後以17：16擊敗同胞對手郭柏成，奪得今年世界花式撞球賽總冠軍，吳珈慶以16歲的年齡成為世錦賽歷年來最年輕的冠軍得主。賽後吳珈慶興奮地高舉雙手，並獲得7萬5千美元的冠軍獎金，吳珈慶激動地與阿嬤擁抱，感動流下眼淚地表示：「這個冠軍頭銜將獻給時時刻刻都支持我，鼓勵我的阿嬤。」 |