2013 PartyPoker World Pool Masters
H
olland’s Niels Feijen captured the 21st annual PartyPoker World Pool Masters crown as he came through a tense final to defeat England’s Darren Appleton 8-6. It was Feijen’s first victory in an event he has been competing in periodically for ten years and he picks up a $20,000 winner’s cheque. It was consolation for his heart-break defeat in the final of the World Cup of Pool last month when he and his Dutch team mate Nick Van den Berg narrowly went down to the Philippines. The crowd was cheering hard for Darren. We had both been playing well all week and that is sport, somebody has to lose and somebody has to win. He played really well all week and it could have gone either way. I managed to win and it is a great feeling,” said a thrilled Feijen after being presented with his magnificent trophy by six-times Masters champion Ralf Souquet. Feijen had enjoyed wins over Mosconi Cup team mates Karl Boyes and Mika Immonen in the opening rounds and then beat Alex Pagulayan in the semifinal and it was another Mosconi team mate who awaited him in the championship match. In front of a packed and vocal crowd at the Barnsley Metrodome, Appleton won a cagey opener that was full of safety. Feijen had played a superb table length jump shot that banked the 2 ball down table into the corner pocket. He missed the 4 though and Appleton, egged on by an excitable crowd, ran out. He looked set to make it 2-0 but missed a shocker of an 8 ball, a straight in shot from around four feet, leaving it in the jaws of the pocket. Feijen didn’t hesitate to make it 1-1 and he broke confidently in the next. A long pot on the 2 ball missed in the intended pocket but dropped into the op-
6 PQB December/January
Feijen is the Master! Photos by JP Parmentier/Matchroom Sports
posite corner, but the Dutchman was blocked on his path to the 3 ball. They swapped safeties before Feijen once against made a jump shot to set up a run out and give himself the lead. They shared the next two and when Appleton cleaned up in the sixth, the match returned to parity. Feijen got back to the table after a dry break and played a couple of great shots, a carom off the 2 ball to sink the 8, then a 2/4 combo to set up a runout and get to 4-3. Feijen though scratched in the next as the white was kicked in and Appleton made no mistakes as he drew level at 4-4. Appleton ran out the next to take the lead and edge one step closer to the title but his march was halted as Feijen won the tenth. It was now a race to three with the Dutchman breaking but he snookered himself behind the 5 ball and his escape left Appleton a shot on the 4. He made that and ran out, under some pressure, to regain the lead. In the next Appleton jumped out of a
snooker but missed the 4 ball up table to gift ball in hand to Feijen and he cleared for 6-6 and with the break he was now favourite for the match. He won the next from the break and his fate was now in his hands. The final rack was a nerve wracking game as both had visits and chances. Feijen broke down when his 4/7 went in but he left himself no shot on the 4. Appleton looked like he was going to take the match into the 15th rack when he banked the 5 ball brilliantly down table but he overcut the 6 ball and missed the middle pocket. Feijen then composed himself and ran the last three balls and with that he let out a huge victory roar. It was really nerve wracking. It went back and forth the whole time. I went 31 up, 3-3, 5-4 to him. Then I went 6-5 and 7-6 and thought I had blown it when I had a combination in the corner and had to make both balls. The last one didn’t go in and he played an unbelievable bank. But he missed the 6 and I took