Albin Ouschan of Austria just won the World Pool Championship held in the UK at Marshall Arena June 6th through the 10th -- running the gambit, the tournament including his sister Jasmin Ouschan -- in the end, when all was said and done, it was Albin at the top of the heap -- having begun the field with 128 of the worlds top professional players.
Ouschan won the first round of the World Pool Championship 9-5 against Fabio Petroni of Italy; then, Ouschan lost in the “Winners Qualification” round against Roberto “Superman” Gomez -- one of the Philippines top players alongside Jeffrey "The Bull" de Luna; after that, Ouschan put on the afterburners and never looked back.
In the “losers qualification” round the Austrian broke out with a 9-1 resounding win against the American, USA player Kaiden Hunkins. After that, in the “last sixtyfour” Ouschan again wins 11-7 against Sanjin Pehlivanovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then, in the “last thirtytwo” Albin defeats German sensation Thorsten Hohmann -- one of the greatest straight pool players of all times -- 11-7 yet again. Following that, in the “last 16,” Ouschan again to win it 11-8 against Mieszko Fortunski of Poland. Then, in the quarterfinal Ouschan cruised to a 11-5 win over USA sensation, and two time Mosconi Cup MVP Skyler Woodward -- firing on all cylinders like a well-oiled machine. Then again, appearing to play in dead stroke, Albin dispatched the Spaniard David Alcaide Bermudez -- running out in top form in the semi-finals.
Ouschan showed tenacity, poise, and a type of true grit only seen in the movies so often, but this was a performance to go in the billiards history books, and true to the caliber of the Austrian -- all around a example of the type of character it takes to win an event of this magnitude.
To close out the event, Ouschan would face a formidable foe in Kuwait player Omar Al Shaheen -- but the Austrian would come through yet again, closing it out 13-9 -- Shaheen fighting until the end, however, in the final three racks Ouschan broke and ran the two prior to the final rack, then finished the final rack amidst a tactical battle in a back-and-forth match, then come-from-behind victory of the ages.
From my perspective Ouschan was the lead player the entire event -- remaining strong in his form, technique, as well as maintaining a strong mental game throughout the 5 day event. Well done, and Kudos to Albin Ouschan on another great victory to add to his accolades.