9-Ball
Round One
Karl Boyes (ENG) 8-1 Waleed Majid (QAT)
Mark Gray (ENG) 8-4 Mika Immonen (FIN)
Quarter Finals
Karol Skowerski (POL) 8-3 Daniele Corrieri (ITA)
THERE WAS double delight in Nottingham for England's Mosconi Cup contingent as Karl Boyes and then Mark Gray won through their first round matches at the 2014 PartyPoker World Pool Masters at the Portland Centre. They now complete the quarter-final line up, the first match of which was won by Karol Skowerski who is through to the last four on Sunday evening.
Boyes made light work of Qatari hopeful Waleed Majid, winning 8-1 in just 45 minutes as he put on a break and run clinic to leave his opponent rooted in his chair. He can now look forward to a last eight match up against compatriot Chris Melling.
Boyes said, "It is nice to win a match like that, especially in the first round. I broke off in the first rack and tried a cut break but nothing went in.
"I changed to go head on and immediately made a ball so I kept breaking head on. In the middle of the match I think I ran two or three racks just breaking head on.
"When you first start out playing and are inexperienced you can make simple mistakes but as time goes on and you lose the sort of matches where you have a good lead, you learn how quickly things can change. So I knew it was important not to give away any chances."
Mark Gray also put on a great show as he beat Mika Immonen, who continued his miserable run at the Masters. The score was 8-4 and Gray couldn't hide his delight at his victory.
"I didn't tell anybody but I have been up all night with sickness, and I did well to get here to be honest. You have to try and get on with it, and it doesn't come much tougher than playing Mika.
"I had a bit of luck in the match and got away with a couple of balls I missed early, so that helped me to settle down.
"It is winner breaks and every time you miss a ball it could be your last shot, so you are a bit on edge. Thankfully I was making balls off the break and had three break and runs myself
In the final match of the session, Karol Skowerski stayed on course for a second Masters title as he beat Italian hope Daniele Corrieri 8-3 to book a semi-final spot for Sunday evening. The low-key Pole quietly went about his business, punishing the mistakes of Corrieri.
"I am very happy with the way I played. I played well, I broke well, made some shots under pressure and I have a similar feeling to when I won two years ago. I am enjoying it and I kept my focus well today.
"I played well in both matches today. I played two matches today so maybe I had a bit of an advantage because I got the feel of the table, but then Corrieri had a day to refresh himself so there are two ways to look at it."
Play continues on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday afternoon 13.00
Quarter Final 2 - Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) v Alex Pagulayan (CAN)
Quarter Final 3 - Chris Melling (ENG) v Karl Boyes (ENG)
Quarter Final 4 - Shane Van Boening (USA) v Mark Gray (ENG)
Sunday evening 18.00
Semi Final 1 Daniele Corrieri (ITA) v Karol Skowerski (POL)
Semi Final 2
The Final
The Masters will once again sport a $20,000 top prize, and the event will be produced by Matchroom Sport Television who will be making 15 x 1 hour programmes of the tournament for international syndication.
The 2014 PARTYPOKER World Pool Masters is sponsored by PartyPoker.com, one of the world's leading online poker sites. The Official Table is by Diamond Billiards; Cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis; the Official Balls are Super Aramith and Predator is the Official Cue, Chalk and Rest.
Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: luke.riches@matchroom.com
Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world's leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,000 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the World Pool Masters is one of a stable of pool events that include the World Cup of Pool and the Mosconi Cup.