Nine European Players In the Hunt

Europe, holder of the three WPA world championships, is in the thick of the battle for top honors in the Philippine Open, despite the surprise setback suffered by world no. 1 Ralf Souquet.

Still undefeated after two rounds of play are world 10-ball champion Darren Appleton of the UK, Kelly Fisher of Ireland, Radislaw Babica of Poland, and Marcus Chamat of Sweden.

Darren Appleton beat Japanese Hayato Hijikata 9-6 in a live TV table match.

Marcus Chamat affirmed his top 10 world rating in beating Taiwanese Ko Po-Cheng, 9-5.

Babica continued caught attention in hurdling Austrian Martin Kemptner in a tight match, 9-7.

Fisher entered the third round Wednesday night when she beat Filipino Victor Arpilleda 9-7.

On the losers bracket, Germans Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, Italian Fabio Petroni, Russian Ruslan Chihanov, and Austrian Martin Kemptner remain in contention.

Europe’s biggest loss in Thursday’s action was Jasmin Ouschan of Austria who lost to Ernesto Dominguez of Mexico in a hill-hill thriller. The pretty Austrian missed a fairly easy shot at the 10-ball in the final rack.