Hero Hundal Makes Final

Thomas Engert 7 - 8 Raj Hundal

THOMAS ENGERT’S attempts to become the first person to successfully defend the 888.com World Pool Masters fell at the semi-final stage as England’s Raj Hundal defeated him in a final rack thriller.

Hundal, the 23-year-old from London, was making his debut in the event, and although both players showed their nerves, it was Hundal who finally prevailed to the delight of the home crowd.

Hundal won the lag but the layout wasn’t easy and he soon had to escape from a snooker, but he left the 1-ball on, and Engert then hooked himself and couldn’t escape safely, leaving the table open for Hundal to run-out.

Hundal then broke and ran the second rack in 66 seconds and pointedly chose to stay standing whilst Nigel Rees re-racked the balls – echoing the actions of snooker star Steve Davis in highly-charged situations.

He looked well set in the third rack too, but made a poor decision when playing safe on the 2-ball giving Engert his first chance to clear a rack.

The German’s break worked well in rack four, but his open table play was less reliable and he lost position on the 4-ball before fouling when attempting a two-cushion escape.

Hundal took full advantage to re-establish a two-rack lead but looked less convincing in the fifth.

He fluked the 3-ball before missing the 5 with a poorly judged cut and allowed Engert the opportunity to take his second rack of the game.

In rack six, Engert carelessly nudged the 5-ball with his cue when potting the 2-ball and again conceded the advantage – allowing Hundal to move to 4-2.

The match continued in its error-filled fashion as Hundal skewed a simple 3-ball on his way to losing the seventh.

A rare run-out followed as Engert levelled in what was proving a nail-biting semi-final.

Engert potted a long 1-ball to start off the next rack, but hit the shot too hard and scratched, giving Hundal a road map to the lead again.

The Englishman’s tenth rack break left him hooked, and his push-out was poor – leaving the 1-ball out of sight.

Engert put him back in and capitalised on the resulting foul by taking the score to 5-5.

In the following rack, Hundal left Engert snookered on the 2-ball, but a fantastic jump shot not only saw him escape but also down the ball and the pendulum had swung back in his favour.

He lost potting position on the 4 but was able to hook Hundal and although he escaped, the balls were open for Engert to clear.

The twelfth rack was safety-based and it was Hundal who cracked first, fouling on the 2-ball and giving Engert the chance to go to the hill.

But he missed a long pot on the yellow 1 and Hundal cleared before running the next to take the match to a deciding rack.

With no shot on the 2-ball, Hundal hooked Engert and cleared with ball in hand, to the delight of the partisan English crowd.

“I had at least two heart attacks out there, Hundal joked. “I never thought I was going to win that game at any point until I crossed the finishing line.

“Thomas’s kicking is awesome, even when you put him in a tight safety – his table knowledge is fantastic.

“I was under pressure when I was trailing and I missed the 3-ball that should have put me 3-0 ahead because I was complacent.

“The fans were awesome – everyone was behind me and now I think I can go all the way.”