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Straight 16: World Championship Goes to One-and-Done
Jul 13, 2007, 1:31 PM

Four days and 48 players gone, the Predator World 14.1 Straight Pool Championship is set for this weekend's final single-elimination tournament.

In dominant fashion, 10 of the 25 European-born players have advanced to the round of 16. Germany, led by World Pool Masters champ Thomas Engert and last year's champion Thorsten Hohmann, boasts 4 players still alive. The US also has a quartet of hopefuls, led by US Open champ John Schmidt and the legendary Allen Hopkins.

Hohmann, thoroughly unbeatable in round-robin play, dropped his second-round match against Danny Barouty, 150-117. In a strong statement that his loss was a mere hiccup, Hohmann thrashed Mika Immonen, 150-17.

Jasmin Ouschan is the only female player still in the field, advancing to the final 16 despite dropping a match to Nick Van den Berg of the Netherlands. She faces top-ranked Warren Kiamco of the Philippines in her opening match.

Austrian Martin Kempter currently holds the highest run at 160. Dennis Orcollo, 117, and Hohmann, 102, are next in line to cash in on the $5,000 reserved for the players with the top-three runs of the competition.

Play will continue to be race-to-150 matches until Sunday's semifinal and final matches, which will be races to 200.