Bernie and Burda go Korat part 4

Just before the closing day of the huge round-robin stage, it's decision time. In most of the eight groups, almost every player now knows who will advance to the last 32 - and who won't. Mainly all favorites have battled their way through to that KO-stage, except for Alex Borg in Group E, though the Maltese player holds the highest break of the event so far with a 140.

... Robert Burda, just after a mach at the IBSF World Championships ...

The way things look now [Tuesday, 20 November], five of eight groups will be won by Asian players. That underlines the overall strength of the game in that part of the world. Beyond doubt, the future growth of snooker will take place in Asia. Of course, due to the event being staged in Thailand, more players from Asia than from Europe traveled there to take part in the championships. But more contenders from Asia does not neccesarily mean they must win round-robin groups, of course. So, well done to them!

Burda two matches away from making history...
As Maximumbreak reported, Robert Burda got off to a good start in Group F. His most remarkable result came on Friday against Wael Talaat of Egypt, reigning African champion who made it to the last 16 in the 2006 World Championships. Talaat raced into a 2-0 lead before Burda bounced back and won four frames in a row, thanks to some strong potting on the big points, to take the match 4-2. The next days, Burda outplayed Sergey Kolcov of Latvia [4-1] and Russia's Sorokin Vyacheslav [4-2], which put him two victories away from reaching the last 32 - a result never achieved before by an Austrian player. However, Imran Shazad of Pakistan had an errorless display in their match today. Shazad won two before Burda got his first frame on the board, but the Pakistani looked determined to win and took the next two as well for a 4-1 victory. Which means, Burda has a meaningless final match left against Dutch Stefan Mazrocis, but also, he can look back at a great tournament. Just shortly after re-entering competitive snooker, the former three-time Austrian champion did very well overall and definitely will do his utmost to look even better at next year's championships - in Austria!

... Bernhard Müllner in action at the IBSF World Championships ...

... and Bernie gave them a break!
In Group H, Bernhard Müllner has recorded three victories so far, which seems a low score compared to his last year's run of results in Jordan, when he started the tournament with four wins in a row but just missed out on qualification for the next round. However, Bernie had a difficult group, with many players who may be unknown to the European snooker scene, but who know so well how to play the game... and how to build big breaks. Yasin Merchant [India] had breaks of 113, 96 and several 70's and 60's, Chinnakrit Yaowannasiri [Thailand] scored 111, 99 and some 70's, and Hang Li [China] had 98, 96 and a couple of 80's and 70's. Müllner, whose best run was a 67, beat both players who are ranked below him, including today's 4-1 victory over Japan's Atsushi Endo. It was Müllner's best match, in which he rallied from a frame down to clinch the next four - and the final three with a margin of at least 45 points each. Bernie plays Ahmad Saif of Qatar in his final match tomorrow...

...before Burda and Müllner head back to Austria, where the national snooker circuit continues this weekend with the third ASL Grand Prix of the season at the Snooker Bulls in Salzburg. Müllner plays Markus Sallaberger and Maximilian Pfleger in the opening round, while Burda meets last month's ASL Grand Prix winner Chau Zi Kim and Alexander Pichler. So, some more great snooker coming up soon!

Click here for more details on the official IBSF Website.

© text: Eric Willemsen [Vienna] / pictures: Künstlerbüro Snooker-Team