Dafabet World Pool Masters 2021 -- Sneaky Pete Mafia -- Alexander Kazakis Wins!

Finals:

*****

Alexander Kazakis: 9

Shane van Boening: 0

*****

Wednesday, May 26 -- 9-ball’s biggest invitational tournament, The Dafabet World Pool Masters was just held over the previous 4 days at the Europa Point Sports Park in Gibraltar -- Saturday, May 22nd through Tuesday, May 25th, 2021 -- featuring 24 of the best players, male and female, from around the world -- battling it out for a first place prize of $25K, with $100K total prize fund.

(Below: Kristina Tkach, one of the two female contestants in the event, alongside Kelly Fisher)

https://twitter.com/i/status/1397302107074662411

And it would be redemption time for Alexander Kazakis, winning the event with a resounding 9-0 trouncing of legendary Shane van Boening (SVB) in the finals, jumping up on the table, arms out, hands splayed, head held high -- king of the pool world, if only for a moment in time, but this was his time to shine, all the other champions left in his dust; incredible performance and 9 ball clinic of how players want to break and run out, play jump shots, go full-throttle in shots, as Kazakis performed at a level most players can only dream of. Really, Kazakis played so well, SVB never could get into his game, his arm gone cold from the 9 ball exhibition match Alex came with. This also a historic, first-time any player has ever blanked another in the finals of the World Pool Masters; no other player has white washed another player like how Kazakis put it on SVB.

Semi-finals:

*****

Alex Kazakis 7

Eklent Kaci 6

Joshua Filler 6

Shane van Boening 7

*****

Both Kazakis and SVB squeaked by winning hill hill matches 7-6 in the semifinals -- with Kazakis winning against Eklent Kaci, and SVB beating arch-rival Joshua Filler.

In the beginning of the finals, commentators Phil Yates & Karl Boyes, “The heart says Alexander Kazakis, but the head [loudly] OVERWHELMINGLY says Shane van Boening (SVB). And normally, the head makes the final decision in these things.” Hoasted by Matchroom Pool, all around, a stellar crew and cast of supporting contributors to this star-studded event. But obviously casting their votes for SVB as the strong favorite to win from the jump. But, again, in the end it would be complete 9 ball dominion, with Kazakis reigning supreme 9-0 victor, winning the $25K pot for first; Kazakis had lost in 2019, in the thrilling hill-hill final against Spain’s David Alcaide in the World Pool Masters at that time. Fast forward 2021, May 25th, and Alex is redeemed, vindicated, and has arrived on top as one of the best-of-the-best the world has ever seen. What an awe inspiring, true-grit, grind-it-out event Kazakis played, at times appearing to lay it all on the line, coming with incredible offensive jump-bank shots to run out, break and run outs, etcetera -- essentially, a 9 ball clinic in an astounding finals performance, unlike any ever seen before against perhaps the most prolific player in the last 15-20 years, namely SVB.

The 24 Players in the World Pool Masters was: David Alcaide (Spain), Alexander Kazakis (From Greece and Winner of the event this year), Naoyuki Oi (Japan), Jayson Shaw (Great Britain), Fedor Gorst (Russia), Max Lechner (Austria), Albin Ouschan (Austria), Joshua Filler (Germany), Billy Thorpe (USA), Skylar Woodward (USA), Kelly Fisher (Great Britain), Justin Sajich (Australia), Eklent Kaci (Albania), Petri Makkonen (Finland), Niels Feijen (Netherlands), Jeff De Luna (Philippines), Shane van Boening (USA), Jakub Koniar (Slovakia), Mieszko Fortunski (Poland), Kristina Tkach (Russia), Chris Melling (Great Britain), Sanjin Pehlivanovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Denis Grabe (Estonia), and rounding out the 24 from around the globe, hand-selected from the best of the best worldwide is none other than “Superman” himself, Roberto Gomez, one of the new Philippino sensations to grace the world stage of international 9 ball.

{So many top players, again, both male and female, although the female players were greatly outnumbered by their male counterparts, making the probability for a female champion much lower than that of the males. However, it was nice to watch a tournament open to both men and women pool players, and what a field of top players! Essentially, they had 10 male contestants to 1 female contestant, a 10 to 1 ratio. Perhaps they should widen the field in the future, to include a bracket of 48 contestants, 24 top professional male players, and 24 top female players. (Just some input from the “Tallahassee Squirrel”...).}