Crowd favorite Ouschan is new queen of World 10-Ball

Jasmine Ouschan, the darling of the Pinoy crowd, is the new queen of World 10-Ball. The 24-year-old Austrian came back from four racks down to pull off a dramatic 10-6 triumph over Ga-Young Kim of South Korea in the finals played in front of a big crowd at Robinson’s Galleria in Quezon City Friday.

The former world’s No.1 player completed the comeback by winning seven consecutive racks after being down, 0-4, to capture her first major title sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association. A frequent visitor in the country since she competed in the inaugural staging of the World Ten Ball Championship for men two years ago at the Philippine International Convention Center, Ouschan has gained quite a following here. Up against the player who booted out the country’s best hope in this event — Rubilen Amit — Ouschan found herself cheered on by the largely Pinoy crowd. When Ouschan sank the blue ball No. 10 in the 16th rack, the pretty blonde raised her cue stick and battled tears as she claimed the biggest victory of her career. The Austrian ace player bagged the $20,000 top prize as the second player to win the prestigious World Women’s 10-Ball crown. Amit, who was two matches away from repeating as champion, was the first lady to win the crown in the inaugural staging of this women’s event last year. "I guess it would take a couple of hours for this to sink in, but I can't believe that this is happening," said Ouschan. "I've came so close to winning this, I've been chasing it for years, and to win this in the country considered as the billiards capital of the world, it's just amazing." Ouschan went undefeated during this five-day tournament, sweeping the five-game group stage. Among those she defeated were Japan's Miyuki Fuke in the Round-of-16, veteran campaigner Karen Corr of Ireland in the quarterfinals, and Great Britain's Kelly Fisher, the No. 2 ranked player in the world, in the semis. The road to the finals wasn’t that easy, though. Ouschan had to outlast Fisher, 9-7, in a game where the Austrian squandered a 6-2 advantage. The match even went to 7-all, but Ouschan was able to regain composure and advance into the championship round. Kim, Ouschan’s finals rival, had an easier time disposing of Amit, so that the Korean had the privilege of taking a 90-minute rest. The energy-zapping matches nearly took their toll on Ouschan, who was visibly feeling the effects of exhaustion. But she was able to get her second wind and once she did, the Austrian played in championship form and didn’t allow Kim a chance to come back. Her first two-rack victories were easy run-outs, propelling her to tie it at 4-all. In the ninth rack, Ouschan survived Kim in a battle of safety exchanges to grab her first taste of the lead, 5-4. Two more victories and Ouschan was comfortably ahead, 7-4, but a missed shot on the No. 8 ball allowed Kim to get back on the table — and temporarily take advantage of it. But Kim couldn’t get a good break in the ensuing rack and Ouschan was able to capitalize and won the next two racks to move within striking distance of wrapping things up early. Although Kim survived for another rack, a missed shot on the violet ball No. 4 enabled Ouschan to quickly get back into the table and finish the match. "To see her bounce back from 4-0 down, it's just great," said coach Mike Neumann, who has trained Ouschan since she was six years old. Prior to this, Ouschan's biggest accomplishment was a gold medal at the 2005 World Games. But a world title has been elusive until the time came two days before Halloween. Ouschan's last win came at the inaugural WPBA Atlanta Classic held last month, where she defeated Monica Webb . She is also a reigning two-time Women's European champion. Kim, the 27-year-old ace of Korea, received $9,000 in taking the runner-up honors. The player known as the "Little Devil Girl" seemed ready to win the title when she gave Amit a nightmare, racing to a 5-0 lead, a deep hole which the Filipina couldn’t climb out of. Amit pocketed $5,000 for making it to the semifinals. "She had a strong game and I felt that if she was able to do the same thing in the finals, she would be the winner," said Amit after the semis debacle. Unfortunately, Kim failed to ride on the momentum of her big win in the semis. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV