Pool - 2015 Kremlin Cup 10 Ball Open
5th-8th November 2015 / Stadium Olimpiyskiy, Moscow, Russia
THE HOME TRACK TO GLORY FOR 'THE SIBERIAN EXPRESS'!
Home player Ruslan Chinakhov came back from the brink to take the 2015 edition of the Kremlin Cup 10 Ball Open.
After losing his opening match to a fellow Russian player 8-5, he was forced to qualify for the Last 32 straight knockouts via the dreaded losers section.
Chinakhov very nearly came unstuck straight away when surviving a 8-7 decider over E. Novosad (Ukraine), before more comfortable wins over L. Georgiov (Cyprus) and K. Polovinchuv (Ukraine).
Now into the clean slate knockouts, he enjoyed a further brace of wins against fellow countrymen to set up a clash with American Shane Van Boening in the quarter-finals.
The pair had already performed a special challenge match on the Friday night, which Ruslan won 30-22, and the local hero repeated the dose to knock out the reigning double World Pool Master 8-5.
An 8-0 destruction of young Bosnian Sanjin Pehlivanovic would propel 'The Siberian Express’ into a mouth-watering final with former World Champion Mika Immonen.
In a predictably tight affair, Immonen stood on the hill at 8-7, but a scratch on the break allowed Ruslan to level it up.
He would make a ball at the start of the seventeenth rack, but after missing a tricky 1-ball, he was fortunate to leave his Finnish opponent in a snooker.
Immonen successfully kicked it, but ultimately left Chinakhov the chance he took for victory.
Other well known names to compete included -
Thorsten Hohmann (Germany) - lost out to Immonen in the Semi-Finals
Ivica Putnik (Croatia) - lost in the Last 32
Rodney Morris (USA) - lost in the Last 32
Imran Majid (Great Britain) - lost in the Last 32
Nick Malaj (Greece) - lost in the Last 16
Alex Kazakis (Greece) - lost in the Last 16
Denis Grabe (Estonia) - lost in the Last 32
Konstanin Stepanov (Russia) - lost in the Last 32
For full results and draw sheet please visit the Kremlin Cup Facebook page here.
There is a YouTube video of the final here, and coverage of the Chinakhov/SVB challenge match here.
Written and published by Michael Day on the 17th November 2015
This year's Kremlin Cup top quartet. Picture courtesy of the Kremlin Cup Facebook page
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