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2014 WPA Women�s World 9-Ball Championship
Guilin Stadium & Dream City
The Olympic City of Guilin
Guilin
China
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12-18 October 2014

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With the knockout stages underway at the Women's World 9-ball Championship in Guilin, China, the pressure is already proving too much to bear for some players.

If you like your pool to resemble a roller coaster ride with plenty of hair raising twists and turns, then the next two days here at the Women�s World 9-ball Championship in Guilin in southern China will surely be everything you could have ever wanted.

This prediction is based on the drama that transpired today inside the Guilin gym, where Judgement Day jitters affected not only the wannabes, but even the sport�s biggest stars. Even straight in 9-balls normally made a thousand out of thousand times in practice were bobbling in the jaws under the intense pressure.

The first order of play today was to trim the field down to 32 where the players would switch to a single elimination knockout, race to 9. (If anyone had any doubts that Asia is the dominant region in pool, they were erased when eyeing who made it through to the Final 32: all but 5 players were from Asia.)

After the draw and a break for dinner, the first 8 matches in the last 32 commenced. As could be expected things didn�t get any easier as the surprises and missteps continued like a domino effect throughout the arena.

Korea�s Ga Young Kim, certainly one of the top five favorites to win here this week, escaped out of her group with narrow 7-6 win over former world champion Shin Mei Lu of Taiwan. In the single elimination round of 32, Kim came up against young and talented Chinese player Wang Xiao Tong. The multi-awarded Kim was a clear favorite, but this event is no ordinary tournament. When Kim found herself in her chair down 8-7 in the race to 9, and Wang shooting a very makeable 9-ball for the win, the Korean star must have known it was curtains. Incredibly Wang missed the easy 9-ball as the crowd gasped in horror. Kim won the rack and then won the decider to stumble into the last 16.

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