Roberto Gomez boots Fong Pang-Chao out of WPC

Friday, November 9, 2007

chao_fong-pang_04 Chinese Taipei's Fong Pang-Chao, two-time winner of the World Pool Championship (WPC), got booted out Thursday night by relative newcomer Roberto Gomez of the Philippines, in an emphatic 10-2 match in 2007 edition of the tournament.

Fong was the 1993 and 2000 WPC titleholder. Gomez won this year's Norway Cup and Manny Pacquiao Cup, but this is only his second time to join the WPC. Last year, he got as far as the last-64 stage. This year he has advanced to the last-16 stage.

Gomez, a native of Zamboanga City, will next face Niels Feijen of The Netherlands, who had earlier dispatched of Ralf Souquet, the 1996 WPC champ.

Chao Fong-pang

Monday, November 5, 2007

Personal Background

  • Name: Chao Fong-pang
  • Known as: "The Jump Shooter"
  • Sex: Male
  • Age: na
  • Date of Birth: na
  • Place of Birth: Kaohsiung
  • Country: Taiwan
  • Nationality: Taiwanese
  • Hobbies: Playing pool
  • Spouse: na
  • Sports: Billiard
Achievements:
  • WPA World Nine-ball Championship (1993, 2000)
  • International Challenge of Champions (1995, 2001, 2005)
Trivia:
  • Chao Fong-pang is a Taiwanese professional pool player from Kaohsiung. He is a two-time WPA World Nine-ball Champion winning the tournament in both 1993, after defeating Thomas Hasch of Germany and again in 2000 when he beat Ismael Paez of Mexico. He has also won the International Challenge of Champions three times by besting Okumura Takeshi in 1995, Francisco Bustamante in 2001 and Thomas Engert in 2005.
  • Chao Fong-pang is renowned for his jump shots, relying on them considerably more frequently that most other pros. One notable instance was when he played versus Francisco Bustamante at the 2001 ICC tie-breaker: Bustamante had made a good snooker behind a ball, leaving Chao in a difficult position. But Chao went for the jump, and made it to win the match and the title.
  • While a majority of Taiwanese players play with open bridge hands, Chao is among the few who play with a closed or loop bridge.
  • During the 2006 WPA Championship, he survived the group stages and the round of 64, but was eliminated in the round of 32 by Fu Che-wei.