China edge Malta for place in QFs

China got the result they wanted to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Cup and push Malta down to third place after beating host country Thailand 4-1 in the last match from Group B in Bangkok, yesterday. Australia had already booked their place...

China got the result they wanted to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Cup and push Malta down to third place after beating host country Thailand 4-1 in the last match from Group B in Bangkok, yesterday.

Australia had already booked their place in the last eight when former world champion Neil Robertson and amateur Steve Mifsud delivered the goods after a hard-fought 4-1 victory over the group’s bottom-placed team, the UAE.

That result left China needing a heavy win over Thailand in their last match to overtake Malta in the standings and qualify for the quarter-final.

James Wattana and Dechawat Poomjaeng only manage one win between them when they beat Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo in the doubles but all the other four singles matches went in favour of China.

Ding notched the win China needed to outpoint Malta 13-12 overall when he beat Thai Poom-jaeng in the decisive match.

Malta finished third with 12 frame wins, just one fewer than Australia and China. Tony Drago and Alex Borg had two wins after victories over Thailand and the UAE but lost to the two top teams in the group with an identical 2-3 scoreline.

Quarter-Finals

Wales vs Australia; China vs Ireland; England vs Hong Kong; Scotland vs Northern Ireland.

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