Dutch hopes ended at the hands of Japan
JAPAN ended the hopes of the home nation Holland on the fourth day of the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool.
Holland A exited on Tuesday and the B side of Roy Gerards and Gijs van Helmond, who won a local qualifying event to claim their place in the competition, have now also departed the prestigious team tournament.
Japan's Satoshi Kawabata and Naoyuki Oi led 4-0 and, despite a fightback from the hosts, won 8-5 and now meet either Russia or Philippines on Saturday.
Holland B were cheered on by a large home crowd at the Outland in Rotterdam.
But the duo of Gijs van Helmond and Roy Gerards faced a tough task as they faced the Japanese pairing of Naoyuki Oi and Satoshi Kawabata.
Holland made a poor start as they fell 3-0 down in the earlier stages. An illegal break from Japan in the first rack gave Holland a chance but van Helmond missed the 1-ball and it was 1-0.
The Asian pairing doubled their lead despite another illegal break as van Helmond also missed, this time on the 8-ball, in what was becoming a nervous start from the inexperienced Dutch players.
Holland were spending a lot of time in their chairs as it soon became 3-0 before Japan ran out the fourth with the always-smiling team of Oi and Kawabata laughing and joking their way to a 4-0 lead.
The Dutch finally got another chance in the fifth as Oi missed the brown 7 and the hosts, to the delight of their fans, got their first rack of the match.
Holland won the next as well after a foul from Japan but the momentum switched back to the Asians as teenager Gerards, 19, hit his break shot too hard and the cue ball flew off the table.
But Oi's attempted jump shot ending in disaster and Holland were grateful of the opportunity to win their third rack in a row. Japan won the next for 5-3, Holland B claimed the ninth for 5-4 but Japan restored their two rack advantage by winning the 10th.
However, Holland B were staying in touch and the deficit was back down to one after a double kiss on the green six left Holland with a chance that they took.
An undercut six from Gerards that stayed out of the pocket helped Japan move to the hill at 7-5 and they were closing in on a place in the quarter-finals.
Gerards then missed the same green six in the next rack and that proved to be their last shot in the competition as Japan sealed the victory.
