The next went to Diks after a masse from Hohmann left a potable red 3, but the German got back to the table in the next rack after Diks messed up a 4 / 1 combo. He completed a tricky run out to take the score to 3 - 2 in the World Champion's favour.

Hohmann, though, got his head down and took the next four racks with some classy run outs, and at 7 - 2 the match looked to be in the bag.

However, as is so often the case, a few nervy mistakes by Hohmann gave Rico Diks the opportunity to claw his way back into the game.

In the tenth rack, a relatively easy miss o­n the 5 ball by Hohmann allowed Diks the chance to clear and give the home support something to cheer about. There was further luck for the Dutchman in the next when Hohmann missed a dolly 8 ball to leave him the 8 and 9 to go 7 - 4.

Diks ran out the next and when Hohmann scratched o­n a tricky cross bank in the thirteenth rack, Rico knocked in a 6 / 9 combo to bring it back to 7 - 6.

However, that was to be his last contribution to the match as Hohmann took the next to give himself an 8 - 6 victory and set himself up for a quarterfinal match against Taiwanese hot shot Hui kai Hsia.

Strickland Toughs it Out

1997 Masters champ Earl Strickland is through to tomorrow's quarterfinal match up against either Tom Storm or Efren Reyes, following a high-quality encounter with top Dutchman Niels Feijen in Egmond aan Zee.

Both players produced some superb play throughout the match, but it was the three-time World Champion who set the early pace as he ran into a 4 - 0 lead without Feijen ever visiting the table.

Feijen, though, had his chance in the fifth rack but missed a tricky long 3 ball, and from there Strickland cleared to increase his lead to five.

The Dutchman made his first 9 ball of the match via a 7 / 9 combo and  another combination, this time a 5 / 9, which helped him take the score to 5 - 2.

Two back-to-back run outs by the Hague-based potter made things very interesting at 5  - 4, but a missed bank o­n the blue 2 in the next gave Strickland ball in hand and from there he cleared to move into a 6 - 4 lead.

Both players had visits in the next but just when it looked like Feijen was right back in it, he missed trying to stun a simple black 8 into the corner bag. An elementary two-ball clearance by Strickland put him o­n the hill at 7 - 4.

In the twelfth rack, Feijen appeared to be dead and buried. He played a table length bank shot to escape a Strickland snooker, potted the red 3 but followed it in with the cue ball. With ball in hand, things looked easy for Strickland, but he inexplicably scratched after pocketing the 5 ball.

Feijen took the rack to take it to 7 - 4, but it was to be his last moment of fleeting glory as he o­nce again missed the orange 5 to present the match to Earl Strickland.

Afterwards the victor was magnanimous in defeat. "Niels is a good player, and he really had a go to get back in the match after I got off to such a good start. I thought I played well enough, but the crowd here were great. This is a real tough o­ne to win, so I will have to keep it going tomorrow."

Reyes Blows Up a Storm!

Pre-tournament favourite Efren 'Bata' Reyes made light work of EPBF No.1 Tom Storm to advance to the second stage of the 2003 pokerempire.com World Pool Masters at the Hotel Zuiderduin at Egmond aan Zee, Holland.

With an 8 - 3 score line, it was eventually easy work for the charismatic Pinoy star, but not before Storm, 38, had made a tussle of it in the early stages.

At 2 - 2, Storm looked very much in the game, but Reyes, who received a superb reception from the Dutch crowd, began to turn o­n the style as he found his form to run out the racks.

In fact, Storm's o­nly success after that was in the ninth rack, but he made too many mistakes for an in-form player of Reyes' calibre, who now faces Earl Strickland in a mouth-watering quarterfinal tie.

Afterwards Reyes was his usual reticent self. "I had never played Tom Storm before, but I know he is a good player. I was a bit lucky today, and I will have to play good to beat Earl Strickland."

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