It was a marathon pool session not for the faint of heart. The last 32 players of the 2013 World 9-Ball Championship began play 11 am on Thursday at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar. Roughly 12 hours later, the final four was set.

Thorsten Hohmann from Germany, Karl Boyes from the United Kingdom and Carlos Biado and Anthony Gabica from the Philippines all survived the tough field and advanced to the next round.

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Biado was the first one to make the semis with a surprisingly easy win over Chris Melling, 11-3. His quarterfinals fixture was a stark contrast to his previous matches when he saw thrilling hill-hill battles with Shane Van Boening (United States of America) and Fabio Petroni (Italy), and both times came out on top with an 11-10 victory.

In the semis, Biado will meet Hohmann, who beat Jeffrey de Luna (Philippines), 11-7.

Hohmann’s big streak started in the Round of 64 when he booted out defending champion Darren Appleton (Great Britain), 11-5. In the Round of 32, Hohmann defeated yet another Filipino in Dennis Orcullo, 11-8.

The other semis pairing will feature another Filipino in Antonio Gabica, who will battle Boyes for a finals slot.

Gabica edged Oliver Ortmann (Germany), 11-8, in the third round before winning another close one over Ko Pin Yi (Chinese-Taipei), 11-9. Gabica’s biggest test came in the semis when Nick Van den Berg (Netherlands) pushed him to the hill.

Boyes beat Huidji See (Netherlands), 11-8, in the morning session; defeated Lo Li Wen (Chinese-Taipei) in a hill-hill match, 11-10, in the Round of 16; and then took care of Nick Ekonomopulos, 11-8, in the quarterfinals.

Gabica and Hohmann won their respective semifinals matches to advance to the championship.

2013 World 9-Ball Championship - Finals

Finals - Sept 13, 2013 (Friday)
Thorsten Hohmann (Germany) def. Antonio Gabica (Philippines), 13-6

Semifinals - Sept 13, 2013 (Friday)
Antonio Gabica (Philippines) def. Karl Boyes (United Kingdom), 11-6
Thorsten Hohmann (Germany) def. Carlos Biado (Philippines), 11-4