It’s down to the last four teams and down to two gigantic semifinals match-up to decide who advances to the championship round of the 2013 World Cup of Pool in East London. The Finnish versus the Dutch in one draw and the Filipinos against the Taiwanese in the other, all of them want a shot at the prestigious title and $60,000 in prize money.

Finland’s Mikka Immonen and Petri Makkonen went off to a roaring 6-1 start and never looked back in putting away one of England’s bets in this World Cup. The final score was at 9-4 and England B’s pair of Daryl Peach and Chris Melling got the boot as the Finns were the first to get one of the first semis slots.

Immonen and Makkonen are looking to be the first duo in World Cup history to defend a World Cup crown and the third in World Cup history to win two titles. Finland won the World Cup of Pool in Manila in 2012. Only China (2010 and 2007) and the Philippines (2009 and 2006) have two World Cup titles in the history of the event.

The second quarterfinals match-up was more interesting to say the least. Japan and Holland battled to the hill and the latter came out on top in a thrilling 9-8 victory to set the date with the defending champions in the Final Four stage.

The Dutch duo of Niels Feijen and Nick Van den Berg looked well on their way to the victory after getting to the hill first, and an 8-5 lead going into the 14th rack. Alas, the Japanese pair of Naoyuki Oi and Lo Li-wen had a few tricks up their sleeves, racking up three games in a row to put pressure on Holland.

Ultimately, the Dutch finished the match in a masterful 2-9 combo courtesy of Van den Berg to hold off the persistent Japanese in the 17th and final rack.

Semifinal matches are still a race-to-9 affair and format shifts to a race-to-10 in the championship round.

September 22, 2013 (Sunday) Schedule
 (Seeds in parenthesis)

Afternoon session - Semifinals
Finland (1) vs. Holland (5)
Philippines (6) vs. Chinese Taipei (7)

Evening session - Finals
Final - race to 10

Afternoon sessions begin 1:00 p.m. and evening sessions start at 6:00 p.m. London time or 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. next day in Australia.

2013 World Cup of Pool Live Streaming (Links added once available) LINK 1 | LINK 2 | LINK 3