And then there were three. Chinese Taipei's hopes for a major haul of medals in the World Games billiards competition took a big hit Friday, but Kaohsiung native Yang Ching-shun and two other Taiwanese players remained in contention for medals after quarterfinal wins. Yang, the sentimental favorite to win gold, reached the semifinals of the men's 9-ball tournament with a tense 11-9 victory over the accomplished Marcus Chamat of Sweden. The two-time Asian Games champion trailed early 4-2, but in the seventh game, he took advantage of the only mistake the Swede, nicknamed 'Napoleon, ' committed in the match to run off three straight games and take the lead for good. Ever the battler, Chamat narrowed a 9-5 gap to 10-9, but Yang closed out the match in the 20th game. The Kaohsiung native, nicknamed the 'Son of Pool, ' attributed his victory to keeping his mind off the partisan crowd. 'I always get nervous when I see people, so today I decided to focus on the table,' he said after his win. Yang won the 2001 World Games 9-ball gold medal and after missing the 2005 tournament felt he could not pass up returning to the event staged in his hometown. But if he wants to win gold, he has an even bigger challenge ahead in the semifinals, where the 'Hitman' looms. Germany's Thorsten Hohmann, the 2003 9-ball world champion, set up the clash with an 11-5 victory over American No.1 Shane van Boening. In the other men's semifinal, Germany's Ralf Souquet, the 1996 World 9-ball champion, will face France's Stephan Cohen. Three Taiwanese women sought spots in the women's 9-ball semis Friday, but only two were successful. Lin Yuan-chun, the 2008 world 9-ball champion, coasted past Vivian Villareal of the United States 9-1 to set up a showdown with the 'Duchess of Doom' Allison Fisher of Great Britain. Fisher, who has won four 9-ball world championships and was nominated in June to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame, set up the showdown with a 9-5 win over one of Chinese Taipei's most celebrated players Liu Shin-mei. In the other half of the draw, Chinese Taipei's Chang Shu-han beat Line Kjorsvik of Norway 9-8 and will face the tough Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, who eliminated Jeanette Lee of the U.S. 9-5. Billiards, and especially the 9-ball game, is extremely popular in the host country, and was one of the most anticipated World Games events among local fans. But Chinese Taipei has traditionally not been as strong in the other World Games billiards events -- snooker and carom. The host's hopes in snooker were dashed Friday, when local favorite Wu Yu-lun, who upset the second seed Ricky Walden of Great Britain, was defeated by Mohammed Shehab of the United Arab Emirates 3-0 and Lin Shu-hung lost to David Grace of Great Britain 3-1. In the snooker semifinals, Grace will face Soheil Vahedi and Shehab will play Nigel Graham Bond of Great Britain. In the carom event, Chinese Taipei's Yuan Yung-kuo lost to Marco Zanetti in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Zanetti will play Torbjorn Blomdahl of Sweden, and Dingeman Jaspers of the Netherlands will face Daniel Sanchez Galvez. 