The Prague Checkmates hosting the Bangkok Sixes. Firdoze Uns ripped 511 for Bangkok, getting off to a very strong start. Pancho Barrios answered with 308 for Prague. Gilbert Berry chipped 227 for the Sixes. Lucila Zavala stumbled to 57 points for the Checkmates. Aleix Nieto replied with a measly 93 for Bangkok. Hyunjae Kwak hit a pathetic 48 for Prague. The players continued to the suck out loud, as Zuri Okafor hit only 51 for the Sixes. Corentin Aerts lifted 372 for the Checkmates, making the game competitive a little bit again. Rodas Nunez put up 217 for Bangkok, maintaining their lead. Darryl Estrada straight swung and missed to end his turn at 204. Luis Godinez had a meager 54 for the Sixes, leaving them vulnerable at 1153 in the end. Rayan Carranza hit an unimaginably terrible 8 for the Checkmates, causing them to lose with 997. Neither team deserved to win, but Bangkok got it for an 8-2 record, while Prague drops to 4-5.
Over in South Korea, the Seoul Crushers welcome the Melbourne Renegades. Melbourne got off to a wonderful start with Charlie Thompson clubbing 776 to open the game. Natal Badillo hit only 21 in response for Seoul. Theodore White got on the wrong side of the ball for the Renegades, hitting a meager 28. Gwandoya Makeba shot 537 for the Crushers, including an impressive redirect to the back 4s to save his turn. Sancho Ramos tumbled to 36 points for Melbourne, and they are officially vulnerable. Leandro Gamboa kept his hot play going, smacking 640 to put Seoul in the lead. Rana Naqvi supplied the Renegades with 136, not enough to overcome the current deficit. Max Jennings did not show well against his home country's team, tallying only 46 points for the Crushers. Sikke Eichel lined 377 for Melbourne, pulling them back into the game. Frank Schmidt couldn't handle the pressure, scoring just 25 for Seoul. Stanley Watts slugged 520 for the Renegades, giving them a final of 1873. Zdenko Jansky faltered with 96 for the Crushers, and they fell with 1365. Melbourne jumps to 8-3 while Seoul is 1-7.
Wrapping up the league week, the Toronto Mounties bring in the Guatemala Conquistadors. Frisco Romero blasted 791 for Guatemala to begin. Cyril Hendrickx absolutely crushed for Toronto, giving them 1361 to start with. Eustacio Zarraga had only 37 for the Conquistadors. Curro Garza answered with 192 for the Mounties. Kenzo Hashimoto made it interesting with 558 for Guatemala. Toronto got it all back with 562 from Axel Maes, maintaining their lead. Curtis Caldwell popped off with 423 for the Conquistadors, keeping them in striking range. Tabor Laureano grabbed 54 for the Mounties, offering hope for the visitors. Azul Mora pulled Guatemala ahead with 615, as Blue Lightning strikes big time. Jax Puente answered handily for Toronto, slugging 961 to cement their lead with a player each to go. Adrien Laurent cobbled together 232 for the Conquistadors, but they fell with 2656. Antoine Hendrickx kept it simple for the Mounties, hitting 108 to give the 3238 for their win. Toronto improves to 9-1 in the thrilling game, while Guatemala holds at 4-3.
The Standings, please.
| Team | Wins | Losses | Win % |
| Toronto Mounties | 9 | 1 | 0.900 |
| American Rebels | 7 | 1 | 0.875 |
| Bangkok Sixes | 8 | 2 | 0.800 |
| Melbourne Renegades | 8 | 3 | 0.727 |
| Guatemala Conquistadors | 4 | 3 | 0.571 |
| Johannesburg Lions | 5 | 5 | 0.500 |
| Madrid Toros | 6 | 7 | 0.462 |
| Prague Checkmates | 4 | 5 | 0.444 |
| Manila Pacmen | 4 | 5 | 0.444 |
| Brussels Chocolatiers | 5 | 9 | 0.357 |
| Caracas Hitmen | 2 | 7 | 0.222 |
| Amsterdam Hotstove | 2 | 10 | 0.167 |
| Seoul Crushers | 1 | 7 | 0.125 |
Now, in the Showcase games, the Amsterdam Hotstove host the Eastern Hills UPCL players. Cowzart got going with 246 for the Eastern Hills. The Freedom Cascades are not keen on Cowzart returning, as they try to identify the root of their problems. Amsterdam saw only 144 from Jerry Burke. Citrus tallied 208 for the Eastern Hills, but the Diamond Gems are not paying attention to this effort for her, as her pool performance has redeemed a weak cricket season many times over and she will likely earn protection in pool to return next season. Yaozu Miao kept the score even with his 207 point effort for the Hotstove, matching his opponent. Brownie hit 32 for the Eastern Hills, making it one good and one bad Showcase. Brownie may stick with the Atlantic Pirates for continuity, but that team will be making big changes, with as many as three new faces expected on the team next season. Carlos Barajas picked up 128 for Amsterdam, making it an extremely close game. Nikolai scored 223 for the Eastern Hills, so the first-year player didn't do much to turn heads before the draft. Veto Casas grabbed 407 for the Hotstove, pulling them into a lead for the game. Precious had another weak Showcase with 96 for the Eastern Hills, but her Pronger Tridents are keen on bringing her back after her impressive work in pool, playing mostly road games while turning low-ranked bids into success stories. Andrew Reynolds slapped 391 for Amsterdam, which makes their fans wonder where those points are in meaningful games. Stinky blasted 587 for the Eastern Hills, and the big effort might just be enough to convince the Cascades to keep him, coupled with an even record from pool. Eastern Hills ended at 1392. Manolito Avalos stumbled with 21 for the Hotstove, giving them a loss with 1298.
In the other Showcase, the Madrid Toros host the Spares UPCL side, made up of players who didn't fit on their regional first team. Shannon slapped 570 for the Spares, a good Showcase for the Southern Monarchs, who may end up saving two players after all with Shannon making a deep run on one of her pool bids. Spencer Howard had only 20 for Madrid. Nicole did well in another Showcase, hitting 273 to pair with her 450+ in the first game, but the Monarchs are less keen on her given her deeper struggles this season across events. They do not expect to keep her, but they will give it some more thought. Pepillo Gamboa grabbed 144 for the Toros, who have already played a heavy schedule in the league and are not giving 100% here as they fight for a playoff spot in the league. Cassandra crushed 748 for the Spares, and the former cricket MVP likely just punched her ticket to return to the Diamond Gems, as she remains alive and well in pool and has the pedigree to be kept, as well as two dynamite Showcases that indicate the regular season was a bit fluky. Lennert Verheyen managed only 49 for Madrid. Pedey, an upcoming rookie, hit only 60 in his Showcase, which may scare off some teams at the draft. Thabo Chahine had a respectable 337 for the Toros. Kavan scored only 192 for the Spares, and the Freedom Cascades are not terribly excited to bring him back, meaning he could find himself in the draft pool. The team says it's about a 75% chance they'll cut him. Guillem Gamboa knocked 423 for Madrid, making a small but noticeable comeback attempt. Shiny did nothing to change the Victoria Spurs' collective mind about her, hitting 96 for the Spares and assuring she'll be onto another team next season. The Spares finished with 1939. Martin Badillo tallied 119 for the Toros, giving them a loss with 1092.
That's all for now, with week 6 starting tomorrow. Pool's fourth round will end this afternoon, with accompanying standings updates and a new schedule for the Quarterfinals round following that. Beyond that, administrative tasks include creating the 2015-2016 UPCL cricket schedule. With the way it is designed, I cannot post an official schedule online, but know that every team plays every other team twice (home and away), for a total of 64 games per team this season. Each team hosts one game every league-week. Teams may play multiple road games a week, or play none at all for weeks on end, depending on who hosts them. The schedule is formed using random.org's list generator, which creates home schedules for each team. Also, the billiard balls will be cleaned ahead of the Named Rounds, and the light that went out on the left side of the table will be replaced before games start tomorrow.
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