The group stages are complete at the 2004 World Pool Championship, and the players have been moved into the 64 player single elimination brackets that will be used to determine a champion for this year.
The group stages have already seen some surprises as expected players were not able to escape into the final 64. Jeremy Jones, Jose Parica, Niels Feijen, Mike Davis, Hiroshi Takenaka, Akikumo Toshikawa, Max Eberle, Young-Hwa Jeong, Kunihiko Takahashi and Ismael Paez all failed to advance out of the group stages.
With the brackets drawn, the marquee matches start in the first round. Reigning champion Thorsten Hohmann will face his Mosconi Cup teammate Nick Van Den Berg in round one. Ralf Souquet will also face a Mosconi Cup teammate in Marcus Chamat. Florida residents Rodney Morris and Tony Crosby will face off against each other in round one. American Danny Basavich might have caught one of the least lucky draws available. His first round opponent will be Francisco Bustamante while likely matches against Ching-Shun Yang and then Efren Reyes his reward if he can keep winning.
The final 64 brackets are posted and will be updated all week long. For up to the minute scores, make sure to visit the official site of the World Championship at www.worldpoolchampionship.com
Photo courtesy of Matchroom Sport
