117 Players from 42 countries Confirmed Qualified for World Pool Championship

MANILA, PHILIPPINES---A total of 117 players representing 42 countries have been confirmed as qualified for spots in the 2006 Philippines World Pool Championship to be held in Manila on November 4-12.

Two additional players from South Africa remain to be confirmed by Matchroom Sport, the lead promoter of the tournament.

The United States with 13 players has the most number of entries. At the top of the US contingent are Earl Strickland (2002 world pool champion), Johnny Archer (US player of the year for several years), and Rodney Morris (runner-up in the recent IPT 8-Ball Championship in Reno).

Chinese Taipei and the Philippines come next with 12 players each. Leading the Chinese Taipei contingent are the reigning 2005 world champion Wu Chia Ching and 2000 champion Fong Pang Chao.

Former world Pool champions Alex Pagulayan (2004) and Efren Reyes (1999) lead the list of qualified players from the Philippines. They are joined by 10 others, including Dennis Orcullo, winner just this Sunday of the 2006 World Pool League tournament in Warsaw, Poland.

Germany, a rising power in world pool, will have nine entries. Leading its contingent are former world champions Thorsten Hohmann (2003), Ralph Souquet (1996) and Oliver Ortmann (1995).

The 2006 WPC in Manila will also be notable for the participation of players from several countries previously not represented in the tournament. China will be represented by three players; France will have two players; and Qatar and Brunei will field a representative each. No less than the Crown Prince of Brunei, Prince Muhtadee Billah, will carry the colors of his country.

To complete the 128 man-field of the tournament, Raya Sports will stage qualifying tournaments at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City from October 28 to November 1. (MARLON BERNARDINO)

The complete list of players follows:
Gustavo Espinosa Argentina

Stuart Lawler Australia
Lou Condo Australia
David Reljic Australia
Chris Calabresse Australia

Prince Muhtadee Billah Brunei

Edwin Montal Canada
Tyler Edey Canada
Harold Rousseau Canada
Nicolas Guimond Canada

Enrique Rojas Chile
Alejandro Carvajal Chile

Li He-wen China
Fu Jian-bo China
Xu Meng China

Wu Chia-ching Chinese Taipei
Chang Pei-wei Chinese Taipei
Kuo Po-cheng Chinese Taipei
Huang Kun-chang Chinese Taipei
Chang Jung-ling Chinese Taipei
Chen Ying-chieh Chinese Taipei
Wang Hung-hsiang Chinese Taipei
Yang Ching-shun Chinese Taipei
Chao Fong-pang Chinese Taipei
Fu Che-wei Chinese Taipei
Lee Kun-fang Chinese Taipei
Liu Cheng-chuan Chinese Taipei

Philipp Stojanovic Croatia

Roman Hybler Czech Republic

Imran Majid England
Darren Appleton England
Daryl Peach England
Andy Worthington England
Kevin Uzzell England
Steve Davis England
Raj Hundal England

Mika Immonen Finland
Markus Juva Finland

Vincent Facquet France
Benjamin Belhassen France

Thorsten Hohmann Germany
Oliver Ortmann Germany
Ralf Souquet Germany
Thomas Engert Germany
Andreas Roschkowsky Germany
Christian Reimering Germany
Jorn Kaplan Germany
Sven Pauritsch Germany
Michael Schmidt Germany

Evangelos Vettas Greece

Kong Bu-Hong Hong Kong

Vilmos Foldes Hungary

Manan Chandra India
Dharminder Singh Lily India

Muhammad Zulfikri Indonesia
Ricky Yang Indonesia
Apsi Chaniago Indonesia
Roy Apancho Indonesia

John Wims Ireland

Fabio Petroni Italy

Takeshi Okumura Japan
Masaki Tanaka Japan
Kunihiko Takahashi Japan

Jeong Young-hwa Korea
Ryu Seong-woo Korea

Patrick Ooi Fook Yuen Malaysia
Ibrahim bin Amir Malaysia

Tony Drago Malta

Ernesto Dominguez Mexico

Nick van den Berg Netherlands
Niels Feijen Netherlands
Huidji See Netherlands
Marcel Martens Netherlands
Alex Lely Netherlands

Ceri Worts New Zealand

Roger Lysholm Norway

Jose Parica Philippines
Marlon Manalo Philippines
Alex Pagulayan Philippines
Efren Reyes Philippines
Francisco Bustamante Philippines
Ramil Gallego Philippines
Rodolfo Luat Philippines
Gandy Valle Philippines
Jeff de Luna Philippines
Ronato Alcano Philippines
Dennis Orcollo Philippines
Roland Garcia Philippines