With the annual World Cup of Pool coming back to London this September, Matchroom Sport can announce the 32 teams and players set to contest the annual $250,000 pairs tournament. Taking place at pool’s fiercest venue, the York Hall in Bethnal Green, the World Cup runs from Tuesday 22nd to 27th September.
Defending champions are England A with Karl Boyes and Darren Appleton looking to become the first pair to successfully defend their crown. Competition will be tough though, with a host of previous winners and finalists taking part.
Germany will be represented by 2011 champions Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet and 2012 winners Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen (Finland) will be once again taking part. America’s Shane Van Boening, a winner with Rodney Morris in 2008, is paired with Mike Dechaine this time, while Li Hewen, a two-time winner in 2007 and 2010 will be partnered by Liu Haitao as they make a run for title number three for China.
Holland, desperately unlucky to be runners up in 2013 and 2014, will be looking to go one better as Niels Feijen and Nick Van Den Berg team up once again. Daryl Peach and Mark Gray, who came so close for England in 2008, will also be trying to repeat those performances.
Other highly fancied teams include the Philippines which pairs former World No.1 Carlo Biado with under-rated Warren Kiamco and Taiwan – World 10 Ball champion Ko Pin Yi and Chang Yu Lung. Team Austria will also fancy their chances as World No.1 Albin Ouschan and Mario He pair up one again.
2015 World Cup of Pool Teams
Europe (17)
Austria – Albin Ouschan & Mario He
Belgium – Serge Das & Olivier Mortier
Czech Republic – Roman Hybler & Michal Gavenciak
England A – Darren Appleton & Karl Boyes
England B – Mark Gray & Daryl Peach
Estonia – Dennis Grabe & Erki Erm
Finland – Mika Immonen & Petri Makkonen
France – Stephan Cohen & Alex Montpelier
Germany – Ralf Souquet & Thorsten Hohmann
Greece - Nikos Ekonomopoulos & Alexander Kazakis
Holland – Niels Feijen & Nick van den Berg
Italy – Danieli Corrieri & Antonio Benvenuto
Poland - Mateusz Sniegocki & Wojciech Szewczyk
Romania - Babken Melkonyan & Ioan Ladanyi
Russia – Ruslan Chinakhov & Konstantin Stepanov
Spain - Francisco Diaz-Pizarro & Francisco Sanchez Ruiz
Sweden – Marcus Chamat & Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer
Rest of World (6)
Australia – Robby Foldvari & Chris Calabrese
Canada – Jason Klatt & John Morra
New Zealand – Matt Edwards & Nick Pera
Peru – Cristopher Tevez & Manuel Chau
Qatar – Waleed Majid & Bashar Hussain
USA – Shane Van Boening & Mike Dechaine
Asia (9)
China – Li Hewen & Liu Haitao
India – Raj Hundal & Amar Kang
Indonesia – Muhammad Simanjuntak & Irsal Nasution
Japan – Naoyuki Oi & Toru Kuribayashi
Korea – Jeong Young Hwa & Ryu Seung Wu
Malaysia – Ibrahim Bin Amir & AN Other
Philippines – Carlo Biado & Warren Kiamco
Singapore – Aloysius Yapp & Chan Keng Kwang
Taiwan – Ko Pin Yi & Chang Yu Lung
Commencing on Tuesday 22nd and culminating in the final on the evening of Sunday 27th, the event will be played to a single elimination format over six days with two sessions a day.
There are 31 matches in total.
Tickets are now on sale at www.SEETickets.com and are priced at £10.00 per evening session (Tuesday to Friday), £12.50 per evening session on the Saturday and Sunday. Weekend afternoon sessions are £7.50 while Tuesday to Friday afternoons are free!
A season ticket covering all sessions is priced at £65.00.
The World Cup of Pool will carry a $250,000 prize fund including $60,000 for the champions. The event will be produced by Matchroom Sport Television and televised live on Sky Sports and then syndicated internationally as 31 x 1 hour programmes.
