Defending champions China survived a huge scare against Chile in the second round of the BetVictor World Cup of Pool, eventually progressing to the quarter-finals with a 7-6 victory at the Morningside Arena, Leicester, live on Sky Sports, DAZN and networks worldwide.
The Chilean pair of Enrique Rojas and Alejandro Carvajal had taken an early 2-0 lead before being pegged back by China (Wu Jiaqing and Liu Haitao), Wu making a golden break before the defending champions levelled.
Latin American champions Chile, though, we’re unperturbed and worked their way to a 5-3 lead. At that stage they looked set to reach the hill but Carvajal made a mess of the 7 ball, and China were back to within one. It was the turning point China needed. In the next rack it was Chile’s break, one which could have been golden as the 9 sat up in the corner pocket but nothing fell and China had the table.
The combo wasn’t immediately available but after taking down the 1, 2 and 3 the 4/9 presented itself and China were level. They ran the following rack to reach the hill, making it four in succession and looked to be closing out the match until Liu left the 8 hanging over the pocket, setting Chile up to give a fitting conclusion to a match which defined the phrase ‘hill-hill thriller’.
It was China to break in the decider and Liu had the 1 down. Wu then made a powerful 2/6, the table opened up, and the defending champions progressed by the skin of their teeth.
The second last-16 match saw Netherlands (Niels Feijen and Marc Bijsterbosch) up against 2017 runners-up Shane Van Boening and Skyler Woodward of America. USA took the first two racks but their opponents took the next two. The Dutch then moved two ahead themselves at 5-3, capitalising on a Woodward scratch in the eighth. Two-time World Cup runners-up Netherlands were in clinical form and took advantage of another American mistake – this time from Van Boening – to go 6-3 up and when the US No.1 left a 3 hanging in the subsequent rack, Netherlands cleared for the match.
In the last of the first-round fixtures, Spain looked on the ropes before eventually defeating Australia 7-5. Australia had raced into a 2-0 lead and extended that after Sanchez-Ruiz left the 9 in the jaws. They could have gone further ahead but Stone played poor position leaving Sajich a tough 9. He tried to double bank it but left the shot on for Sanchez-Ruiz, who made a pivotal pot for Spain, only for Australia to re-establish their three-rack lead.
A break and run settled things again for Spain and they followed it up with two more successful racks to level at 4-4. Australia regained their advantage and looked set to get to the hill until Sajich missed the 7. The cue settled behind the 9 and Alcaide attempted the jump. At that stage the luck Australia had on their side switched allegiance. World Pool Masters champion Alcaide missed the pot but the 7 travelled to the centre of the table where it kicked the 9 into the middle pocket, and rather than being 6-4 down, Spain were all square.
Australia then broke dry and as Sanchez-Ruiz made the 1, again the 9 took a kick and sat in the jaws of the corner pocket, giving Alcaide a 2/9 carom which took Spain to the hill, and breaking for the match.
Spain’s cue ball control wasn’t as tight as they might have liked in the final rack and a tough position on the 7 forced an error from Sanchez-Ruiz. Stone had to cut it, and with the shot clock ticking down was forced to rush his shot. He made the object ball but the power on the cue ball sent it off the top rail and to the bottom right pocket, scratching to give Spain a place in the last 16.
The BetVictor World Cup of Pool is broadcast live in over 100 countries around the world, including on Sky Sports and DAZN.
The BetVictor World Cup of Pool is sponsored by Rasson Billiards, who supply the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator are the Official Cue of the event and Kamui the Official Chalk and Tip.
Team Chile (JP Parmentier – Matchroom Multi Sport)
Chile stunned Great Britain B at the BetVictor World Cup of Pool on Tuesday, dumping the hosts out of the tournament with a 7-5 first-round victory at the Morningside Arena, Leicester, live on Sky Sports and DAZN.
There were wins for Philippines and USA during the evening session, but the big story was Chile. As hosts, Great Britain have two teams in the event, and it was Enrique Rojas and Alejandro Carvajal who had the unenviable task of facing the ‘B’ team of Mark Gray and Imran Majid in front of their home crowd.
But the South American pairing rose to the occasion and matched the host nation throughout. The race-to-seven match reached 4-4 without either side opening up more than a one-frame lead. Chile moved to the hill at 6-4, and though Great Britain B pulled one back, they couldn’t force the decider as the visitors closed out the match for a memorable win and to set up a second-round encounter with defending champions China.
That came after Carlo Biado and Jeff De Luna were pushed all the way in the tournament’s first hill-hill thriller as the Philippines survived an almighty scare against the Czech Republic pairing of Roman Hybler and Michael Gavenciak.
At no point during the match did either side open up a lead of more than one rack, and it was the Czechs who reached the hill first, but their sixth dry break allowed the Philippines to run out and join them, giving a fitting conclusion to a gripping clash.
It was Biado to break in the decider, and with the 1 down the table offered an opportunity to clear. Biado, though, missed a straight 5, which came to rest back along the top rail. Hybler attempted to bank it down table but, as well as missing, he left De Luna a clear shot. This time the Philippines made no mistakes and saw out the match to set up a second-round clash with Albania.
Earlier in the evening USA had defeated Brazil 7-2. Shane Van Boening and Skyler Woodward, finalists at the World Cup in 2017 and Mosconi Cup winners last December, were not at their best but still managed a convincing win over the struggling Brazilians and will meet Holland in round two on Thursday evening.
“We didn’t really play well,” said Van Boening. “We had a problem with our luggage, Skyler’s cues didn’t show up until two hours before the match. We were running around trying to get his bag so he could play, so we didn’t get much practice before the match.”
Play continues with six more first round matches across two sessions on Wednesday, including hosts Great Britain A in action against Tony Drago’s Malta. The BetVictor World Cup of Pool is broadcast live in over 100 countries around the world, including on Sky Sports and DAZN.
The BetVictor World Cup of Pool is sponsored by Rasson Billiards, who supply the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator are the Official Cue of the event and Kamui the Official Chalk and Tip.
Germany’s formidable pairing of Josh Filler and Ralf Souquet (JP Parmentier)
The final teams have been confirmed for the 2019 World Cup of Pool with powerhouse nations such as Philippines, Germany and Holland all set to compete at the Morningside Arena, Leicester this June 25-30.
Tickets are on sale now at www.matchroompool.com for pool’s biggest doubles event with the draw to be announced shortly.
A further 15 teams have been added to the line-up with the final nation to be the winner of a European qualifying event, which will take place over the weekend of June 1-2 at IDM Club in Bucharest, Romania.
US Open and World Champion Joshua Filler will again compete alongside Ralf Souquet for Germany, with another Mosconi Cup legend in Niels Feijen being joined by Marc Bijsterbosch for Holland. Alex Pagulayan teams up with John Morra to represent Canada, and Ko brothers Pin-Yi and Ping-Chung will be aiming to win Chinese Taipei’s second World Cup title.
Other Asian nations will include Japan (Naoyuki Oi and Toru Kuribayashi), Hong Kong (Lo Ho Sum and Yip Kin Ling Leo), Singapore (Aloysuis Yapp and Sharik Aslam Sayed) and three-time World Cup winners Philippines (Carlo Biado and Jeff De Luna).
Elsewhere South American Champions Chile will be represented by Enrique Rojas and Alejandro Carvajal, while there will also be teams from Brazil and Saudi Arabia, with players to be confirmed shortly.
Tickets for the 2019 World Cup of Pool are on sale now priced at £5 for weekday afternoons and £10 for weekday evenings and weekend sessions. A season ticket is available for £75 with premium ticket packages available for weekend days including food and unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks.
The 2019 World Cup of Pool features 32 two-player teams battling for the $60,000 first prize from a total prize fund of $250,000. Matches are race to 7 in the first two rounds, race to 9 in the quarter and semi-finals and, for the first time, race to 11 in the final.
The 2019 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by the following partners: Iwan Simonis (Cloth), Saluc (Aramith Balls), Rasson (Table), Predator (cues), Kamui (chalk and tip).
Team Philippines Will Face the Czech Republic In Round One (JP Parmentier)
The draw for the 2019 World Cup of Pool has been made, with China to start their title defence against Sweden and hosts Great Britain A to face Malta in round one.
Tickets are on sale now at www.matchroompool.com for pool’s biggest doubles event, which takes place at Morningside Arena, Leicester from June 25-30, live on Sky Sports.
Wu Jiaqing and Liu Haitao will represent China but their quest to become the first team to successfully defend the World Cup title will be given a though examination in round one as they come up against Sweden, comprised of Tomas Larsson and European Mosconi Cup captain Marcus Chamat on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 25.
As hosts, Great Britain have two teams in the event. Great Britain A (Jayson Shaw and Chris Melling) being their World Cup on the Wednesday evening against Malta, who include cue legend Tony Drago alongside Clayton Castaldi. Great Britain B (Imran Majid and Mark Gray) face Chile (Enrique Rojas / Alejandro Carvajal) during Tuesday evening’s session.
World Cup of Pool Draw:
China v. Sweden
Great Britain B v. Chile
Holland v. South Africa
USA v. Brazil
Philippines v. Czech Republic
Russia v. Albania
Canada v. France
Germany v. Estonia
Chinese Taipei v. Saudi Arabia
Greece v. New Zealand
Japan v. Hong Kong
Austria v. European Qualifier
Spain v. Australia
Finland v. Singapore
Poland v. Italy
Great Britain A v. Malta
World Cup of Pool Round 1 Schedule:
Tuesday, June 25 (Afternoon session)
China v. Sweden
Holland v. South Africa
Russia v. Albania
Tuesday, June 25 (Evening session)
USA v. Brazil
Philippines v. Czech Republic
Great Britain B v. Chile
Wednesday, June 26 (Afternoon session)
Germany v. Estonia
Chinese Taipei v. Saudi Arabia
Japan v. Hong Kong
Wednesday, June 26 (Evening session)
Canada v. France
Greece v. New Zealand
Great Britain A v. Malta
Thursday, June 27 (Afternoon session)
Austria v. European Qualifier
Finland v. Singapore
Poland v. Italy
Thursday, June 27 (Evening session)
Spain v. Australia
Round Two:
China/Sweden v. Great Britain B/Chile
Holland/South Africa v. USA/Brazil
Tickets for the 2019 World Cup of Pool are on sale now at www.matchroompool.com priced at £5 for weekday afternoons and £10 for weekday evenings and weekend sessions. A season ticket is available for £75 with premium ticket packages available for weekend days including food and unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks.
The 2019 World Cup of Pool features 32 two-player teams battling for the $60,000 first prize from a total prize fund of $250,000. Matches are race to 7 in the first two rounds, race to 9 in the quarter and semi-finals and, for the first time, race to 11 in the final.
The 2019 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by the following partners: Iwan Simonis (Cloth), Saluc (Aramith Balls), Rasson (Table), Predator (cues), Kamui (chalk and tip).
The draw for the 43rd US Open 9-Ball Championship has been made, with Jayson Shaw to begin his defense against Marcus Weston at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas on Sunday, April 21.
The draw was seeded with a golf-style category system adopted, which took in rankings from across the pool world including WPA World Ranking, BCA Standings and Fargo Rating. As defending champion Shaw was seeded No.1, while five-time US Open champion Shane Van Boening is seeded second as the highest ranked American player.
Broadcast details for the 2019 US Open 9-Ball Championship will be announced shortly. Live rack-by-rack scoring will be available throughout the event at www.matchroompool.com thanks to Matchroom Multi Sport’s partnership with CueScore.
Note: Should any players featured in the draw not participate in the event, they will be replaced directly by the first player on the event waiting list to accept a spot in the tournament, irrespective of where the new player would have featured in any seeding category.
All matches at the US Open 9-Ball Championship takes place April 21-26 at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas. Matches are race to 11, winner breaks, except the final which is race to 13. The draw and match schedule for the first stage of the tournament is available now at www.matchroompool.com.
Tickets for the 43rd US Open 9-Ball Championship are still available at www.matchroompool.com from as little as $10 with VIP packages also available for the final three days of the tournament.
The tournament will be split into two stages with the full field playing double elimination down to the final 16 from Sunday April 21st until Tuesday April 23rd across multiple tables. From Wednesday April 24th until Friday April 26th the final 16 players will play straight knockout in the TV Arena in front of a global television audience.
A veritable armada of pool’s biggest stars pushed their way through to the Final 64 knockout stage at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha today, as the business end of proceedings quickly started to take shape at the 2018 World 9-ball Championship.
It was a very busy day which saw 32 players qualify for the money rounds, and another 32 players see their dreams of glory come to a screeching halt.
Of course it was quite expected when the tournament began on Friday that over half the original field of 128 players from over 40 countries had no chance at actually winning the event. But the outcomes today were somewhat surprising in that we saw few of the upsets fans have come to expect in the group stages over the years. The only big name to fall by the wayside and get a pink slip was 2001 World 9-ball Champion and Hall of Famer Mika Immonen, who lost his second straight match in as many days.
Otherwise the day’s action saw one superstar and rising star after the next take their place in the final 64. When the field is filled at the end of the day’s play on Sunday, fans around the world can expect one of the finest runs to the gold in many years.
World number one Klenti Kaci hasn’t looked his sharpest so far. But the 19 year old Albanian did what he had to do in a steady 9-6 win over Kuwaiti Meshaal Al Murdhi.
Defending champion Carlo Biado of the Philippines seemed to be on cruise control in his 9-5 win over Russia’s Sergey Lutsker. Despite being the reigning 9-ball king, the Filipino great benefits from being so humble and so low key that he plays almost unnoticed.
The biggest winners Saturday in terms of countries was Taiwan, which saw a whopping seven of its players qualify for the round of 64. 2015 World 9-ball champion Ko Pin Yi looked the goods today as he handily beat Czech Republic’s Roman Hybler, 9-4. 2017 semi-finalist Lin Wu Kun grinded out a solid 9 – 7 victory over former champion Yukio Akagariyama of Japan. Ko’s younger brother Ko Ping Chung took a 9 – 6 win over Greece’s Nikolas Malai. Hsieh Chia Chen beat Russian strongman Ruslan Chinhov 9-8 to make it through.vLui Ri Ten beat American Billy Thorpe 9-7 to make it through.
Taiwan’s biggest monster right now—and that is saying something– is surely Chang Jung Lin who is currently ranked number 2 in the world. Chang did win his second straight match to qualify today, but he once again had to go to the limit to get there. Chang blew an 8-5 lead to Greece’s Damianos Giallourakis and had to eke out victory with a nervy clear in the very last rack for a second straight 9-8 win.
The USA’s Shane Van Boening, who is one of the heavy favorites this week in Doha, didn’t have as easy a time today as he did on day one. But he was never in real trouble against Venezuelan veteran Jalal Al Sarisi, winning 9-7. SVB’s Mosconi Cup teammate Corey Duel played steady 9-ball and easily defeated Finland’s Petri Makkonen 9-4 to make the knockout stage.
World number six and 2014 champion Niels Feijen had another solid day, defeating Spain’s Francisco Diaz-Pizarro, 9-7. The Dutchman’s Mosconi teammate Albin Ouschan didn’t fare as well as he took a thumping from Poland’s Konrad Juszczyszyn, 9-4. Juszczyszyn may not be a household name to pool fans but it should be noted that he is the current European 9-ball champion. Another Pole who scored a very big victory was Mateusz Sniegocki who took down a very tough Filipino, Jeffrey Ignacio, 9-5. Tomasz Kaplan made it three for Poland today with a win over South Africa’s Jason Theron.
It was good day for the Germans as both Ralf Souquet and Joshua Filler won their second straight matches to qualify for the final 64. 18 year old Russian Fedor Gorst continued to impress as he qualified with a handy 9-1 win over Jeong Young Hwa of Korea.
It was a very big day for the Japanese side as three players made it through with impressive wins. Takano Tomoo took down former world champion Wu Jiaqing 9-8. Naoyuki Oi was a 9 – 4 winner over Finland’s Casper Matikainen. And Tomoya Iima took a 9 – 7 win over Hoang Guong Quoc of Vietnam.
Other winners who qualified for the knockout rounds included the Philippines Jeffrey De Luna, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, Canada’s Alex Pagulayan, Myanmar’s talented Phone Myint Kyaw, Spain’s Fracisco Sanchez Ruiz, Greece’s Alex Kazakis, China’s Wang Can and Russia’s Konstantin Stepanov.
Chris Melling, the lone Brit in the field, again looked the goods as he easily beat South Africa’s Richard Halliday, 9-3. Qatar’s Waleed Majid also won his second straight to make it through, beating China’s Xu Xiacong, 9-6.
Play continues on Sunday in Doha at the Al Arabi with the action beginning at 12pm local time(GMT +3.) All matches on Sunday will be do or die, losers side matches with the winners advancing to the knockout round and the losers going out of the event.
The winner of the 2018 World 9-ball Championship will receive $40,000. The runner up will receive $20,000. The total prize fund is $200,000.
*The 2018 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Al Arabi Sports Club Sports Club in Doha, Qatar from December 10-20, 2018. The event is hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by The World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.
Fans around the world will be able to view many of the matches via the QBSF’s free live streaming platform. Multiple tables will be available to view online at no charge to the public. Please visit the WPA Facebook Page for more information.
The WPA is also on Twitter; @poolwpa
Visit the official website of the WPA at www.wpapool.com
The players will compete on Wiraka DYNASTY Tables with Simonis 860 Cloth, Electric Blue Color and using Aramith Tournament Pro cup TV Pool Balls featuring the new Duramith Technology.
Media coverage of the 2018 World 9-ball Championship is being supported by the American Poolplayers Association(APA). Join the world’s largest pool league today. Please visit join.poolplayers.com
Shane Van Boening has never won a World 9-ball Championship. He did, of course, come ever so close, finishing runner up in 2015, and 2016. After skipping last year’s championship, however, there is a palpable sense in Doha that the American star is absolutely destined to finally grab the world crown in 2018.
Interestingly there are eight former World 9-ball Champions in this year’s field, all of them still highly capable of pulling off the impossible feat yet again. But nobody is yet talking about them. It’s the moniker ‘SVB’ who is on everyone’s lips.
Van Boening has admitted that he is playing his best pool perhaps ever. After a grueling six month training regime, he led Team USA to a thrilling victory in the Mosconi Cup last week. He showed up in Doha saying he intends to win, and that he is playing with zero pressure on his shoulders.
Fans in Doha, and the pro pool community itself seem to agree something is afoot. While most players played in the relative obscure quiet of the cavernous Al Arabi Sports Club on day 1 of this year’s championship, Van Boening’s time in the arena today actually drew a fair amount of watchers. Everyone and anyone who likes pro pool around here seems to feel something special is afoot.
The American didn’t disappoint in his first outing, as he crushed Poland’s Marek Kudlik 9-1. Good breaking, solid potting, deft safeties all showed up in Van Boening’s arsenal today. Combined with his quiet confidence, SVB laid down an early marker stating that nothing short of victory in Doha will suffice.
As all 128 players saw action on the first day of the 2018 World 9-ball Championship, it’s clear, though, that Van Boening will have plenty of serious contenders just as eager and capable of taking the crown on December 20. This year’s field is positively stacked with ferocious talent, both young and not so young. With the Wiraka tables breaking fairly easily—wing ball down, 1 in or near the side pocket—it’s all going to come down to who can handle the almost impossible pressure. Pool fans are in for a real treat over the next six days.
In the group stages it’s all about just winning two matches, to make it through to the final 64, where the tournament becomes single knockout all the way to the final. Defending champion Carlo Biado of the Philippines had an easy time of it today, easily taking down Argentina’s Llanos Jorge, 9-3. The man who lost in last year’s final to Biado, fellow Filipino Roland Garcia, came into Doha one of the hottest players in Asia and with high expectations. Garcia, though, stumbled out of the blocks to Taiwan’s Hsu Jui An, 9-8. Garcia will move over to the one loss side of his group where he needs two wins to advance.
World number one Klenti Kaci came out looking tired against the always tough Chilean Alejandro Carvajal. The Albanian teen was down four racks early but battled back to clip Carvajal at the wire, 9-7.
Pool’s young guns get more numerous and more dangerous year after year. 21 year old German sensation Joshua Filler played his usual brand of solid, care free pool in a 9-6 win over Bulgaria’s Ruslanov Stanimir. 17 year old Russian Fedor Gorst handled the always tough Kuwaiti Omar Al Shaheen, winning 9-6. 17 year old Pole Wiktor Zielinski came in with some expectations on his shoulders but he fell to Japan’s Tomoya Iima, 9-7.
It was a good day for the USA Mosconi Cup team as both Billy Thorpe and Corey Duel notched victories, and moved with one win of making the final 64. Canada’s Alex Pagulayan, a winner in 2004, barely scraped by Lebanon’s Mohammad Berjaoui, 9 – 8. Fellow Canadian John Morra has an easier time of it today, blanking the Philippines Roberto Brillantes, 9-0.
Taiwan’s Chang Jung Lin is considered one of the tournament favorites but he struggled mightily against Korea’s Kwon Hojun. Chang was actually down 6-2 at one point but stormed back and won at the wire, 9-8.
Chang was one of eight Taiwanese notching victory today, including 2015 champion Ko Pin Yi, Ko’s younger brother Ko Ping Chun, Hsieh Chia Chen and Lin Wu Kun. The Ko’s actually have an even younger brother in the event, Ko Ping Han, but he lost to Japan’s Hayato Hijikata.
The four European Mosconi Cup players on hand all won today. Besides Kaci, Austria’s Albin Ouschan continued to look rock solid with a 9-4 win over the USA’s Thomas Tokoph. The Netherlands’ Niels Feijen waltzed to victory with a neat 9-5 win over the always stingy Taiwanese Chang Yu Lung. Greece’s Alexander Kazakis barely got by Slovakia’s Jakub Koniar, 9-8.
England’s Chris Melling is someone people seem to be talking about as a possible champion, and the lone British representative on hand didn’t disappoint, winning easily over the Netherlands Marc Bijsterboch, 9-2.
Former world champion Wu Jiaqing of China cruised with a 9-1 win over the Netherlands’ Jimmy Worung. China went 5 out of six today with wins also by Dang Jinhu, Liu Haitao, Wan Can and Xu Xiacong.
Former world champion and hall of famer Ralf Souquet found victory today with a 9-3 win over the Maldives’ Mohammed Hassan. But former world champion and fellow hall of famer Mika Immonen fell to Russia’s Ruslan Chinahov, 9-5.
Qatar’s favorite player made a splash today. Waleed Majid, who made it to the quarterfinals here in 2014, showed that he has clawed his way back into championship form with a 9-5 win over former US Open champion, Yu Hsuan “Kevin” Cheng.
Play continues on Saturday in Doha at the Al Arabi with the action beginning at 10am local time(GMT +3.) After the four sessions on Saturday, 32 players will be out and 32 players will be through to the final 64.
The winner of the 2018 World 9-ball Championship will receive $40,000. The runner up will receive $20,000. The total prize fund is $200,000.
*The 2018 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Al Arabi Sports Club Sports Club in Doha, Qatar from December 10-20, 2018. The event is hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by The World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.
Fans around the world will be able to view many of the matches via the QBSF’s free live streaming platform. Multiple tables will be available to view online at no charge to the public. Please visit the WPA Facebook Page for more information.
The WPA is also on Twitter; @poolwpa
Visit the official website of the WPA at www.wpapool.com
The players will compete on Wiraka DYNASTY Tables with Simonis 860 Cloth, Electric Blue Color and using Aramith Tournament Pro cup TV Pool Balls featuring the new Duramith Technology.
Media coverage of the 2018 World 9-ball Championship is being supported by the American Poolplayers Association(APA). Join the world’s largest pool league today. Please visit join.poolplayers.com
The 2018 World Cup of Pool got underway this afternoon at the Luwan Arena, Huangpu District in Shanghai, as the event moved to China for the first time in its illustrious history. The defending champions were the Austrian pair of Albin Ouschan and Mario He who had defeated the USA in London 12 months ago and they opened proceedings with a first round match against Chile.
The $250,000 tournament originated in 2006 and has since moved around the world before touching down in Shanghai. The World Cup features 32 pairs from around the globe including two from host nation China. Running from 15th to 20th May, the event is live in over 100 countries around the world.
The Chilean pair of Enrique Rojas and Alejandro Carvajal who travelled the longest and furthest to reach the event moved into a 3-0 lead against the No.1 seeds. Austria though, steadied the ship and while they didn’t look their best rallied to get back into the game and eventually ran out comfortable winners.
Poland, runners-up in this event in 2012, featured the pairing of experienced Mateusz Sniegocki and 17 year-old wonderkid Wiktor Zielinski. They came through their match against Kuwaiti pair of Mohammad Sale and Bader Al Awadhi but not before the Middle Easterners had given them plenty to think about.
Commented Sniegocki, ““We are glad with the victory but we should play a little bit better, so I hope in the next match we will show our better skills. Wiktor is one of the best young players in Europe so I feel I have great back up in him.”
Zielinski said, “It is good to win. This is my first big event, organised by Matchroom Sport, I have never played in a tournament like this before. I felt pressure in the beginning but after three frames I felt more comfortable and played better but I still made too many mistakes.”
In the final match of the session, two-time World Cup of Pool runners-up Holland, made it through to the second round at the expense of Thailand who battled hard but were undone by an unlucky scratch with the scores poised at 6-5. The Dutch were lead by the redoubtable Niels Feijen and he was joined by Marc Bijsterbosch making his debut in the event.
Play continues on Thursday evening with three more first round matches.
Canada (9) v Scotland
Germany (5) v Indonesia
China B (12) v South Africa
2018 World Cup of Pool sponsored by Iwan Simonis who supply the Official Cloth; the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc, and Predator is the Official Cue of the event.
There were mixed fortunes for the big names taking part during Day 1 of the fifth annual Joy Billiards World Chinese 8 Ball Masters.
Reigning two time champion Yang Fan (China) was immediately pushed to the Losers Bracket when he was ousted 13-9 by fellow countryman Wan Tongle. He did however keep himself in the event with a comfortable 13-2 win over Canadian Shannon Ducharme afterwards.
Also on the chase for a hat-trick of titles is 2013 & 2014 champion Gareth Potts (England, pictured above) who came through both his matches with change to spare.
Overall, it was a fine day for the British players as Jack Whelan (England), Liam Dunster (Scotland) and Zak Shepherd (Wales) all got wins on the board.
Some of the world's greatest 9 Ball players are on show in Qinhuangdao, but for 5 times US Open Champion Shane Van Boening and reigning World Champion Albin Ouschan, Tuesday offered up problems for the pair in the form of Chinese opposition.
SVB was comprehensively put away 13-4 by Yu Ting, whilst Ouschan went down 13-8 to Zhao YunBiao.
Despite this slow start, though, both made amends in their following games, therefore keeping hopes alive of another big tournament victory.
Current Chinese 8 Ball World Champion Shi Hanqing and national ranked number 1 Zheng Yubo began their quests successfully with First Round wins; although then lost their first lives when beaten by Gong Haifeng and Corey Deuel respectively in the next round.
It is double elimination all the way through until the Grand Final, which will then be a one-off Championship match.
In total, after just Day 1 of the event, 16 of the 64 starting field are out.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS – First to 13 with a 140 minute time limit
The fifth annual Joy Billiards World Chinese 8 Ball Masters is set to be the most cosmopolitan and competitive edition yet.
64 players from 28 different countries spread across all six continents will travel to the North East Chinese city of Qinhuangdao aiming for a slice of the $110,000USD (approx just under £90,000) total prize fund.
2017's final line up has been determined after months of qualifying in the host nation and beyond, as well as a selection process by the tournament organisers for the chosen wildcards.
The history of this event has been dominated by two players. England's Gareth Potts, a four time World Champion in the English Pool discipline, won the inaugural championship in 2013 and then successfully defended it the following year.
Potts' streak was ended in 2015 when home cueist Yang Fan (pictured above) beat him in the Last 4 before then completing the job in the final. Yang proved it was no fluke by retaining the title in 2016.
However, as the popularity and profile of Chinese 8 Ball increases globally, the standard, and the potential possibility of a different champion has risen too.
Potts and Yang will indeed be back in their attempts to claim a hat-trick, but both will face fierce opposition from a number of multi-discipline Cuesports stars with significant career accolades.
5 times US Open 9 Ball Champion Shane Van Boening, recently signed up by Joy Billiards, has shown his commitment and dedication to Chinese 8 Ball by having a table installed at his home venue in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Van Boening's fellow countryman, Corey Deuel, will also be representing the USA after coming through a qualifier held in New Jersey at the back end of last year. The former Mosconi Cup winner is familiar to playing snooker (competed in Q-School and has been a national champion), and makes a return to China having appeared here 12 months ago.
In fact, a number of well known names from the international American Pool circuit will feature, but the highlight entry will surely be reigning WPA World 9 Ball Champion Albin Ouschan of Austria, who is fresh from becoming the Mosconi Cup MVP before Christmas.
It will be Ouschan's debut in this tournament, but he has history of success in the country after winning the prestigious China Open 9 Ball in 2015.
The world of English 8 Ball Pool will also be handsomely represented.
Reigning BI World Champion Liam Dunster (Scotland) will try his hand, whilst 2015 IPA World Champion Jack Whelan (England) – who has some previous Chinese 8 Ball experience, advanced as the UK qualifier. French small table legend Christophe Lambert has also been invited to make his debut.
India's Dharminder Singh Lilly has a wealth of experience in different formats; only a couple of months ago he became the IBSF World Seniors Snooker Champion in Qatar.
Of these 32 'Overseas' entries, 19 will be making their debut in the venue stages of this competition. Such is the expansion of this cuesport into new territories, qualification events were held in Argentina, Canada, England, Morocco, South Africa and the USA. To read up on some of these events, please visit our 'Professional Pool' column here.
The other half of the field is made up of players from the host nation.
Shi Hanqing, the reigning World Chinese 8 Ball Champion, will be looking to go one better than his runners-up place in 2014 and take his first Masters trophy. Shi is the only Chinese player to have featured in every edition.
The national ranked Number 1, Zheng Yubo, (beaten finalist in 2015 to Yang) is also likely to be one of the pre-tournament favourites.
Chinese 8 Ball is somewhat a hybrid of a number of different Cuesports rules and equipment. Around 80 million people play in China, with table manufacturer Joy Billiards having 3000 clubs in the country alone.
For more information on the sport, and how to buy equipment, please visit Joy Billiards' new English language website here.
The Cue View aim to keep you updated throughout the event. Please like our Facebook page, where we hope to post live stream links and scores.
CHINESE QUALIFIERS
Li Xiaopeng, Dong Yi, Shen Chongyang, Dai Yong, Wu Hao, Wang Peng, Li Hui, Yang Fan, Liu Yang
Xie Zhaohui, Liu Xin, Wan Tongle, Xi Hongyu, Zhang Guanghao, Xi Shouxin, Zhang Daowei, Zhao
Ruliang, Yin Hongxing, Wu Zhenyu, Xia Hongyan, Shi Hanqing, Wang Yun, Lu Xin, Fan Zhisong,
Zhang Kunpeng, Gong Haifeng, Chen Qiang, Li Bo, Zhao Yunbiao, Yu Ting, Zheng Yubo, Li Heng
INTERNATIONAL QUALIFIERS
AFRICA – Velly Diamond (South Africa), Richard Halliday (South Africa), Mohamed Essaid (Morocco)
