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.
Ted Dean, Francisco Bustamante, Dennis Orcollo and Robert Gomez
With the exception of one or two opponents that he faced, Dennis Orcollo wasn’t exactly mowin’ ‘em down at the 28th Annual Houston 9-Ball Open, held on the weekend of Sept. 7-9. In his last five matches, he did chalk up a shutout, and a 9-2 win, but he also had to contend with two opponents who chalked up six against him and one who managed to get seven. Slow, but steady wins the race, said the tortoise, and along with earlier victories, it all added up to Orcollo’s fifth 2018 championship title. The $7,500-added Houston 9-Ball Open drew 124 entrants to Legends Billiards in League City, TX.
Once past the shutout over Steve Lechner and the 9-6 win over Warren Kiamco, Orcollo found himself in a winners’ side semifinal match against Amar Kang. Francisco Bustamante, in the meantime, who, in the process of competing in his last five matches, got by Tony Chohan 9-7, and Andy Jethwa 9-3, arrived at his winners’ side semifinal match against the eventual runner-up, Roberto Gomez.
Orcollo downed Kang 9-2. Bustamante was busy dealing with Gomez, who chalked up six, but moved to the loss side when Bustamante got his nine. Orcollo claimed the hot seat over Bustamante 9-7 and waited on the return of Gomez.
Moving to the west bracket, Gomez picked up Kiamco, who, following his defeat at the hands of Orcollo, had downed Casper Matikainen 7-3 and Robb Saez 7-5. Kang drew Kevin Guimond, who’d been defeated on the winners’ side by Gomez, and then, won two straight double hill matches against Omar Alshaheen and Lechner.
With identical 7-5 scores, the Gs (Guimond and Gomez) advanced to the quarterfinals over the Ks (Kang and Kiamco). Gomez took the quarterfinal match against Guimond 7-2, to earn himself a re-match against Bustamante. Gomez took that semifinal re-match 7-5 and got a shot at Orcollo in the hot seat.
For all the good it did him. Orcollo completed his undefeated run through the field with a 9-6 win, pocketing $4K for his work and the Houston Open 9-Ball title.
Dennis Orcollo, who won two of the events of the 2017 West Coast Swing (the One Pocket and 9-Ball Challenge), won his first title of the 2018 WCS, coming back from a hot seat loss in the $15,000-added 10-Ball Challenge to defeat hot seat occupant Ruslan Chinakhov. The event drew 128 entrants to California Billiards in Fremont, CA.
Orcollo and Chinakhov’s paths to the final went through decidedly different draws. Chinakhov got by Joe Hartnett, Teymour Ansari, Ronnie Alcano and Amar Kang to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Omar Alshaheen. Orcollo shut out CJ Robinson in his opening match, and then, in order, defeated Rodney Morris 9-7, Jayson Shaw 9-4 and Shane Van Boening 9-5 to face Roberto Gomez in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Chinakhov and Orcollo advanced to the hot seat match with identical 9-2 victories over Alshaheen and Gomez. After what he’d been through to get there, one would have to imagine that Orcollo (more than anybody) was surprised by Chinakhov’s 9-7 victory in the hot seat match, though undaunted, he moved to the loss side and a semifinal match against Zoren James Aranas, from which he would return for a second (and successful) shot against Chinakhov.
One might also imagine an ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’ scenario for Alshaheen and Gomez, who arrived from a winners’ side semifinal ‘frying pan’ to face the ‘fire’ of Van Boening (for Alshaheen) and Aranas (for Gomez). Van Boening, following his defeat by Orcollo, got by Thorsten Hohmann, double hill, and Warren Kiamco 9-4 to draw Alshaheen. Aranas, who’d initially been defeated by the winner of the 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial, Jeff De Luna, had then eliminated Corey Deuel 9-7, and Jayson Shaw 9-3 to pick up Gomez.
Van Boening and Aranas advanced to the quarterfinals. Van Boening downed Alshaheen 9-5, while Aranas was busy eliminating Gomez 9-7. Van Boening entered the event and the quarterfinals, with a Fargo Rating (819), that was 13 points higher than Aranas’, putting the Fargo ‘winning odds’ in Van Boening’s favor. Aranas, though, won the match 9-7 and turned to face Orcollo.
Leaving little doubt about his determination for a second chance against Chinakhov, Orcollo gave up only two racks to Aranas in the semifinals, and got that second chance. He completed his run with a 15-9 victory in the finals.
Representatives from POVPool (Daniel Busch) and West State Billiards thanked the ownership and staff at California Billiards, as well as sponsors Cohen Cues, Big Time Threads, WestStateBilliards.com, KD Cues, Ariel Carmeli (AC) Cues, Tiger Products and JB Cases. The West Coast Swing will shift operations to Tempe, AZ, where, beginning on Wednesday (July 11), Freezer's Ice House will host a $3,000-added One Pocket Challenge and two days later (July 13, with some entrant overalp), a $10,000-added 10-Ball Challenge.
Shane Van Boening double-dipped James Aranas of the Philippines to win the 8-Ball Division of the U.S. Bar Table Championship Saturday, locking up the All-Around title for the third time.
Van Boening won the 9-Ball Division and took second in the 10-Ball Division earlier this week. He also won the All-Around title in 2008 and 2010.
Van Boening came into the finals from the one-loss side of the bracket. He started the tournament with wins over: Ernesto Dominguez, 5-1; Dave Strachan, 5-0; Dennis Orcollo, 5-3; Max Eberle, 5-4; before losing to Jesse Engle, 4-5. On the B-Side of the bracket, he bested; Mitch Ellerman, 5-1; Skyler Woodward, 5-3; and Jesse Engel, 5-2 to make it to the finals. Van Boening met Aranas in the finals and beat him 5-1 in the first set, to force a second set in the true double-elimination tournament.
Aranas’ went into the finals undefeated, beating: Michael Tonsowny, 5-0; Andrew Wroblewski, 5-3; Marshall Hill, 5-2; Mitch Ellerman, 5-2; Skyler Woodward, 5-0; and Jesse Engel, 5-3. But he was unable to beat Van Boening in the finals.
[photo id=48388|align=right]In the Women’s Division, Arizona’s Bernie Store was undefeated to win the title of 2017 US Bar Table Women’s 8-Ball Champion.
Jessica Frideres, who won the 9-Ball Division, came through the one loss side to meet Store in the finals. Frideres won her first match of the tournament against Amanda Stevens, 4-0, before Store sent her to the losers bracket, 4-3. On the B-side, Frideres bested: Molly Oliver, 4-0; Karen Poitra, 4-2; Jennifer Shumaker, 4-1; Rachel Lang, 4-0; and Tian Tian, 4-2. But Frideres wouldn’t be able to overcome Store in the finals, where she lost 4-1.
Shane Van Boening of South Dakota added a fifth US Bar Table 9-Ball Championship to his resume Thursday at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, beating James Aranas of the Philippines in the finals, 9-2.
Van Boening went into the finals undefeated, posting wins over: Abrin Schaad, 9-6; Ernesto Dominguez, 9-3; Oscar Dominguez, 9-7; Billy Stephan, 9-1 and Mitch Ellerman, 9-4. Van Boening beat Aranas to earn the hot seat, 9-7.
Aranas’ path to the finals included beating: Donald Weatherby II, 9-3; Jeremy Edwards, 9-7; Jason Klatt, 9-6; Sky Woodward, 9-8; and Amar Kang, 9-7. After losing the hot seat match, Aranas beat Jesse Engle, 9-2, to earn a place in the finals.
Van Boening kept control in the final match from the start, jumping out to a 4-2 lead. In the seventh rack, the players traded safeties until a kick by Van Boening left the one ball open for Aranas, who then uncharacteristically missed a six ball to let Van Boening back to the table. They traded safeties again until Aranas made a good hit on the seven ball and then scratched, giving Van Boening the game. Van Boening then broke and ran, to go up 6-2. Aranas scratched again in the next rack, giving up another game. Van Boening broke and ran again, then ran out the final rack after Aranas broke dry.
Van Boening, player representative for the USA Pool League, previously won the 9-Ball Division at the US Bar Table Championships in 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2010. On Tuesday, Van Boening earned second place in the 10-Ball Division.
In the Women’s Division, Jessica Frideres added the title of USBTC 9-Ball Division Champion to her resume, to complete a trifecta of USBTC titles. Frideres, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, won the USBTC 8-Ball Division in 2013, and the USBTC 10-Ball Division in 2016. Frideres’ went into the finals undefeated, having bested Molly Oliver, 7-3 and Rachel Lang, 7-5, before beating Heather Cortez for the hot seat.
Cortez’s path to the finals included wins over: Trinh Lu, 7-4; Amanda Stevens, 7-1; and Rhonda Moses, 7-1, before Frideres sent her to the B-side of the bracket. Cortez then beat Trinh Lu, 7-4, to earn her place in the finals.
But Cortez’s efforts in the finals weren’t enough to beat Frideres, who beat Cortez 7-3 to earn the title.
The 24th US Bar Table Championships kicked off Sunday at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. The 8-Ball began Thursday and continues through Saturday, Dec. 16.
For more information, contact Mary Coffman, CSI Marketing Manager, at 702-719-7665 or by email at mary@playcsipool.com.
After settling for runner-up of the US Bar Table Championships’ 10-Ball Division for the past two years, Skyler Woodward, of Paducah, KY, earned the title of 10-Ball Champion Tuesday.
Woodward went into the finals undefeated, posting wins over: Ian Costello, 7-3; BJ Fox, 7-1; Mark Wissman, 7-5; Mark Tademy, 7-2; and Vinnie Calabrese, 7-5. Woodward met Mosconi Cup teammate Shane Van Boening in the hot seat match Monday evening, and came back from a 6-4 deficit to win 7-6.
Van Boening cleared a clean path through the winner’s bracket as well, beating Donald Weathersby II, 7-2; Robert Doral, 7-2; Amar Kang, 7-6; Jesse Engel, 7-3; and Mitch Ellerman, 7-2; before losing the hot seat to Woodward. In the semifinals, Van Boening beat Vinnie Calabrese, a Australian player with a snooker background, 7-2.
In the first set of the finals, Woodward jumped out to a 3-2 lead before a few errors put Van Boening in control of the set. Woodward miscued on an eight ball, allowing Van Boening to tie the score at 3-3. Then Van Boening broke and ran out to take the lead at 4-3. On Woodward’s next break, he scratched, allowing Van Boening back to the table where he ran another rack, and followed that up with another break and run, putting him on the hill. Woodward broke dry and Van Boening ran the rack to win the set and force a second set in the true double-elimination format.
Woodward and Van Boening traded games in the second set tied at 4-4. When Van Boening played a safe on a 3 ball. Woodward called the nine, which was hanging in the side pocket, kicked the 3 ball and the cue ball caromed off to make the shot and allow Woodward a run out to gain a 5-4 lead in the match. Woodward broke and had a tough layout, but after making two tough bank shots, he was able to run the rack, putting himself on the hill. In the final game, Van Boening broke dry and Woodward was able to run out to become the 10-Ball Champion.
[photo id=48373|align=right]The women’s 10-Ball Division concluded on Monday, a day earlier than normal. First place went to Heather Cortez, $800; second, Rae Evans, $400; third, Trinh Lu, $250.
The 9-Ball Division, which started Tuesday, continues today. Still undefeated in the Open division are: Shane Van Boening, Mitch Ellerman, James Aranas and Amar Kang. Fighting through the one-loss side of the bracket are: Dave Stachan, Abrin Schaad, Demetrius Jelatis, Jesse Engel, Josh Smith, Billy Stephan, Ernesto Dominguez, Mark Wissman and Shaun Wilkie.
Live streaming of the US Bar Table Championships continues today at 1 p.m. PST. The schedule is as follows:
1 p.m.: Jesse Engel vs. Demetrius Jelatis
2:30 p.m.: Shaun Wilkie vs. Ernesto Dominguez or Mark Wissman
4 p.m. Shane Van Boening vs. Mitch Ellerman
5:30 p.m. James Aranas vs. Amar Kang
7 p.m. Shane Van Boening or Mitch Ellberman vs. James Aranas or Amar Kang (Hot Seat Match)
8:30 p.m. Fourth place match – players TBD
For streaming information, go to www.playcsipool/live-streaming.html
The 24th US Bar Table Championships kicked off Sunday at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. The 9-Ball Division concludes Thursday, Dec. 14 and the 8-Ball is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 16.
Skyler Woodward – File photo courtesy of Karl Kantrowitz
Skyler Woodward came back from a 6-4 deficit to steal the hot seat by a score of 7-6 of the 10-Ball Division at the 2017 US Bar Table Championships from Mosconi Cup teammate Shane Van Boening Monday evening.
The 24th US Bar Table Championships kicked off Sunday at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. The 10-Ball Division wraps up today, as the 9-Ball Division begins. The 9-Ball Division concludes Thursday and the 8-Ball is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 16.
Van Boening also had a solid day, beating: Donald Weathersby II, 7-2; Robert Doral, 7-2; Amar Kang, 7-6; Jesse Engel, 7-3; and Mitch Ellerman, 7-2; before losing the hot seat to Woodward.
At 1 p.m., Van Boening will face Calabrese, an Australian with a snooker background who has only been playing American-style pool for about a year.
Calabrese posted wins over: Shane Longest, forfeit; Gary Lutman, 7-6; Donny Branson, 7-4; and Jason Klatt, 7-5; before Woodward sent him to the loser’s side of the bracket, 5-7. Then Calabrese tossed Shaun Wilkie (7-5) and Klatt (7-3) out of the tournament, to secure himself a spot in the semi-finals.
The women’s 10-Ball Division concluded on Monday, a day earlier than normal. First place went to Heather Cortez, $800; second, Rae Evans, $400; third, Trinh Lu, $250.
Live streaming of the US Bar Table Championships continues today at 1 p.m. with Van Boening vs. Calabrese in the semifinals of the 10-Ball Division. The winner of that match will play Woodward at 2:30 p.m. in the finals. If the true double-elimination finals goes to a second match, that will be streamed at 4 p.m.
Selected matches from the 9-Ball Division will be streamed at approximately 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. PST. To access live streaming, visit www.playcsipool.com/watch-live.html.
For more information, contact Mary Coffman, CSI Marketing Manager, at 702-719-7665 or by email at mary@playcsipool.com.
Warren Kiamco, California Billiards Owner Chris Swart and Thorsten Hohmann
It may only be a perception, but the West State Billiards/POV Pool's West Coast Swing seemed to take a bit of a toll on the players, winners included, who moved on to the fourth event of that Swing; the $10,000-added 9-Ball Challenge, which drew 77 entrants to California Billiards in Fremont, CA from July 7-9 (slightly overlapping the One Pocket tournament). Dennis Orcollo, who'd won the 5th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial which launched the Swing, and then, went undefeated to win the One Pocket event, finished in the tie for fifth in the 9-Ball Challenge, while Jayson Shaw, who'd won the 10-Ball Challenge was knocked out in the quarterfinals, both of them by a 'fresh' Corey Deuel. The door was open, and in stepped 'fresh-as-an-elder daisy' Warren Kiamco, who, following a hot seat loss to an also-fresh Thorsten Hohmann, came back to double dip him in the finals and claim the title.
Kiamco's five-match trip to the winners' side semifinal in this event went through (among others) Deuel, and Alex Pagulayan (back-to-back) to end up against Orcollo. Hohmann, in the meantime, whose four-match trip to the winners' side semifinal had included only person with a Fargo rating (Shane Van Boening) faced off against Sina Valizadeh. Kiamco sent Orcollo to the loss side 9-5, as Hohmann was sending Valizadeh over 9-4. Separated by only three points in their respective Fargo ratings, Hohmann (783) and Kiamco (786) locked up in a terrific 9-4 hot seat match that eventually sent Kiamco to the semifinals.
Over on the loss side, Orcollo ran into Deuel, who'd been downed by Kiamco 9-7 on the winners' side, and, in order, had downed Billy Thorpe 8-4, Santos Sambajon 8-6, Van Boening 8-4, and Amar Kang 8-2 to reach him. Valizadeh had the misfortune of running into Shaw, who was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that included back-to-back wins over Sky Woodward (8-5) and Pagulayan (8-6).
Shaw shut Valizadeh out and in the quarterfinals, faced Deuel, who'd eliminated Orcollo 8-6. Deuel then defeated Shaw 8-6, only to run into an obviously determined Kiamco, who defeated him a second time, 8-5 for a second, and, as it turned out, third shot against Hohmann in the hot seat.
The Warrior and the Hitman started out as might have been expected in the opening set of the true double elimination final; trading racks to a 2-2 tie. Kiamco scratched on the break of rack #5 and Hohmann took advantage to move ahead by two. But that, as they say, was all she wrote for that set, as Kiamco went on a nine-game run that forced a second set.
In the second set, a race to 8, there was only one tie; at 1-1. From that point, Kiamco started a four-rack run that saw him sink at least two, and often three balls on his break. In game #7, Kiamco scratched shooting at the 7-ball, which opened the door for a three-rack run (very quickly) that pulled Hohmann within one at 5-4. Hohmann broke dry in rack #10, which gave Kiamco an opening that led to two racks in a row, putting Kiamco on the hill at 7-4. Kiamco ended up in a bad position, shooting at the 2-ball in rack #12 and a couple of back-and-forth safety shots later, Hohmann won his fifth, and final game. About halfway through what proved to be the final rack, Hohmann hooked himself shooting at the 5-ball (literally, behind the 8-ball), and Kiamco was able to pull out the final win and claim the event title.
The West Coast Swing moves on, figuratively, to a marathon. Orocollo and Tony Chohan will take center stage beginning tomorrow (July 11) in a $100,000, head-to-head One Pocket match, labeled as "The Big One." The two will play for four days at California Billiards, in an attempt by one of them to win 40 matches. The production team is expecting one, or possibly both of them to reach 10 wins in each of the four days. The event, as have all of the West Coast Swing events, will be streamed live and free by POVPool.com.
The West Coast Swing will wrap up at Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, CA with a $3,000-added 9-Ball Challenge this weekend (July 15-16).
Jayson Shaw, Alex Pagulayan and Chris Swart (California Billiards owner)
With a field of 16, West State Billiards and POVPool accomplished the second leg of their two-week-long West Coast Swing in a day, albeit a 14-or-so-hour day that started on Independence Day and ended in the early hours of July 5. The Swing moved south from San Francisco where the 5th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial Tournament (won by Dennis Orcollo) got things underway, to California Billiards in Fremont, CA, where Jayson Shaw went undefeated to claim the $2,500-added 10-Ball Pro Challenge.
With Orcollo in the line-up, defending this title, as well, a lot of eyes were more or less on him. He was defeated, though, in the opening round 7-5 by Santos Sambajon, and after a single, 7-4 loss-side win over the man he defeated in the finals of the Dickson Memorial (Mika Immonen), he was defeated, double hill by Chip Compton. With him out of the way, it was anyone's guess as to who would rise to the challenge that Jayson Shaw's very presence created. That challenge came eventually from the stick of 'The Lion,' Alex Pagulayan, who, after being defeated in a winners' side semifinal, mounted a three-match, loss-side streak that set him up versus Shaw in the finals.
It was Amar Kang who sent Pagulayan to the loss side 7-4 in one of the winners' side semifinals, while Shaw was busy downing Gus Briseño 7-3 in the other one. Shaw claimed the hot seat in an entertaining match that was tied at 5-5, before Shaw pulled ahead to win it by two.
Pagulayan opened his loss-side trek against Rodney Morris, who had survived a double hill fight against Angelo Inness, and then, 7-4, eliminated Compton, who'd just eliminated Orcollo. Briseño picked up Tony Chohan, who'd eliminated Sambajon 7-5 and rather handily brushed Francisco Bustamante aside 7-1.
The Lion downed Morris in a double hill nail-biter, and in the quarterfinals, faced Briseño, who'd rather surprisingly ended Chohan's bid 7-4. That quarterfinal match coincided with the hot seat match between Shaw and Kang, on tables that were side-by-side. The hot seat match was over before the quarterfinal match had reached a 2-2 tie. Briseño put up a fight, and as happened in the hot seat match 'next door,' reached a 5-5 tie, before Pagulayan pulled out in front to win it 7-5.
Hot seat opponents Shaw and Kang both spent a good deal of time watching that quarterfinal match, and when it was over, Kang stepped up for his re-match against Pagulayan in the semifinals. Though hard to quantify, the wait for Kang appeared to take its toll, because Pagulayan gave up only two racks to earn a shot at Shaw in the hot seat.
The long wait had its effect on the finals, as well. Pagulayan jumped out to an early lead and was ahead by four, at 6-2, racing to 13. Shaw, though, to no one's surprise, came back, and in the early hours of July 5, completed a double hill win that earned him the Pro 10-Ball Challenge title.
The next stop on the West State Billiards/POVPool West Coast Swing, a $5,000-added One Pocket tournament with the Swing remaining at California Billiards in Fremont, CA, is already underway (July 5) and being streamed live by POVPool, accessible by visiting their Web site (www.povpool.com). It will be followed by the $10,000-added 9-Ball Challenge, scheduled to overlap the One Pocket event, beginning on July 7.
Japan became the first team through to the last eight of the 2017 12BET World Cup of Pool as they enjoyed a comfortable win against Canada. There was also a second-round win for Finland as the USA closed out the first-round matches with a whitewash against Singapore.
Featuring 32 two-man teams from around the globe, the 12BET World Cup of Pool is into its 11th year as reigning champions Chinese Taipei attempt to become the first team ever to successfully defend the title at the York Hall.
The final first round match featured the American pair of Shane Van Boening and Skyler Woodward and they looked an excellent combination as they outplayed the Singaporean duo of Aloysius Yapp and Toh Lian Han. 7-0 was the final score – the fourth whitewash of the first round.
Commented Van Boening, “We played great and only made one mistake early on and we were able to take advantage of their mistakes. They didn’t perform well and they didn’t get the layouts on the table they would have wanted.
“I have played against Skyler in quite a few tournaments and he is a great player, which is why I decided to pick him as my partner.”
The second round started in earnest as Japan and Canada faced off in what was on paper a 50/50 match but it was Naoyuki Oi and Hijikata Hayato who were the better side. They lead throughout as Pagulayan and Morra could never catch up.
The final match of the evening saw Finland make their way to the quarter-finals as they beat a well-supported India 7-3. Raj Hundal and Amar Kang were a bit unlucky as they suffered an unlucky scratch off the break at a critical time and a few rolls went against them.
Finland though, looked a very solid unit, and a repeat of their 2012 victory in Manila, can’t be ruled out.
“We are happy to get over the hurdle but we had some trouble with a few dry breaks. Even though we were hitting the break pretty good it wasn’t opening for us,” said Immonen.
“We feel comfortable at the table and if we get the opening shot we are confident we can clear it every time. We have a little bit of a break now before the quarter-final, we will regroup and work on the break.”
Makkonen added, “We have played this event together as a pair for five or six years, we’ve won it together too. They chemistry between us is good.”
Play continues Friday afternoon with one three more second round matches:
Chinese Taipei v Poland
China v Germany
Russia v Austria
Broadcast for six days live on Sky Sports in the UK; the tournament is available live in over 100 countries around the world. A comprehensive list of countries and networks broadcasting the World Cup of Pool can be found here: http://www.matchroompool.com/world-cup-of-pool/#watchlive
The 12BET 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 as well as other stations around the world.
12BET World Cup of Pool Tickets are on sale now at www.matchroompool.com priced at just £10.00 per evening session (Tuesday to Sunday) and £8.00 per weekend afternoon session. Tuesday to Friday afternoons are free. A season ticket covering all sessions is priced at £60.00.
2017 12BET World Cup of Pool is sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplies the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue and Chalk of the event.
