Draw Made For US Open 9-Ball Championship

Hunter White
Following yesterday’s announcement of the European contingent for the 2017 World Cup of Pool, the rest of the field can now be revealed. With ten teams from Asia and six from around the rest of the world, some of the biggest names in the game will be coming to the York Hall in London to contest the $250,000 prize fund.
They include defending champions, Ko Pin Yi and Chang Yu Lung of Chinese Taipei, as well as former World Pool Champion Wu Jiaqing who shocked the pool world winning as a 16 year-old in 2005. He teams up Dang Jinhu to represent China.
Elsewhere, Shane Van Boening is chasing his second World Cup of Pool title, this time in the company of Skyler Woodward, and under-the-radar Filipinos Johan Chua and Carlo Biado will offer a fierce challenge.
The remaining teams are:
China – Wu Jiaqing / Dang Jinhu
Chinese Taipei – Ko Pin Yi / Chang Yu Lung
Hong Kong – Andrew Kong / Lo Ho Sum
India – Raj Hundal / Amar Kang
Indonesia – Irsal Afrinneza Nasution / Muhammad Bewi Simajuntak
Japan – Naoyuki Oi / Hijikata Hayato
Malaysia – Kok Jken Yung & Muhammad Almie
Philippines – Carlo Biado / Johann Chua
Singapore – Toh Lian Han and Aloysius Yapp
Thailand – Amnuayporn Chotipong / Tanut Makkamontree
Australia – Justin Campbell /Michael Caccioli
Canada – Alex Pagulayan / John Morra (TBC)
Kuwait – Bader Al Alawi / Mohammad Saleh Al Kashawi
New Zealand – Matt Edwards / Toar Dotulong
South Africa – David Anderson / Francois Ellis
USA – Shane Van Boening / Skyler Woodward
Commencing on Tuesday June 13 and culminating with the final on the evening of Sunday 18, the event will be played to a single elimination format over six days with two sessions a day. There are 31 matches in total.
The draw will be announced on Monday 8th May.
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.
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 as well as other stations around the world. It is then syndicated internationally as 31 x 1 hour programmes.
2017 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.
Landon Shuffett (photo courtesy of Ben Litvak)
The top three finishers in each division with Betsy Sundholm
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Association of College Unions International (ACUI) announces its list of contestants invited to the 73rd collegiate pocket billiards national championships, which will take place at Arizona State University’s “Sparky’s Den” on June 28-29, 2013. ACUI is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to enhancing campus life. With 41 men and 23 women registered for 9-ball, 2012 was the largest field in the 75-year history of the ACUI Pocket Billiards program. With the list of 77 men and 38 women below invited for 2013, the path is paved for a new record to be set.
Men’s Division
Tommy Adair
Hussain Aleid
Abdulaziz Alkhan
Ashkanov Apollon
Taylor Axley
Skyler Banfill
Charles Barker
Ernesto Bosque
Douglas Cady
Justin Chan
James Chen
Wilson Dorsey
Sajal Ghimire
Jaydan Hergott
Carter Herrmann
William Hill
Ben Hockman
Dustin Hoffman
Kevin Hsiao
Minghe Hu
Bo Jin
Max Johnson
Ali Jomah
Matt Keith
Tai Lam
Stefan Le
Xiaohang Li
Ben Litvak
Alex Mann
David Masse
Zachary McKee
Paul Min
Derek Morris
Hesam Mosharraf
Hee Suk (Brian) Myung
Dan Otto
Brantley Oxendine
Sameer Pandit
Alex Pham
Andrei Popa
Mohan (Gordon) Qian
Ben Reynolds
Khadaffy Ripors
Winstone Seow
Matt Seus
Stephen Skvarka
Thomas Smith
William Stem
Nathan Sweitzer
Corey Sykes
Cody Terry
Jonathan Ting
Nghi Ton
Elvis Tran
Nguyen Tran
Garrett Trickey
Pete Vieira
Samay Wadhawan
Philip Walker
Jia Hao (Jim) Wang
David Williams
Gallen Wong
Justin Wood
Yihao (Gary) Wu
Wenjie Wu
Jinghui Wu
Stephen Wyatt
Rui Xing
Yu-Han Yang
Sibo Zhang
Wucheng (Jimmy) Zhou
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University of Wisconsin Whitewater
University of Montana
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Portland Community College
Minnesota State University-Mankato
West Virginia University
Weber State University
Florida State University
Texas A&M University
California State University-Fresno
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Wisconsin Whitewater
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University
East Carolina University
Lindenwood University
Sacramento State
East Texas Baptist University
University of Delaware
West Virginia University
University of Michigan
University of Illinois
Purdue University
North Dakota State University
St. Cloud State University
University of Montana
University of Maryland Baltimore County
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of Utah
Miami Dade College-Kendall Campus
Radford University
University of Wisconsin Whitewater
Fitchburg State University
University of Akron
University of Michigan
Darton College
Portland Community College
Indiana University
Lindenwood University
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
California State University-Northridge
University of Texas-Austin
Indiana University
Indiana University
University of Arkansas
California State University-Long Beach
University of Michigan
Oregon State University
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Virginia Tech
James Madison University
University of Maryland
West Virginia University
Virginia Tech
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Purdue University
University of Texas-Dallas
University of Texas-San Antonio
Portland Community College
University of Texas Tyler
Georgia Tech
Penn State University
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
University of Utah
University of Massachusetts-Boston
San Francisco State University
University of Wyoming
Indiana University
Purdue University
University of Utah
Lindenwood University
Purdue University Calumet
University of Maryland
Purdue University
University of Utah
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Women's Division
Samantha Adler
Cathy Jo Sawyer Almanza
Giovanni Aviles
Federica Bertolini
Miranda Blazek
Rachel Cooper
Lyndsey Day
Tam Do
Megan Erickson
Ashley Ewaniuk
Yuna Farah
Andrea Flores
Ashley Gardner
Jocelyn Gonzalez
Xinran Hai
Cindy Ho
Junyu Hou
Jessica Jahn
Yenyen Li
Aislinn McCann
Amanda Nguyen
Minh-Phuong (Kristie) Nguyen
Annie Nord
Lilly Pham
Kacy Pugh
Vanessa Rabito
Krystle Radtke
Stacey Ann Rubio
Rachny Soun
Amber Sullins
Samantha Tsang
Rebbecca Weber
Sarah Weissberger
Audrey Wong
Meng Yi Li
Kelly Zahn
Yutong (Karen) Zeng
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New York University
McLennan Community College
University of Illinois – Chicago
Lindenwood University
Northern Wyoming Community College
California State University – Long Beach
Florida State University
Portland Community College
Illinois Institute of Technology
Curry College
Utah State University
University of Massachusetts – Boston
Portland Community College
College of William & Mary
Portland Community College
Indiana University – Bloomington
Sacramento State
University of Houston
Spokane Falls Community College
California State University-San Bernardino
Virginia Tech
University of Houston
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Illinois Wesleyan University
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The University of Akron
University of Tennessee Knoxville
University of Wyoming
Florida International University
James Madison University
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Howard Community College
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
James Madison University
California State University – Northridge
University of Utah
Lindenwood University
Carnegie Mellon University
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32 PLAYERS ADVANCE TO THE KNOCKOUT STAGE AS CLIFFHANGERS ABOUND AT THE WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP IN QATAR
(Doha, Qatar)–There was something special in the air throughout the day today at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, and it wasn’t the crisp cool air conditioning offering comfort to fans and players alike.
It was an intangible, what we used to call on the east coast of the USA, “that certain something,” an unknowable, hard to describe feeling, when you know something is good, but you can’t quite figure out why. You just know it’s good, and it’s only going to get better. You just know it.
Perhaps it was the sheer volume of high quality and tight matches that took place, the incredible talent on display that is as good as has ever been seen in pool, all combined with the fact that on Day 3 of the 2012 World 9-balll Championship, the gravity of the moment, of the stakes involved, started to dawn on players and fans alike.
This part of the tournament is all about getting through to the next round. 32 players did just that today as they cashed in their chips to the next stage, the single elimination knockout round of 64 which will begin on Wednesday June 27. Some had it easy, others not so much. But all who made it breathed a massive sigh of relief. Just get through, wipe the slate clean, and start fresh on Wednesday.
“It’s like a battle field out there,” said a England’s Darren Appleton, clearly relieved after beating Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Rahman Al Amar and advancing. “You just want to get through. There’s a lot of great, great, great players in this event. In years past you kind of knew who would get through. But not anymore. There’s a lot of surprises, but no shocks. I’m just happy. These tournaments are getting tougher and tougher.”
With 17 Filipinos in the field of 128 players, including the legendary Efren Reyes, and Francisco Bustamante, the venue is never short of large and vocal crowds of Filipino overseas workers and this certainly spices up the already pressure filled atmosphere. They came out in force today as the winners of each group faced off for a quick chance out of the danger zone of the group stage and into the final 64, including Reyes who played in the first session.
Reyes did his part as he easily defeated Kuwait’s Badr Al Awadi 9-2 to advance to the next round. Afterward Reyes offered his patented line for why he won.
“I get lucky,” he said with his toothless grin. “He’s a good player but the break is against him, he never get a shot. Me I always get a shot after the break.”
Several players clearly stepped up their game early on. Malta’s popular Tony Drago sprinted past the Philippines Ramil Gallego, 9-6. Afterward, pool’s version of Speed Racer said he’s primed and ready to wreak havoc in the coming days and welcomes the pressure that is sure to come.
“I’m playing fantastic,” Drago said. “I’m enjoying myself. I like coming to the Middle East. The people are fantastic. I know pressure, and I know how to handle pressure. So I’m ready.”
2003 World 9-ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann put in a solid performance, as did France’s Vincent Faquet, who fought back from 4-2 down to beat the Philippines very tough Jundel Mazon, 9 – 5. Scotland’s Jason Shaw, a former English 8-ball World Champion, smothered China’s Fu Jian Bo, 9-5.
A great story has developed out of New Zealand as 24 year old Matthew Edwards continued his fine run in this year’s tournament, advancing to the knockout stage with an impressive 9-5 win over Malaj Nikolaos of Albania. Edwards, who’s playing in his first world championship, first took down the USA’s Shane Van Boening. He now becomes the first ever Kiwi to make it this far in a world championship.
“Nobody’s an easy player,” Edwards said. “This whole tournament is everything I thought it would be. There’s a lot of excitement here.”
As the day wore on the matches just got better, tighter and more pressure packed. World 8-ball Champion Chang Jung Lin came back from 8-6 down to Naouki Ohi of Japan, and won 9-8. 2007 World 9-ball Champion Daryl Peach of England was 5-0 down to Croatian Bozo Primic but clawed back to win a thriller, 9-8. Taiwan’s Chang Yu Lung and Austria’s Albin Ouschan, the brother of women’s star Jasmine Ouschan, went all the way with Chang prevailing 9-8. The USA’s Hunter Lombardo had the Philippines Ronnie Alcano on the ropes, but lost a cliff hanger 9-8.
One of the more entertaining matches happened between Greece’s Nick Ekonomopoulos and China’s Liu Haitao, two very solid rising talents. Ekonomopoulos was down 7-2 but ended up winning 9-8. The confident Greek, who’s playing in his first world championship, looks to be an interesting dark horse in this event. He recently won the Austrian Open on the Euro Tour. He was so confident in his abilities that he flew to Qatar without an entry into the tournament and entered the brutally tough qualifiers, where he won one event and made it into the main draw. With the pressure way too intense late his match with Liu, he looked positively deadly.
Also advancing today were Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet of Germany, the Netherland’s Nick Van den Berg, England’s Karl Boyes, Filipinos Francisco Bustamante, Lee Van Corteza, Carlo Biado and Antonio G.bica, Taiwan’s Fu Che Wei, and Russian Konstantin Stepanov, who beat defending champion Yukio Akagariyama.
The surprise of the evening was Dennis Orcullo going down to Hong Kong’s Andrew Kong, 9-5. Kong advances while Orcullo has to come back Tuesday for one last try.
That’ll happen on Tuesday, Judgement Day, when all matches will be do-or-die. As the action heats up inside the Al Sadd Sports Club, the nerves will surely start to fray, easy pots will become testers, and dreams will be made and shattered on the smallest turn of the balls.
The WPA will be providing full up to the minute coverage of the 2012 World 9-ball Championship via its website at www.wpapool.com. There you can follow the action through our live scoring platform, articles with insights and analysis, and updated brackets. Fans can also get updates via the WPA Twitter page, @poolwpa.com.
Fans can also access live scoring through the official website of the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation at: http://www.qbsf.net/en/live_score.php.
*The World Pool And Billiard Association(WPA) is the international governing of the sport of pocket billiards.
Day 3 Results
All Matches Winners Side of the Brackets
Winner advances to the round of 64, loser goes to the losers side of the bracket for one last chance
Group 1
Efren Reyes(PHI) 9 – 2 Bader Al Awadi(KUW)
John Morra(CAN) 9 – 8 Joyme Vicente(PHI)
Group 2
Tony Drago(MLT) 9 – 6 Ramil Gallego(PHI)
Thorsten Hohmann(GER) 9 – 4 Ali Pordel(IRI)
Group 3
Vincent Faquet(FRA) 9 -5 Jundel Mazon(PHI)
Matthew Edwards(NZL) 9 – 4 Malaj Nikolaos(ALB)
Group 4
Carlo Biado(PHI) 9 – 3 Roman Hybler(CZE)
Thomas Engert(GER) 9 – 5 Chao Fong Pang
Group 5
Jason Shaw(GBR) 9 – 5 Fu Jianbo(CHN)
Fu Chei Wei(TPE) 9 – 3 Karlo Dalmatin(CRO)
Group 6
Aki Heiskanen(FIN) 9 – 3 Al Mutairi, Khaled GH(KUW)
Chang Jun Lin(TPE) 9 – 8 Naouki Ohi(JPN)
Group 7
Chang Yu Lung(TPE) 9 – 8 Albin Ouschan(AUT)
Karl Boyes(GBR) 9 –3 Yang Ching Shun(TPE)
Group 8
Manuel Gama(POR) 9 – 6 Hayato Hijikata(JPN)
Ko Pin Yi(TPE)9 – 3 Omar Al Shahen(KUW)
Group 9
Daryl Peach(GBR) 9 – 8 Bozo Primic(CRO)
Francisco Bustamante(PHI) 9 – 4 Abdullah Al Yousef
Group 10
Roberto Gomez(PHI) 9 – 1 Mohammad Saeed(QAT)
Konstantin Stepanov(RUS) 9 – 7 Yukio Akagariyama(JPN)
Group 11
Darren Appleton(GBR) 9 – 2 Abdul Rahman Al Amar(KSA)
Han Hao Xiang(CHN) 9 -1 Bashar Hussain(QAT)
Group 12
Jason Klatt(CAN) 9 – 1 Ali Obaidli(QAT)
Nick Ekonomopoulos(GRE) 9 – 8 Liu Haitao(CHN)
Group 13
Ronnie Alcano(PHI) 9 – 8 Hunter Lombardo(USA)
Antonio Gabica(PHI) 9 – 7 Denis Grabe(EST)
Group 14
Lee Van Corteza(PHI) 9 – 5 Marlon Caneda(PHI)
Majed Alazmi(KUW) 9 – 6 Torhu Koribayashi(JPN)
Group 15
Jonny Martinez(VEN) 9 -8 Oliver Ortmann(GER)
Andrew Kong(HKG) 9 – 5 Dennis Orcullo(PHI)
Group 16
Ralf Souquet(GER) 9 – 1Nayf Abdel Afou(JOR)
Nick Van den Berg(NED) 9 – 6 David Anderson(RSA)