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World Pool Championship 2023 Draw | Van Boening Starts Defense Against Yoshioka

Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)

Shane Van Boening will begin the defense of his World Pool Championship title against Japan’s Masato Yoshioka in Kielce, Poland from February 1-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics, DAZN in the USA as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.

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The American will look to become only the second player in history to defend the title following in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in a packed arena at Targi Kielce. 46 countries will be represented in the 128-player field as it is whittled down to the Last 64 over the first two days of action before it’s straight knockout to the end where one will claim the $60,000 first-place prize and the world crown.

The draw was completed with the top 64 players from the Nineball World Rankings against an unseeded player from the other 64 in the hat. Standout first-round ties include 2015 world champion Ko Pin Yi facing James Aranas of the Philippines whilst 2022 semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef faces the tricky prospect of Johann Chua. 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan was unseeded and will meet Michael Schneider.

World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide takes on Billy Thorpe and Shane Wolford‘s mission for a spot on Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup takes on Pia Filler. Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a year to remember last year and will begin his Nineball campaign against So Shaw of Iran.

Double elimination matches are all race to 9, with all matches from the Last 64 a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 13.

SEED Name Name
1 Shane Van Boening (USA) VS Masato Yoshioka (JPN)
2 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) VS  So Shaw (IRI)
3 Joshua Filler (GER) VS James Georgiadis (AUS)
4 Albin Ouschan (AUT) VS Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP)
5 Mario He (AUT) VS Sebastian Batkowski (POL)
6 Jayson Shaw (GBR) VS Francesco Candela (ITA)
7 Wiktor Zielinski (POL) VS Aziz Moussati (MAR)
8 Alexander Kazakis (GRE) VS Erik Hjorleifson (CAN)
9 Max Lechner (AUT) VS Max Eberle (USA)
10 Ko Pin Yi (TPE) VS James Aranas (PHI)
11 Eklent Kaçi (ALB) VS Dimitris Loukatos (GRE)
12 Abdullah Alyousef (KUW) VS Johann Chua (PHI)
13 Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) VS Marcel Price (GBR)
14 Niels Feijen (NED) VS Muhummed Daydat (RSA)
15 Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) VS Daniel Guttenberger (AUT)
16 Mieszko Fortunski (POL) VS Emil-Andre Gangflot (NOR)
17 David Alcaide (ESP) VS Billy Thorpe (USA)
18 Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) VS Nguyễn Anh Tuấn (VIE)
19 Sanjin Pehlivanović (BOS) VS Joseph Spence (CAN)
20 Jonas Souto Comino (ESP) VS Karl Gnadeberg (EST)
21 Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) VS Bashar Hussain Abdul Majeed (QAT)
22 Ko Ping Chung (TPE) VS Michal Gavenčiak (CZE)
23 Chang Jung-Lin (TPE) VS Jonas-Kvalsund Hansen (NOR)
24 Ronald Regli (SUI) VS Iker Andoni Echeverría (ESP)
25 Naoyuki Oi (JPN) VS Mickey Krause (DEN)
26 Jose Alberto Delgado (ESP) VS Joey Tate (USA)
27 John Morra (CAN) VS Tayfun Taber (GER)
28 Denis Grabe (EST) VS  Ali Nasser Al Obaidli (QAT)
29 Ralf Souquet (GER) VS Sullivan Clark (NZL)
30 Dimitri Jungo (SUI) VS Hunter Lombardo (USA)
31 Thorsten Hohmann (GER) VS Tanes Tansomboon (THA)
32 Aloysius Yapp (SGP) VS Sharik Sayed (SGP)
33 Tomasz Kaplan (POL) VS Ko Ping Han (TPE)
34 Moritz Neuhausen (GER) VS Lường Đức Thiện (VIE)
35 Aleksa Pecelj (SRB) VS Marco Dorenburg (GER)
36 Daniel Maciol (POL) VS  Sina Valizadeh (IRI)
37 Oscar Dominguez (USA) VS Stephen Holem (CAN)
38 Omar Al Shaheen (KUW) VS Joao Grilo (POR)
39 Skyler Woodward (USA) VS Chris Alexander (GBR)
40 Besar Spahiu (ALB) VS Ramazan Akdag
41 Hseih Chia Chen (TPE) VS Nick Van Den Berg (NED)
42 Chris Melling (GBR) VS Duong Quoc Hoang (VIE)
43 Petri Makkonen (FIN) VS Elliott Sanderson (GBR)
44 Imran Majid (GBR) VS Marco Teutscher (NED)
45 Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) VS Mohammad Soufi (SYR)
46 Radoslaw Babica (POL) VS Jan Van Lierop (NED)
47 Robbie Capito (HKG) VS Toh Lian Han (SGP)
48 Jani Uski (FIN) VS Chetan Chhabra (IND)
49 Lo Ho Sum (HKG) VS Lars Kuckherm (GER)
50 Bader Alawadhi (KUW) VS Richard Halliday (RSA)
51 Pijus Labutis (LTU) VS Ajdin Piknjac (BOS)
52 Mika Immonen (FIN) VS  Gerson Martinez (PER)
53 Greg Hogue (USA) VS Mariusz Skoneczny (POL)
54 Shane Wolford (USA) VS  Pia Filler (GER)
55 Karol Skowerski (POL) VS Abdullah Al-Anzi (KUW)
56 Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) VS Ruben Bautista (MEX)
57 Tyler Styer (USA) VS Mason Koch (USA)
58 Roman Hybler (CZE) VS Matt Edwards (NZL)
59 Tobias Bongers (GER) VS Davy Piergiovanni (ITA)
60 Mustafa Alnar VS  Szymona Kural (POL)
61 Daniele Corrieri (ITA) VS Khalid Alghamdi (KSA)
62 Michael Schneider (SUI) VS Alex Pagulayan (CAN)
63 Wu Kun Lin (TPE) VS Fabio Petroni (ITA)
64 Mats Schjetne (NOR) VS Jakub Koniar (SVK)

WHERE TO WATCH

Table 1 will be live on broadcasters worldwide including Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA, Canada, and Italy, as well as on Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide. See where to watch here.

Table 2 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.

Table 3 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.

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USA Thump Canada To Reach Last 16 Of 2022 World Cup of Pool

Shane Van Boening and Skyler Woodward (Taka Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)

The USA thumped Canada 7-1 to reach the Last 16 of the 2022 World Cup of Pool at the Brentwood Centre, Essex live on Sky Sports Arena in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Netherlands, and Poland. Matchroom.Live in territories without a broadcaster.

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Nineball World No. 1 Shane Van Boening and two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Skyler Woodward faced off at the top of the evening session against old foes Canada who had John Morra and Pagulayan flying the maple leaf.

Van Boening and Woodward won the lag and didn’t look back from there as they gather momentum early doors to leave their counterparts trailing 3-0 going into the break. Canada never got going with both Morra and Pagulayan struggling to get to grips with the speed of the table and conditions. It was relatively plain sailing for the USA as they went 6-0 up and one away. In the seventh, Van Boening scratched off the break and Canada had their first rack on the board at 6-1. The USA completed their job in the following rack though to make the Last 16 without breaking a sweat.

Woodward: “I know I felt comfortable and Shane looked the same. We played well. Pretty consistent. We are happy. Overall I feel like we played good. I feel every match we can get better and break better. We got there a few days early and got some rest. Today I feel good having feeling tired. We will feel better every day.”

World Champion Van Boening added: “The only mistake was the scratch. I am not feeling too good on my break but I will be practicing. We have been playing together for many years. He knows my game well and I know him well. I think we’re a good match and we just go out there and play pool.”

Hungary were next out onto the table against the Czech Republic with Oliver Szolnoki partnered up with veteran Vilmos Foldes whilst Czech hopes fell on the shoulders of Petr Urban and Roman Hybler in what proved to be the closest match of the opening day as it was the Hungarians who ran out eventual winners 7-4.

At 1-0 up, Hungary seemed to be finding a rhythm quicker than the Czech Republic but that turned in a bizarre incident that saw them lose the second rack on the three consecutive foul rule, something lesser seen in the game. That moment could’ve proven to push Hungary off-kilter but they were allowed back to the table in the following rack after the Czechs found themselves hooked on the six ball to allow Szolnoki the moment to make it 2-1.

It was error-strewn at times as it soon went 2-2. The control of the cue ball was proving to be troublesome for Urban and Hybler and it was just that as they missed the 9 to establish a lead for the first time. Pick your moment was the story of the match though with neither getting away from each other. Hungary timed theirs to perfection though as they went 6-4 up to be one away from victory. Foldes and Szolnoki is a new pairing for Hungary and they will have been relieved to see the back of the opening match as they sealed their win as they look to do better than reaching the quarter-finals in 2013.

Spain head into this week as one of the early tournament favourites and came up against Australia’s Ivan Meng Li and James Georgiadis. David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz took the moment with relative ease in a 7-1 win amassing six racks before Australia’s opening rack. The force of El Matador and FSR proved too much for Australia as they wrapped up an opening win to meet Albania next.

Alcaide: “We enjoy playing together every time. This tournament is special for us. We train to win from round to round but then we see the beautiful tournament. we work so hard together. PRactice together, play together, go to tournaments together. Every team is tough but in a Race to 7 anything can happen. We believe in our game.

Action continues from 11 am tomorrow morning with Poland against Hong Kong, China live on Sky Sports Arena at 5pm as well as live on DAZN in the USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Netherlands, and Poland. See the full list of broadcasters here including Matchroom.Live if no broadcaster is available. 

Wednesday, 15 June
11AM Session
  • Poland (15) vs Hong Kong, China
  • Greece (8) vs  Cyprus
  • Netherlands (16) vs Morocco
5PM SESSION
  • Great Britain A (12) vs Great Britain B
  • Estonia (11) vs Serbia
  • Austria (3) vs Finland

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