ROUND 1 RESULTS Japan 7-1 Croatia Czech Republic 7-4 Hungary
Austria 1-7 Slovakia
World Cup of Pool debutants Slovakia stunned defending champions Austria, knocking out the No.1 seeds with a brilliant 7-1 victory on the opening afternoon at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes.
Albin Ouschan and Mario He have reached the last three World Cup finals, lifting the trophy in 2017 and 2019. However, Jakub Koniar and Jaroslav Polach barely gave their opponents a chance as Slovakia proved exactly why they had been invited for the first time. A little luck along the way helped but Koniar and Polach looked calm at the table as they ran four of the seven racks won to advance to the second round.
“It is amazing,” said Koniar. “We had a little bit of luck in the beginning but with the 1-ball on the spot and winner breaks, you can even beat the best team in the world.
“We knew we could win. I have beaten Albin a few times, Jaro has won against both players in the Austrian Bundesliga, so we knew if we played our best game we could win.
“We practiced the break all last weekend together,” added Polach. “We played a hard break, the cue ball control was good, and we had a little bit of luck, but from 2-1 to 6-1 they weren’t at the table. In this game you can beat anybody in the world.”
Slovakia will face Czech Republic in the second round after a 7-4 success over Hungary for the Czechs.
“It will be a federal derby,” said Jaroslav. “We play every year something like the Mosconi Cup between Czech Republic and Slovakia. It hasn’t played last year because of Covid so now we will play one scotch doubles to see who is best!”
The event opened with Japanese favourite Naoyuki Oi, alongside debutant Masato Yoshioka, up against Croatian duo Philipp Stojanovic and Roberto Bartol.
Yoshioka earned his first appearance in the World Cup on the back of a fine run of form prior to the Covid-19 lockdown. A win in the Kansai Open in his homeland and a bronze medal at the World 10-Ball Championship helped him rise to Japanese No.1 and World No. 36.
In their opening match, he actually looked the more comfortable of the pair, his experienced partner struggling at times with cue-ball control. Croatia, though, were really struggling. Japan only ran out one rack, so even with the winner breaks format the Europeans had chances, but they were only able to take one of them and Japan eventually won 7-1, a result which meant TV viewers were treated to another colourful Oi interview.
“It was a very fast match today, the table was playing very quick with the new ball and the new cloth. It was difficult but my teammate was confident,” he said, before treating those watching to a victory dance. “In the next round it will be Russia, they have the World Champion, or Switzerland who are very good, they have strong players. But Japan will play to win.”
After Japan’s cruising first-round victory, the clash between Czech Republic (Petr Urban and Michal Gavenciak) and Hungary (Oliver Szolnoki and Vilmos Foldes) was a more attritional affair. The Czech team’s preparations were hit when Roman Hybler had to withdraw less than a week before the event, but Urban proved a worth deputy.
The first six racks were shared before the Czech team pulled ahead and moved to the hill at 6-3 up. Hungary fought back briefly but their campaign was ended when Urban and Gavenciak won the 11th for a 7-4 victory.
The World Cup of Pool continues from 5:30pm (UK time) this evening with three more first round matches; Russia will face Switzerland, Greece take on Serbia and Estonia are up against Belgium.
The World Cup of Pool is broadcast live globally including on Sky Sports, DAZN and Matchroom.Live. Full broadcast details can be found at matchroompool.com.
Austria will begin their World Cup of Pool title defence against Slovakia, while hosts Great Britain A will face debutants Belarus in the first round of the doubles tournament, which begins on Sunday, May 9 at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes, live on Sky Sports.
Among the standout first-round ties is Great Britain B (Kelly Fisher & Allison Fisher) against three-time champions Philippines (Roberto Gomez & Jeff De Luna), while 2019 semi-finalists Spain will face Italy.
The 16 seeded teams were automatically placed into the draw brackets, with 16 unseeded teams drawn at random. The draw is set for the whole tournament, with some mouth-watering potential second-round match ups including USA vs. Philippines.
Defending champions Austria (Albin Ouschan & Mario He) also lifted the World Cup in 2017 and could become the first pairing to win the trophy three times.
The tournament will begin on Sunday, May 9 with fan-favourites Japan (Naoyuki Oi & Masato Yoshioka) in action against Croatia (Philipp Stojanovic & Roberto Bartol). All first round matches are race to 7, with three matches per session and two sessions per day. The first round will complete on Tuesday, May 11 with Great Britain A (Jayson Shaw & Chris Melling) facing Belarus’ all-female pairing of Margarita Fefilova & Yana Halliday. Halliday’s husband, Richard, will represent South Africa alongside brother Vincent. They face Canada (Alex Pagulayan & John Morra) in the first round.
The World Cup of Pool will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, DAZN and Matchroom.Live, with further international broadcasters to be confirmed.
Sunday, May 9 (12:00-16:00)
R1: Japan vs. Croatia
R1: Czech Republic vs. Hungary
R1: Austria vs. Slovakia
Sunday, May 9 (17:30-21:30) R1: Russia vs. Switzerland
R1: Greece vs. Serbia
R1: Canada vs. South Africa
Monday, May 10 (12:00-16:00) R1: Netherlands vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina
R1: Finland vs. Iceland
R1: Albania vs. Denmark
Monday, May 10 (17:30-21:30) R1: Spain vs. Italy
R1: Germany vs. Lithuania
R1: USA vs. Australia
Tuesday, May 11 (12:00-16:00) R1: Philippines vs. Great Britain B
R1: Poland vs. Kuwait
R1: Estonia vs. Belgium
Tuesday, May 11 (17:30-21:30)
R2: Austria/Slovakia vs. Czech Republic/Hungary R2: Canada/South Africa vs. Greece/Serbia
R1: Great Britain A vs. Belarus
Wednesday, May 12 (12:00-16:00) R2: Russia/Switzerland vs. Japan/Croatia
R2: Finland/Iceland vs. Netherlands/B&H
R2: Spain/Italy vs. Albania/Denmark
Wednesday, May 12 (17:30-21:30) R2: Germany/Lithuania vs. Poland/Kuwait
R2: USA/Australia vs. Philippines/Great Britain B
R2: Estonia/Belgium vs. Great Britain A/Belarus
Thursday, May 13 (12:00-16:00) Quarter-final 1
Quarter-final 2
Thursday, May 13 (17:30-21:30) Quarter-final 3
Quarter-final 4
Friday, May 14 (12:00-16:00) Semi-final 1
Semi-final 2
Eklent Kaci’s Albanian team are among a number of nations now confirmed for the World Cup of Pool, which will take place this May 9-14 at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes, live on Sky Sports.
Mosconi Cup winner Kaci will again be joined by Besar Spahiu after the pair defeated Russia at the 2019 World Cup before falling agonisingly short against Philippines, suffering a 7-5 defeat.
A host of European teams are now confirmed, as well as Kuwait (Omar Al-Shaheen and Bader Abdullah Alawadhi), and Australia, who will again be represented by Justin Sajich, this time partnered by Ivan Li.
Serge Das will return for Belgium alongside Kevin Lannoye, while Bosnia & Herzegovina will make their World Cup of Pool debut with Sanjin Pehlivanovic and Ajdin Piknjac. Philipp Stojanovic and Roberto Bartol will represent Croatia, while the Czech Republic pairing will be Roman Hybler and Michal Gavenciak.
Young Danish star Mickey Krause will make his debut in the Matchroom arena with Bahram Lotfy as the 20-year-old’s partner.
Estonia’s Denis Grabe and Mark Magi, who famously fell out after losing a hill-hill second round match at the last World Cup of Pool, will be hoping nothing comes between them this time around. Oliver Szolnoki and Vilmos Foldes are teaming up for Hungary and there’s a World Cup debut for Lithuania, represented by Pijus Labutis and Kęstutis Žadeikis.
The World Cup of Pool features 32 two-player teams and is played to a straight-knockout format, with a total prize fund of $250,000.
Team Austria (Albin Ouschan and Mario He) will defend their title in Milton Keynes, but competition will be tough with some of the biggest names in pool already confirmed. They include, three-times winners Philippines (Jeff De Luna and Roberto Gomez), USA (Skyler Woodward and Billy Thorpe), and Great Britain A (Jayson Shaw and Chris Melling).
The final teams will be announced shortly and the draw for the World Cup of Pool will be made soon after all teams have been confirmed. The World Cup of Pool will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, DAZN and Matchroom.Live, with further international broadcasters to be confirmed.
