Standing in the arena at the conclusion of the women’s Alfa Las Vegas Open, South Korea’s Seo Seoa didn’t hold the championship trophy as much as she cradled it.
“I am really happy,” she said. “This is my first champion title.”
The 21-year-old has reason to be excited, having endured a final two days of play that included taking down reigning World Women’s 9-Ball champion Chieh-Yu Chou in straight sets in the quarterfinals, then surviving the semifinals against Indonesia’s Silviana Lu. Seoa may have saved some of her best play for last, coming from behind to defeat Australia’s Meng-Hsia Hung in three sets at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino Monday night.
The Australian drew first blood in the opening set, taking advantage of a scratch and missed 1 ball by her opponent to build a 2-0 lead. The South Korean was able to climb onto the board in the third rack after her opponent scratched on the break but Hung stole the next game thanks to a successful jump shot on the 1 ball after a push out to increase the lead back to two games. Hung allowed Seoa to hang around tie the set when she fouled in the fifth game while attempting to tie up two object balls then missed a combination shot in the following rack but was able to use a sharp cut shot on the 2 ball and a table-length shot on the 3 ball to clear the table and secure the first set, 4-3.
“She played very good in the first set but I was thinking, it’s okay because it’s three sets,” said Seo. “I was thinking to try hard and stay focused.”
After Hung again won the opening rack in the second set, Seoa tacked on two wins of her own thanks to her opponent failing to land a ball on the break in the second game then leaving an opening after a safety attempt on the 8 ball in the following game. Hung tied the match at two games each after Seoa scratched but the South Korean capitalized on another misplayed safety and a missed 3 ball by her opponent to secure the set, 4-2, and tie the match.
“That’s the turning point,” said Hung of the missed shot. “I didn’t take my time to think about how to run out the table.”
The wheels really started to come off for Hung in the deciding set. After Seoa failed to pocket a ball on the break in the first rack, the Australian appeared to be in position to secure the win but missed the 5 ball in the corner pocket, allowing Seoa to return to the table and climb onto the scoreboard. Hung experienced a similar fate in the next rack when she missed the 6 ball and in the third game when she pushed the 2 ball wide of the mark. Each time, Seoa cleared the table and increased her lead.
“I lost a little bit of concentration and I wasn’t so sure,” said Hung. “And she played really well.”
Hung had one last chance in the fourth game but missed the 4 ball. With the object ball at one side of the table and the next shot at the opposite end, Seoa cleanly pocketed the ball and drew the cue ball backwards between the 6 and 7 balls for a shot on the 5 ball, then closed out the rack for the win and let out a joyous shriek in triumph.
Seoa reached the finals by taking advantage of a handful of safeties and unforced errors to edge past Yu in straight sets in the semifinals, 4-1, 4-2.
Hung had a bit more of a fight against Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva. After losing the opening set, 4-2, the Australian held a 3-1 advantage in the second set until her opponent snagged a win then used a table length one rail kick in of the 7 ball and a long cut of the 9 ball to tie the set. After Hung missed the 4 ball in the set-deciding game, Zlateva had an open table but overplayed position on the 5 ball. While she tried to pocket the object ball and hold cue ball positioning for a shot at the 6 ball that was at the same end of the table, the Bulgarian missed and handed her opponent the 4-3 win.
Hung was dominant in the deciding match, winning four straight racks to seal the victory and a spot in the championship game.
While the women completed the final day of their 64-player event, the men were preparing for the start of the WPA World 10-Ball Championships which are scheduled to begin Tuesday at 11 a.m. local time.
This 128-player event, which was won last year by Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk, will begin with 17 matches, including a battle of fellow Filipinos Roberto Gomez and Lee Vann Corteza. Other notable matches of the day include two-time Alfa Las Vegas Open champion Wiktor Zielinski taking on Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Alex Pagulayan and American Skyler Woodward facing 2019 World 10-Ball champion Ko Ping-Chung. Reigning World Pool champion Francisco Sanchez Ruiz will face Denmark’s Mickey Krause while Szewczyk meets Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Alghamdi.
Matches can be watched on Billiard.TV and on World Billiard TV, the official YouTube channel of CueSports International. A schedule of televised matches will be posted daily on the Pro Billiard Series and CSI Facebook and Instagram pages.
Friday night’s match between Germany’s Joshua Filler and Filipino Jeffrey De Luna had a little bit of everything.
You had De Luna winning a game by forcing his opponent to commit three fouls in a single rack and you had Filler stealing a game back when the Filipino managed to jump over his object ball not once, but twice.
In the end, the undefeated Filler was able to capitalize on De Luna’s breaking struggles and pull out a three-set victory, advancing to the round-of-32 on the third day of play at the Alfa Las Vegas Open at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. The German will now face reigning World 10-Ball champion Wojciech Szewczyk Saturday morning for a chance to reach the final 16 of the 192-player event.
After Filler staked out an early 2-1 lead in the opening set, De Luna had a chance to tie the match but left the 5 ball in the corner pocket’s jaws. Now Trailing by two racks, the Filipino used a jump shot and two banks to pull to within a game and had a chance to tie but came up short trying to secure position on the 2 ball, then missed a kick shot that allowed Filler to take the opening frame, 4-2.
De Luna opened the second set by forcing that three-foul on Filler, snagged the third rack when his opponent failed to pocket a ball on the break then used a safety exchange to climb onto the hill. He finished off the set and tied the match when Filler missed a sharp cut on the 3 ball and left a wide-open table.
The former China Open champion used safeties to win the first three racks — including the one that forced that double missed jump shot by De Luna. The Filipino wasn’t finished, using a safety of his own and a positional error by his opponent to tack on two straight victories. He had a chance to tie the match and send it to a shootout but failed to pocket a ball on the break, handing Filler a spaced out table and the win.
On a nearby table, former World Pool champion Shane Van Boening was authoring an escape of his own, climbing back from a deficit in the third set to defeat fellow American Jeremy Seaman.
Van Boening was in total control of the first set as he blanked his opponent, 4-0, but lost momentum in the next frame, with Seaman jumping out to a commanding 3-0 advantage. The South Dakotan clawed his way back into the match, winning three straight racks to tie the set but scratched on the break in the deciding game, handing Seaman a 4-3 victory.
After splitting the first four games of the deciding match, Seaman took a 3-2 lead when his opponent missed a jump shot and left an open table. With a change to close out the match and clinch the upset, he misplayed his safety attempt into a scratch, slapping the table in disgust as he walked back to his seat. The three-time U.S. Open 10-Ball champion cleared the table to force a shootout, then pocketed four straight stop shots in the extra frame while Seaman missed his opening attempt to hand his opponent the victory.
As the men worked through the single-elimination portion of their event, the women’s division of the Alfa Las Vegas Open began play Friday afternoon in dramatic fashion, as Allison Fisher overcame some early struggles to defeat Vang Bui Xuan of Vietnam.
Fisher was plagued by errors throughout the first set, as Xuan sailed to a 4-1 win, then continued to struggle with the speed of the table, allowing her opponent to capitalize and build a 3-1 second set lead. The Women’s Professional Billiards Tour Hall of Famer took advantage of a couple of unforced errors by her opponent in the middle stages of the set to tie the match, then used a safety exchange and a one rail kick in of the 7 ball to win the frame, 4-3, and force a shootout.
Each player was perfect in the extra frame through the first three innings but missed in their fourth attempt, sending the set to sudden death and moving the cue ball back a diamond on the table. After Fisher and Xuan rattled home their first three shots, the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer secured the win when she landed one more while her opponent missed.
Saturday will be pivotal in the men’s division, as 32 players compete for four spots in Sunday’s semifinals. Competition is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time, with notable matches including Albin Ouschan taking on Jung-Lin Chang, Fedor Gorst facing Ko Pin-Yi and Wiktor Zielinski matching up against fellow countryman Mieszko Fortunski.
For the past five years or so, competitors from Poland had been going deep in large professional pocket billiards tournaments and challenging the world’s best.
Polish competitors like Mieszko Fortunski, Wiktor Zielinski and Konrad Juszczyszyn would routinely reach the final 16 or quarterfinals of a major tournament or world championship – like in 2021, when eight Poles qualified for the 64-player, single-elimination phase of a world championship.
“Everyone is chasing after each other here and working on their game and it makes it very difficult for anyone to stand out,” said Wojciech Szewczyk. “We have a lot of passion for the game and we take it very seriously.”
Despite this passion, no one from the European nation had managed to earn a major victory –until last year, when Zielinski took home first place at Predator’s Pro Billiard Series Alfa Las Vegas Open and Szewczyk came from behind to win the Predator World 10-Ball Championship six days later. Both players along with women’s Alfa Las Vegas Open champion Kelly Fisher will be back to defend their titles beginning this week, with the Cue Sports International Expo kicking off this week. The 11-day event, which also includes the 3-Cushion World Cup, will begin Wednesday with the men’s Alfa Las Vegas Open and the women’s Open starting on Friday.
As Predator and CSI work to produce the toughest and fairest tests in professional pool, this year’s Pro Billiard Series events will see a format change. The single-elimination final stage of the Open tournaments will expand to three sets of a race-to-four from the two sets that it was previously. If the third set finishes in a 3-3 tie, a sudden-death shootout will occur. Competition in the double-elimination opening stage will remain a two-set race-to-four with ties decided by a shootout.
The format for the 128-player World 10-Ball Championship will remain unchanged, with players competing in race-to-eight double-elimination during the first half of the event before expanding to a race-to-10 during the single-elimination portion of the competition.
Zielinski survived a rollercoaster of a final day in last year’s Alfa Open, defeating Dimitri Jungo and Mika Immonen in shootouts to reach the finals where he took down Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp in straight sets. Six days later, Szewczyk trailed Edgie Geronimo 9-6 in the quarterfinals of the World 10-Ball Championships before taking advantage of a pair of open opportunities to come from behind and defeat his opponent. He then took down Albania’s Eklent Kaci and Christopher Tevez of Peru to earn Poland’s first world title. The weekend concluded with Fisher continuing a hot streak that would result in her earning a gold medal at the World Games later that summer and Player of the Year honors with Billiards Digest as AZBilliards, as the Hall of Famer posted an undefeated record and defeated Canada’s Britany Bryant in the finals of the women’s Alfa Las Vegas Open.
Professional events will be played on 18 nine-foot Predator Apex tables while over 6,000 competitors from the CSI Leagues will be competing on 276 of the seven-foot Apex table.
The prize fund for this year’s World 10-Ball Championship is also expanding to a total of $250,000 – up from $225,000 the previous year – with the winner’s share remaining $60,000. The two-week-long event kicks off third year of the Pro Billiard Series, which will include 21 total events this year that will pay out over $2 million in prize money.
Matches can be watched on Billiard.TV and on World Billiard TV, the official YouTube channel of CueSports International. A schedule of televised matches will be posted daily on the Pro Billiard Series and CSI Facebook and Instagram pages.
THE 2023 LONGONI 9 BALL LEAGUE got underway on Friday evening as two matches completed, giving wins to Poland and Spain at the Kalev Sports Hall in Tallinn. The two victorious pairs were finalists in last year’s event and their form carried forward in Estonia.
The evening’s programme was shortened as two of the matches were postponed due to travel issues for the competing players but the quality of pool was such to entertain the fans in attendance as well as viewers watching on the stream.
Defending champions Poland got off to a comfortable start as they beat Turkish North Cyprus 7-3. Wojciech Szewczyk, an ever-present last year, was joined by Miesko Fortunski who was making his Longoni 9 Ball League debut. The top two qualifying players in the rankings were Wiktor Zielinski and Fortunski, but Zielinski’s absence from the event gave Szewczyk the chance to continue his run.
Making their first appearance were the TNC pairing of Mustafa Alnar (Euro Tour #26) and Osman Sanlisoy (ET#181). The Turkish Cypriots did well to keep themselves in the match in the early stages, holding their more experienced opponents at 2-2, before the Poles pulled away as they moved the score to 5-2.
Miesko Fortunski and Wojciech Szewczyk
A scratch following a jump shot from Fortunski, got the Northern Cypriots back to the table and they cleared up for 5-3. The Poles though, took the next to reach the hill. At 6-3 down, a solid break from Alnar gave Turkish North Cyprus a great chance to keep themselves in the match but Sanlisoy missed the 6 ball and it was game over as the defending champions took the victory.
Commented Szewczyk; “I’m the lucky guy today because I wanted to play in the doubles and wanted to carry on as it’s a lot of fun, good experience and there’s prizes as well. I’m just fortunate Wiktor couldn’t make it! It sounds bad but I benefitted from that and I was happy to be able to partner Miesko this time.”
Fortunski added, “I didn’t play last year in the Longoni tournament but I watched and enjoyed it and kept my fingers crossed for the Polish team. They made a good job of it and I’m really happy to have played with Wojciech tonight.”
The Spanish pair of David Alcaide and Francisco Ruiz are arguably the best scotch doubles pairing in the world and they made it an unhappy Longoni debut for home-town players Dennis Grabe and Karl Gnadeberg of Estonia.
Spain got off to a flyer and had got to five racks before Estonia put their first one on the scoreboard. However, another dry break from the Estonians put the Spanish back at the table. And although it was a drawn-out rack, Spain prevailed to put themselves on the hill at 6-1.
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz and David Alcaide
They made no mistakes in what was the final rack to give themselves the perfect start to their 2023 campaign.
Full Results
Group A – Poland (Fortunski / Szewczyk) 7 – 3 Turkish North Cyprus
(Other group member – Austria)
Group B – Spain (Alcaide / Sanchez Ruiz) 7 – 1 Estonia (Grabe /
Gnadeberg)
(Other group member – Czech Republic)
The other two matches scheduled for this evening – Norway v Switzerland in Group C and Germany v Netherlands in Group D were both deferred until the next Euro Tour stop in Austria in April as some of the players had flight issues and could not reach the venue in good time.
As per the format of the Longoni 9 Ball League, the bottom placed teams in the four groups from last year have been replaced for this season. That means that Albania, Greece, Serbia & Italy have stood down to be replaced with Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkish North Cyprus and Switzerland.
Play reconvenes at St Johan im Pongau, Austria with the second round of matches which take place on Friday 14th April.
THE LONGONI 9 BALL LEAGUE is back for a second season as the EPBF 2023 calendar gets underway in Tallinn, Estonia. 2022 champions Poland will be back to defend their title in the scotch-doubles formatted pairs tournament.
The first-round action gets underway on Friday evening 17th February as four race-to-seven matches take place at the Kalev Sports Hall. There are 12 nations competing and the top two highest ranked players on the Euro Tour rankings at the time of each round of matches will be representing their country.
Last year it was the Polish pairing of Wiktor Zielinski and Wojciech Szewczyk who carried off the trophy. Maintaining a high ranking throughout the season allowed the duo compete in every stage of the tournament. However, a late season surge from Miesko Fortunski has seen him become the second highest ranked Pole but with Zielinski absent this time, Szewczyk gets the nod.
The popular Pole commented, “I’m very glad that the Longoni 9 Ball League has come back this year and last year it turned out to be a great experience in many ways. It’s perfect practice that puts you in the tournament mode right before the ET.
“Scotch doubles format is quite motivating as you don’t want to let down your partner by any means and it is also enjoyable when you share the table with your good friend as one team. Pool is very individual so it’s refreshing to be able to share that emotion and have a laugh when things are going your way.
“I was lucky to play all the matches last year and all of them together with Wiktor. I have a complete trust in his game and tremendous break. that saved us a couple times but the probable situation of changing your partner along the way is a factor you have to take into account.
“I think if you are winning it’s more of an obstacle as you don’t want to change something that seems to work. And specifically in the Polish team the top two can change from tournament to tournament. I am lucky to represent Poland for the opening match again as Mieszko took over from me in the rankings. Still, I have played with Mieszko many times, even twice representing Poland in WCoP so I am not worried at all about our chemistry.“
As per the format of the Longoni 9 Ball League, the bottom placed teams in the four groups from last year are replaced in 2023. That means that Albania, Greece, Serbia & Italy have stood down to be replaced with Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkish North Cyprus and Switzerland.
Wiktor Zielinski (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Only 16 remain at the World Pool Championship 2023 in Kielce, Poland with the likes of Shane Van Boening, Albin Ouschan, and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz all looking to make a run to the finish line live on Sky Sports, Viaplay, DAZN, Matchroom.Live and TV networks worldwide.
Van Boening came up against his stiffest test yet in his mission to keep ahold of the title he won 12 months ago with a victory of Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp in a 11-9 win that saw the South Dakota Kid struggle to shake off the 2022 US Open runner-up. 2021 champion Ouschan was taken to the dying ember by Daniel Maciol of Poland to secure his passage whilst Sanchez Ruiz got the better of former world champion Thorsten Hohmann to book his place in the Last 16.
Mohammad Soufi, Denis Grabe, Max Lechner, and Wu Kun Lin all progressed to the penultimate days with wins over Mika Immonen, Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Johann Chua, and Japan’s Naoyuki Oi. Neils Feijen meanwhile came from behind to beat Petri Makkonen of Finland as he hunts for a second world title.
The final moments of the day were John Morra‘s to be had with a remarkable 11-10 thriller win over Jayson Shaw from 6-4 and 10-8 down. Shaw had his opportunities to seal the win but a poor safety let Morra in to complete a huge victory in a World Pool Championship classic. It sees Morra meet Mario He next after the Austrian beat Ko Ping Chung 11-9.
Saturday 4, February – Last 16 from 12:00 pm (CET)
Table 1
Wiktor Zielinski (POL) vs Chang Jung-Lin (TPE)
Shane Van Boening (USA) vs Duong Quoc Hoang (VIE)
Table 2
Albin Ouschan (AUT) vs Mateusz Sniegocki (POL)
NB 2:00pm – John Morra (CAN) vs Mario He (AUT)
NB 3:30pm – Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) vs Denis Grabe (EST)
Table 3
Max Lechner (AUT) vs Wu Kun Lin (TPE)
NB 2:00pm – Sebastian Batkowski (POL) vs Mohammad Soufi (SYR)
NB 3:30pm – Aleksa Pecelj (SRB) vs Niels Feijen (NED)
Alex Pagulayan has knocked Joshua Filler out of the World Pool Championship 2023 in Kielce, Poland at the Last 64 stage by Alex Pagulayan live on Sky Sports, Viaplay, DAZN, Matchroom.Live and TV networks worldwide.
Filler was up against Pagulayan for the second time in a matter of days but this time with no second lifeline as the tournament reached single elimination. The pair traded blows yesterday as Pagulayan remained on the winners’ side with victory forcing Filler through Losers’ Qualifcation. Pagulayan prevailed once again 11-9 to set up a clash with Serbia’s Aleksa Pecelj in the Last 32 this evening.
Another member of Team Europe’s victorious 2022 Mosconi Cup side tumbled on Friday afternoon as David Alcaide fell at the hands of home favourite Wojciech Szewczyk 11-9 whilst the other three members of that Mosconi Cup side in Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Albin Ouschan and Jayson Shaw all made sure of spots in the Last 32.
Chris Melling suffered defeat to Aloysius Yapp in the opening match of the day on table one whilst Shane Van Boening‘s title hunt gathered momentum with an emphatic win over Finland’s Jani Uski 11-2. 2015 champion Ko Pin Yi came from 10-7 down to defeat Jan Van Lierop to meet compatriot Chang Jung-Lin this evening. Meanwhile, Thorsten Hohmann got the better of Khalid Alghamdi to face Sanchez Ruiz later this evening.
Action returns from 6pm CET tonight on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA and Italy as well as on Matchroom.Live and broadcasters worldwide. Table 2 and Table 3 are on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube Channels respectively and Viaplay in above listed territories. See where to watch here.
Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Jayson Shaw survived a hill-hill scare in his opening match of the World Pool Championship 2023 in Kielce, Poland as defending champion Shane Van Boening cruised through to Winners Round 1 unscathed live on Sky Sports, Viaplay, DAZN, Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
Van Boening stepped out at Targi Kielce looking to do what only Earl Strickland has ever achieved in defending a world title with Masato Yoshioka offering the first test. The South Dakota Kid was barely troubled by his opponent in a strong showing that saw Yoshioka restricted to few opportunities as Van Boening rattled in a 9-2 opening win. Mats Schjetne awaits tomorrow afternoon for Van Boening in Winners’ Qualification.
Shaw meanwhile had a far from the ideal start being pushed to the final four ball against Italy’s Francesco Candela. Two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Shaw, got off to a comfortable start to lead 5-3 but Candela hit back forcing it all the way to the hill. It was the case of Shaw making plenty of balls off the break but misfortune awaiting at his feet with several in-offs to claw Candela back into the contest. Candela forced a hill-hill finish and looked to have an out after a nervy safety exchange only for the four to be left hanging to allow Shaw in to complete a 9-8 win.
“I played well throughout the match. It was a weird one. Funny little things happened, I am exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open with a lot of pool being played in the last week. I need a good sleep and I will be back tomorrow. I got here at 5 pm yesterday and woke up at 5 pm today! 24 hours, I didn’t know where I was! Hopefully, tomorrow I can be back to where I need to be. I am playing well, there are a lot of good players out here. Hopefully, luck is on your side and you play well. It’s one match at a time for me. Everyone is here to win, we will see what happens.” – Jayson Shaw after beating Francesco Candela 9-5.
Wojciech Szewczyk (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
13 Polish players started their journey on home soil with Wojciech Szewczyk getting the honours of playing the first match on Table 1 with the Warsaw native up against Bashar Hussain Abdul Majeed in front of a packed home crowd.
Nineball World No. 1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz beat So Shaw in a whitewash before coming from 5-2 down to defeat Wu Kun Lin and book a spot in the Last 64 and a day off tomorrow. Joining Sanchez Ruiz in the Last 64 is two-time winner Albin Ouschan who got the better of SVB Junior Open winner Khalid Alghamdi in Winners’ Qualification whilst Niels Feijen, Ko Ping Chung and Max Lechner also made it through early doors. It was also a delight for Nick Van Den Berg on a triumphant return to the Nineball Arena with back-to-back wins.
Action returns from midday local time tomorrow on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA and Italy as well as on Matchroom.Live and broadcasters worldwide. Table 2 and Table 3 are on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube Channels respectively and Viaplay in above listed territories. See where to watch here.
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.
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.
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.
Matchroom Pool is pleased to announce the World Pool Championship 2023 will take place in Kielce, Poland in partnership with the Polish Billiard Association from February 1-5 as the world’s best descend on Targi Kielce Exhibition & Congress Centre live on Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics as well as on Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy with further broadcasters to be announced.
Kielce is no stranger to big Matchroom events and last hosted the 2012 World Pool Masters where it was Poland’s own Karol Skowerski who came out on top. Since then, Poland has become a breeding ground for top Nineball players with 17 currently listed on the Live Nineball World Rankings. Of which, ten are inside the world’s top 100 including World No. 7 Wiktor Zielinski, World No. 15 Konrad Juszczyszyn, World No. 16 Mieszko Fortunski, and Wojciech Szewczyk, Tomasz Kapłan, Karol Skowerski, Daniel Macioł, Sebastian Batkowski, Mateusz Śniegocki, Radosław Babica.
The Polish Billiard Association has worked closely with Matchroom to bring the World Pool Championship to Poland for the first time in the tournament’s history. Partners in Poland include the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Poland, Marshal of Swietokrzyskie Province, Mayor of Kielce City, and Nosan Company.
Tickets are available soon from only 25 PLZ (€5) for a day ticket, and 100 PLZ (€20) for all five days of action in Kielce. Sign up for ticket alerts here.
Defending champion Shane Van Boening will head to the city looking to keep hold of his world crown that he claimed in April 2022 downing Albin Ouschan in the final in the 128 strong field taken from the Live Nineball World Rankings.
The tournament will be the opening Matchroom event on the Nineball World Ranking schedule with the Blue-Ribbon event offering $325,000 in total prize money with the winner taking home $60,000.
Last year saw the introduction of a new double-elimination format to improve the quality of the tournament which will remain in 2023. Fans will be able to sweat the action on three tables with one TV broadcast and two streaming tables available via the Matchroom YouTube channels. Those in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics, and Netherlands will be able to watch on Viaplay. Sky Sports will be the home of the World Pool Championship in the UK and Ireland whilst fans in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy will be able to watch live on DAZN. More broadcasters will be announced closer to the time. Matchroom.Live will be available to those without a broadcaster in their country.
Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer said: “We’re so excited to take the World Pool Championship to Poland, a place that is a hot bed for Nineball. I am looking forward to welcoming the world’s best to Kielce for what promises to be another breath-taking week of action. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Polish Billiard Association and partners for all their hard work already to bring the event to a new country. I believe the production will be the best to date for a multi-table event with exciting plans to extend our coverage further.”
