WPA World 9-Ball Championship Underway

Reigning Champion Yukio Akagariyama

The Big One is finally here.

The WPA 2012 World 9-ball Championship, considered perhaps the most prestigious title in men's professional pool, has gotten underway at the beautiful Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

The action over the next 8 days promises to be as scorching hot as the weather is outside, where searing hot winds sweeping in off the desert combine with the blazing Middle Eastern sun to send temperatures into the mid-40's celcius.

Indeed the event has attracted 128 of the best pool players from over 50 countries, who are vying for $300,000 in prize money, with $40,000 going to the eventual winner.

The tournament is run in two stages.  The first stage has the players divided up into 16 groups of 8.  There the players will play a double elimination format, race to 9, alternate break. The top four players in each group, two from the winners side, and two from the losers side, will advance into the final 64, which begins on June 27th. 

From there, the tournament becomes a straight knockout, with all matches single elimination race to 11, alternate break. The finals, which will be played on June 29th, will be race to 13, alternate break. 

The list of names assembled here in Doha is a who's who of the games top stars, with literally dozens of world championships and major victories among them.  In all there are 10 current or former world 9-ball champions in the field, including defending champion Japan's Yukio Akagariyama who won in this very venue last year. 

Other world 9-ball champions include the Philippines Francisco Bustamante(2010), England's Daryl Peach(2007), the Philippines Ronnie Alcano(2006), Germany's Thorsten Hohmann(2003), Finland's Mika Immonen(2001), Taiwan's Fong Pang Chao(2000, 1993), the Philippines Efren “Bata” Reyes(1999), Germany's Ralf Souquet(1996), Germany's Oliver Ortmann(1995).

The list of pool champions in the field doesn't include just 9-ball. Current World 8-ball champion Chang Jun Lin of Taiwan is here.  Also vying for glory will be two time US Open Champion and former World 10-Ball Champion Darren Appleton of England, 2011 World 8-ball Champion Dennis Orcullo of the Philippines, 2010 World 8-ball champion Karl boyes of England, 2010 World 10-ball champion Huidji See of the Netherlands, and former US Open Champion and the USA's number one player, Shane Van Boening.

But of course as in every World 9-ball Championship, part of the fun is witnessing the rise of new talents from across the globe, as the game of 9-ball has spread far and wide over the last ten years.  Fans are guaranteed train loads of nerve jangling drama throughout the event, with plenty of upsets sure to rock the Al Sadd and the pool world. 

Once again the Philippines has the most number of entries with 16 players.  Last year, more than a quarter of the players in the final 64 were from the Philippines. Considering the numbers entered this year, and with the high standard of all the Filipino players, expect a similar scenario this week. It would even be a fair bet to say a Filipino will probably make it at least to the semi-finals. 

In order to stop players from soft breaking, the WPA has instituted the Illegal Break rule this year. On the break shot, a player must get three balls past the head string, or get a combination of 3 balls past the head string and/or pocketed.

The 2012 World 9-ball Championship is being hosted by the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation. The official tables are once again Diamond Tables, and the pockets have been set extremely tight as befits a world championship.    

This is now the third straight year that Qatar has hosted the World 9-ball Championship.    Qatar, which has the world's third largest natural gas reserves and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, hosting the prestigious pool world championship is adding yet another milestone in its sporting achievements.

Qatar emerged as the leading centre for sports. The country has been a major hub for big time international sporting events, including the 2006 Asian Games, the 2011 Asian Cup Football Championships, and the MotoGP World Championship.

The small but oil-rich country will also host the 2022 FIFA World Cup of Football and the 2015 World IHF Handball Championship.

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.

 The prize breakdown is as follows:
Champion - $40,000
Runner-up - $20,000
3- 4 - $12,000
5-8 -$8,000
9-16 -$5,000
17-32 - $3,500
33-64- $2,000
65-96 - $1000 (loser of 2nd round in the loser's bracket of Stage 2)
Total - $300,000

FACT FILE
Sponsored by - Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC)
Co-sponsored by - Simonis (cloth)
Organised by - Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation (QBSF)
Sanctioned by - World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) & Asian Pocket
Billiard Union (APBU)
Official Hotel: Wyndham Grand Regency

EQUIPMENT:
Diamond Tables
Simonis 860 Cloth, Electric Blue Color.
Aramith Super Pro TV Ball

FULL PLAYERS LIST

1            Akagariyama Yukio                          JPN
2            Chang Jung Lin                                 TPE
3            Chris Melling                                      GBR
4            Fu Che Wei                                         TPE
5            Huidji See                                           NED
6            Dennis Orcollo                                   PHI
7            Darren Appleton                                GBR
8            Lee Van Corteza                               PHI
9            Ronnie Alcano                                   PHI
10           Ko Pin Yi                                               TPE
11           Liu Haitao                                            CHN
12           Carlo Biado                                         PHI
13           Thorsten Hohmann                         GER
14           Ralf Souquet                                      GER
15           Chang Yu Lung                                   TPE
16           Daryl Peach                                        GBR
17           Fu Jianbo                                             CHN
18           Roberto Gomez                                  PHI
19           Shane Van Boening                         USA
20           Mark Gray                                           GBR
21           Mika Immonen                                 FIN
22           Lo Li Wen                                             TPE
23           Hwang Yong                                       KOR
24           Alok Kumar                                         IND
25           Sundeep Gulati                                 IND
26           Kuribatashi Tohru                            JPN
27           Hori Ryouji                                          JPN
28           Kuo Yi Che                                           TPE
29           Hsu Kai Lun                                         TPE
30           Ryu Seung Woo                                 KOR
31           Lee Wan Su                                        KOR
32           Toh Lian Han                                      SIN
33           Aloysius Yapp                                    SIN
34           Do The Kien                                        VIE
35           Nguyen Anh Tuan                              VIE
36           Francisco Bustamante                    PHI
37           Jundel Mazon                                    PHI
38           Efren Reyes                                        PHI
39           Antonio G.bica                                 PHI-QAT
40           Israel Rota                                         PHI-QAT
41           Kong Andrew                                    HKG
42           Lee Chenman                                    HKG
43           Lee He Wen                                       CHN
44           Han Hao Xiang                                   CHN
45           Dan Jing Hu                                         CHN
46           Edwin Montal                                    CAN
47           Jason Klatt                                          CAN
48           John Morra                                         CAN
49           Harvey Shognosh                             CAN
50           Hunter Lombardo                            USA
51           Tony Drago                                         MLT
52           Philipp Stojanovic                            CRO
53           Ivica Putnik                                         CRO
54           Karlo Dalmatin                                   CRO
55           Bozidar Primic                                    CRO
56           Malaj Nikolaos                                  ALB
57           Roman Hybler                                   CZE
58           Vincent Facquet                                  FRA
59           Francisco Diaz-Pizarro                    ESP
60           Andrea Klasovic                                SRB
61           Marus Chamat                                  SWE
62           Aki Heiskanen                                   FIN
63           Mario He                                             AUT
64           Albin Ouschan                                   AUT
65           Manuel Gama                                   POR
66           Henrique Correia                             POR
67           Dimitri Jungo                                      SUI
68           Nick Van Den Berg                           NED
69           Niels Feijen                                        NED
70           Jason Shaw                                         GBR
71           Imran Majid                                       GBR
72           Jones Richard                                    GBR
73           Karl Boyes                                           GBR
74           Oliver Ortmann                                 GER
75           Jentsch Dominic                               GER
76           Thomas Engert                                  GER
77           Serge Das                                            BEL
78           Sniegocki Mateusz                          POL
79           Konstantin Stepanov                      RUS
80           Bruno Muratore                               ITA
81           Denis Grabe                                       EST
82           Luis Lemus                                          GUA
83           Jonny Martinez                                 VEN
84           Jalal Yousef                                         VEN
85           Ceri Worts                                           NZL
86           Matthew Edwards                           NZL
87           Robby Foldvari                                  AUS
88           Mohammad Ali Berjaoui               LIB
89           Mazen Berjaoui                                LIB
90           Takhti Zarekani                                 IRI
91           Ali Pordel                                             IRI
92           Badr Al Awadi                                    KUW
93           Abdullah Al Yousef                          KUW
94           Abdulwahed Al Awad                    KSA
95           Abdul Rahman Al Amar                 KSA
96           Hanni Alhowri                                    UAE
97           Salaheldeen Alrimawi                    UAE
98           Ali Saeed Alsuwaidi                         UAE
99           Nayf Abdel Afou                              JOR
100         Rajandran Nair                                  RSA
101         David N. Anderson                          RSA
102         Hamza Alsaeed                                 ERI
103         Mohamed Elassal                             EGY
104         Al Masskini                                         MAR
105         Bashar Hussain                                  QAT
106         Mohd Al Bin Ali                                 QAT
107         Abdulatif Fawal                                 QAT
108         Mohd Buainain                                 QAT
109         Ali Obaidly                                           QAT
110         Waleed Majeed                                  QAT
111         Mohammad Saeed                         QAT
112         Hayato Hijikata                                  JPN
113         Yang Ching Shun                               TPE
114         Joyme Vicente                                  PHI-UAE
115         Nick Ekonomopoulos                     GRE
116         Naoyuki Ohi                                       JPN
117         Olver Medanilla                                PHI-UAE
118         Ramil Gallego                                     PHI
119         Joven Alba                                          PHI-UAE
120         Chao Fang Pang                              TPE
121         Majed Alazmi                                    KUW
122         Marlon Caneda                                 PHI-KSA
123         Omar Al Shahen                               KUW
124         Takashi Uraoka                                 JPN
125         Elvis Calasang                                   PHI-UAE
126         Khaled Al Mutairi                                KUW
127         Raymound Faraon                           PHI-UAE
128         Alaa Bata                                             QAT