USA Open Defence v Malta
The American pairing of Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris face a tough opening match as they look to defend their PartyCasino.net World Cup of Pool trophy.
This year’s tournament, which features 32 two-man teams from 31 nations, will take place in Manila, Philippines from Tuesday, September 1 to Sunday, September 6.
USA won the 2008 competition and will meet Malta, whose team includes Mosconi Cup rival Tony Drago, in a mouth-watering first round tie.
These two met in the opening round of the 2007 event and it was the American side of Morris and Corey Deuel who prevailed 8-7 in an absolute classic.
The American pairing of Boening and Morris face a tough opening match as they look to defend their PartyCasino.net World Cup of Pool trophy.
As host country, Philippines have two teams and the A side, consisting of Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano, will meet Thailand. Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, who won the inaugural competition in 2006, will be reunited to form the Philippines B pairing and they will meet Qatar in the first round.
Finland’s Mika Immonen and Markus Juva, runners-up in 2007, have a tricky tie against a Swedish side that includes Marcus Chamat, winner of last weekend’s Austrian Open.
England reached the final last year and will be represented by Imran Majid and World Pool Masters Champion Darren Appleton and they will be confident of triumphing against Malaysia.
Other notable first round matches include Korea v China and France v Canada, while a strong-looking German pairing of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, both former World Champions, begin their campaign against Hong Kong.
The Schedule
Tuesday September 1 Wednesday September 2
Round 1 – race to 8 Round 1 – race to 8
12.00 noon 12.00 noon
France v Canada Sweden v Finland
Korea v China Austria v Italy
3.00 pm 3.00 pm
Australia v Spain Croatia v Japan
Indonesia v India Hong Kong v Germany
6.00 pm 6.00 pm
Malta v USA Malaysia v England
Qatar v Philippines B Thailand v Philippines A
Thursday September 3 Friday September 4
Round 1 & 2– race to 8 Round 2 – race to 8
12.00 noon 12.00 noon
Singapore v Taiwan Korea/China v Sweden/Finland
Belgium v Poland Hong Kong/Germany v France/Canada
3.00 pm 3.00 pm
Denmark v Russia Singapore/Taiwan v Belgium/Poland
Vietnam v Holland Croatia/Japan v Vietnam/Holland
6.00 pm 6.00 pm
Malta/USA v Indonesia/India Australia/Spain v Malaysia/England
Qatar/Philippines B v Austria/Italy Denmark/Russia v Thailand/Philippines A
Saturday September 5 Sunday September 6
Quarter Finals – race to 9 Semi Finals – race to 9
2.00 pm 1.00 pm
Quarter Final Semi Final 1
Quarter Final Semi Final 2
6.00 pm 6.00 pm Final – race to 11
The Draw
Malta v USA (1)
Indonesia v India (16)
Korea v China (9)
Sweden v Finland (8)
Qatar v Philippines B (5)
Austria v Italy (12)
Australia v Spain (13)
Malaysia v England (4)
Hong Kong v Germany (3)
France v Canada (14)
Croatia v Japan (11)
Vietnam v Holland (6)
Singapore v Taiwan (7)
Belgium v Poland (10)
Denmark v Russia (15)
Thailand v Philippines A (2)
Seeding number in brackets.
Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,100 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the World Cup of Pool is one of a stable of pool events that include the Mosconi Cup and the World Pool Masters.
Solar Entertainment Corp, based in Makati, Philippines, is an established media with prominent positions in broadcast and cable television. The company is a leader in the creation, promotion and distributions of entertainment and sports programming services.
Solar Sports launched in 2002, the network has showcased all types of sports action both local and foreign. Solar Sports has situated itself to be the ultimate sports channel in the country.
The 2009 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyCasino.net, the world’s leading online casino. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator. The Official Rack is the Predator AeroRack.