WITH THE 2013 World Cup of Pool set for 17-22 September at the York Hall, London, the draw for first round matches as well as the schedule of play has been made. Defending champions and No.1 seeds Finland – Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen – get proceedings underway on the Tuesday afternoon with an enticing match against Austrian siblings – Albin and Jasmin Ouschan.
There are plenty of intriguing games as the seeded nations do battle with some of the pool world’s underdogs as the teams chase a share of the $250,000 prize fund.
There are 16 race-to-seven first round matches taking place in all, and the opening evening sees England B (Peach and Melling), Holland (Niels Feijen and Nick Van Den Berg) and the Filipino pairing of Lee Vann Corteza and Dennis Orcollo all in action.
Other highlight matches include the American pair of Shane Van Boening and Johnny Archer taking on the rising stars of Kuwait on Wednesday evening and then the heavily supported Team India (Raj Hundal and Amar Kang) going up against Alex Pagulayan and John Morra of Canada.
The England A team of Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes appear on the evening of Thursday 19th when they take on the always dangerous Indonesians.
Commented Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn, “We’ve made a huge effort to bring all the big names of world pool to London to contest what is one of the biggest tournaments in the world.
“Home support will play a massive part for the two England teams but I’m sure fans from across Europe will come to the most atmospheric cue sports venue to support their teams.
“Out of the 32 teams I’d say at least half of them could go all the way to the final and I’m sure there will be some thrilling matches along the way.”
The Schedule (Seedings in brackets)
Tuesday September 17
Round 1 – race to 7
1.00 pm
Round 1 – Finland (1) v Austria
Round 1 – Korea (16) v Qualifier 2
Round 1 – Germany (9) v Malaysia
6:00 pm
Round 1 – Holland (5) v Thailand
Round 1 – England B (8) v Qualifier 1
Round 1 – Philippines (6) v Croatia
Wednesday September 18
Round 1 – race to 7
1.00 pm
Round 1 – Japan (13) v Sweden
Round 1 – China (3) v Hungary
Round 1 – Russia (14) v Hong Kong
6:00 pm
Round 1 – USA (4) v Kuwait
Round 1 – Poland (11) v Singapore
Round 1 – Canada (12) v India
Thursday September 19
Round 1 & 2– race to 7
1.00 pm
Round 1 – Chinese Taipei (7) v Belgium
Round 1 – Greece (10) v Australia
Round 1 – Italy (15) v Spain
6.00 pm
Round 1 – England A (2) v Indonesia
Round 2 – Finland/Austria v Korea/Qual 2
Round 2 – England B/Qual 1 v Germany/Malaysia
Friday September 20
Round 2 – race to 7
1.00 pm
Round 2 - China/Hungary v Russia/Hong Kong
Round 2 – Philippines/Croatia v Poland/Singapore
Round 2 – Chinese Taipei/Belgium v Greece/Australia
6.00 pm
Round 2 – USA/Kuwait v Japan/Sweden
Round 2 – Holland/Thailand v Canada/India
Round 2 – England A/Indonesia v Italy/Spain
Saturday September 21
Quarter Finals – race to 9
1.00 pm
Quarter Final
Quarter Final
6.00 pm
Quarter Final
Quarter Final
Sunday September 22
Semi Finals – race to 9
1.00 pm
Semi Final 1
Semi Final 2
6.00 pm Final - race to 10
Final
The 2013 World Cup of Pool runs from 17 – 22 September and takes place at the York Hall, London. All tickets are available from www.seetickets.com (Search ‘World Cup of Pool’)
