WITH THE PARTYPOKER.NET World Cup of Pool scheduled for Tuesday 4th to Sunday 9th September in Manila, the draw has now been made and there are some very exciting first round matches as 32 teams from around the world set their sights on the $60,000 top prize.
Taking place at Robinsons Place Mall in Ermita, the opening match of the tournament features defending champions Germany (Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann) looking to open their account against qualifiers Serbia.
With a total prize fund of US$250,000 there is plenty to play for with first round losers receiving $3,000. The World Cup of Pool will be making its fourth visit to Manila and huge crowds are expected to see the finest players in the world.
Local interest will be in the two Filipino teams of Dennis Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza, and old stagers Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, winners of this event in 2009. Orcollo and Corteza face the dangerous Swiss pair of Dimitri Jungo and Ronni Regli while Reyes and Bustamante play Hong Kong.
In other exciting first round matches, 2004 World Pool Champion Alex Pagulayan makes a welcome return to Manila, this time representing Canada and paired with John Morra.
They are up against the capable Swedish duo of Mosconi Cup legend Marcus Chamat and Andreas Gerwen.
The USA, made up of 2008 champions Rodney Morris and Shane Van Boening, are back and face a tricky contest against flamboyant Indian duo Raj Hundal and Amar Kang.
Televised live throughout by Solar Sports, the 2012 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world's leading online poker school. Cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc, tables by Diamond Billiards and the Official Cue is Predator.
2012 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool – the Draw
Germany (1) v Serbia
Finland (16) v Korea
Philippines B (8) v Hong Kong
Canada (9) v Sweden
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USA (5) v India
Austria (12) v Kuwait
China (4) v Singapore
Spain (13) v Hungary
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England (3) v Belgium
Thailand (14) v Malaysia
Chinese Taipei (6) v Indonesia
Japan (11) v Russia
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Holland (7) v Croatia
Poland (10) v Australia
Philippines A (2) v Switzerland
Italy (15) v Vietnam
