Niels Feijen (NED)
With the 22nd annual PartyPoker World Pool Masters set for the Portland Centre in Nottingham from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th November, promoters Matchroom Sport have assembled a star-studded field from around the world to contest one of the sport’s most prestigious events.
16 of the best pool players in the world will be gathered in the heart of England to try and add their name to the pantheon of all-time greats who have held the Masters trophy aloft.
There is a $66,000 prize fund at stake and World Champions, US Open Champions, European Champions as well as the very best players from all four corners of the globe will be vying for the Masters crown.
Defending champion and reigning WPA World 9 Ball winner Niels Feijen will be back to defend his crown. Also aiming for his first ever Masters title is Shane Van Boening, who just made history as he won his third consecutive US Open title and fourth overall.
Other WPA World Champions competing are four legends of the game; Thorsten Hohmann, Francisco Bustamante, Alex Pagulayan and Mika Immonen.
Home hopes will rest with four players who have all had great seasons one way or another. Darren Appleton is the most titled player in UK pool history with two US Opens as well as two WPA World Championships on his resume. Karl Boyes, who along with Appleton won the recent World Cup of Pool, is a former WPA World 8 Ball Champion.
They will be joined by Chris Melling, who is also carving a name for himself on the World Snooker Tour, and Mark Gray who earlier this month qualified for his second Mosconi Cup appearance.
The full line-up
- Darren Appleton (ENGLAND)
- Karl Boyes (ENGLAND)
- Francisco Bustamante (PHILIPPINES)
- Daniele Corrieri (ITALY)
- Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GREECE)
- Niels Feijen (HOLLAND)
- James Georgiadis (AUSTRALIA)
- Mark Gray (ENGLAND)
- Thorsten Hohmann (GERMANY)
- Mika Immonen (FINLAND)
- Waleed Majid (QATAR)
- Chris Melling (ENGLAND)
- Alex Pagulayan (CANADA)
- Karol Skowerski (POLAND)
- Shane Van Boening (USA)
- Can Wang (CHINA)
With a field of 16 players there are 15 matches in total – all races to eight racks and culminating in the final on the Sunday evening. The draw and schedule will be announced shortly.
Tickets are priced at a £10 for the evening sessions and £5 for the afternoon sessions. Both prices include a booking fee.
The Masters will once again sport a $20,000 top prize, and the event will be produced by Matchroom Sport Television who will be making 15 x 1 hour programmes of the tournament for international syndication.
The 2014 PARTYPOKER World Pool Masters is sponsored by PartyPoker.com, one of the world's leading online poker sites. The Official Table is by Diamond Billiards; Cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis; the Official Balls are Super Aramith and Predator is the Official Cue, Chalk and Rest.
