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.
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.
USA Open World Cup Defence vs Malta
August 25, 2009