The WPBA congratulates exempt WPBA pro's selected to compete in the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool. The competition will be held in Manila, Philippines at the Midtown Wing of Robinsons Place in Ermita, Manila from Tuesday, September 7th to Sunday, September 12th and will feature 32 teams (2) person teams, representing 31countries.
Women's Professional Billiards Association superstars Ga Young Kim, Yu Ram Cha, and Jasmin Ouschan are set to compete against the best of the best in male competition. Top male professionals include Johnny Archer, Daryl Peach, Rodney Morris, Dennis Orcollo, Niels Feijen, Mika Immonen, Oliver Ortmann, Karl Boyes, Jianbo Fu, Tony Drago and Marcus Chamat who will all be firing at a $250,000 prize fund.
Kim and Cha will make up the only “all female” team. These two heavy hitters pack a lot of firepower and routinely take on and take down some of the toughest male competition around. Cha has proven herself to be a more than worthy opponent when pitted against her male counterparts. She has career wins over Shane VanBoening, Thorsten Hohmann, and her own coach, Charlie Williams, just to name a few. When asked about how she feels about being part of the only all female team, Yu Ram responded, “As the only “all female” team, I feel a small burden to play well. I guess I will learn from the world's best players!” When asked about her feelings going into the event and her new teammate, Yu Ram responds, "I am very excited and I can't wait to play. I missed not participating in this event last year due to circumstances beyond my control. I will do my best in upcoming matches with my partner, Ga Young. She is a veteran and has more experience than me. She and I have never played together so I am a little bit worried. On the other hand, I am very excited to play with her. Due to the importance of teamwork, I am trying to harmonize with her.” Kim and Cha will be up against team Italy, Bruno Muratore and Fabio Patroni, in the first round.
In addition, Austrian native Jasmin Ouschan will also join the mix. Ouschan, who is no stranger to the toughest of competition, finished 3rd in the World Straight Pool Championships where she defeated the #1 seed, Mika Immonen and top German pro, Oliver Ortmann on her way to the semi-finals. “It is an honor again to be selected to play in the World Cup of Pool. This year will be my third time and the best result was the fifth place in 2008. This year I am playing with a young upcoming player from Austria and I hope we can beat the fifth place from 2008. It is a tough event especially since there is no losers' round but we are strong together and I hope we can show it in Manila‚” explained Ouschan. She will pair up with Mario He in this 32 team format and will face off with Holland's Neils Fejien and Huidji See in the first round.
Event sponsor Luke Riches of Matchroom Sport says, “We always enjoy having female players in the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool and will endeavour to include more as the standards rise. The ladies bring a different dimension to the tournament and they can play!”
For more information, please visit www.PartyPoker.net and www.matchroompool.com. Meet the ladies of the WPBA at www.wpba.com.
