2007 WPC Qualifiers
- Thread starter juegabillar
- Start date
karambolista said:
Fifteen (15) to thirteen (13), with the upper hand going to the host. Check this out:
WPC cast complete; Chinese, Taiwanese Take Final Slots
The cast of the 2007 Philippines World Pool Championship is now complete.
When the greatest pool show on earth raises its curtains at the Araneta
Coliseum tomorrow, China's Dang Jinhui and Taiwan's Chun Min-Hung will be
among the 128 contenders vying for the sport?s coveted trophy and its top
prize of $100,000.
Dang and Chung hitched the last ride to the main event by topping their
qualifying tournaments in contrasting fashion at the Star Billiards Centers in
Quezon City last Wednesday.
Dang conquered Japan's Toru Kobayashi, 9-5, in the finals of the ninth
qualifier and earned the No. 2 spot in Group 7 behind Taiwan top seed
Chang Jung-Ling, the reigning Asian 9-Ball Tour king.
But Chung had to dig deep into his bag of tricks in pulling off a thrilling 9-8
decision over stubborn Filipino Jundel Mazon, the 2006 Kuwait 9-Ball titlist,
to seal the 10th and last qualifying slot near the stroke of midnight as the
world celebrated Halloween.
The Taiwanese found himself in Group 3 where compatriot and 2005 world
titlist Wu Chia-Ching is the top seed.
Mazon, who coaches pool in the Middle East, could have emerged as the
third Filipino bet from the qualifiers after veteran Leonardo Andam and
Roberto Gomez, who earlier ruled the fifth and sixth qualifying tournaments.
Another prominent hometown casualty here was former Asian 9-ball
champion Warren Kiamco, who reached the semifinals of Qualifier 4 but
could not make any headway in the succeeding ones that he entered.
It was the Taiwanese who stamped their class in the qualifying round,
bagging half of the 10 spots up for grabs to raise their total number of
players in the main draw to 13, just two less of the Filipinos, who have 15.
But it's back to square one for everyone when the group matches of the
pool festival presented by San Miguel Corp. and PAGCOR starts tomorrow
with three Filipino aces, led by defending champion Ronnie Alcano, making
their debut.
Group 1 top seed Alcano opens his title-retention drive against Saeed
Ahmed Al-Mutawa of the United Arab Emirates while Efren "Bata" Reyes,
the 1999 titlist, kicks off his own quest in Group 6 against Japanese
qualifier Kenichi Uchigaki.
Scheduled at 11:30 a.m., the Reyes-Uchigaki tussle will be played on TV
Table 1 and will be the first match of the event to be broadcast worldwide.
Doha Asian gold medalist Antonio Gabica, who earned a wild card berth in
Group 4, also gets the first chance to play in front of his countrymen when
he meets Bruno Muratore, who last saw action in last September's World
Cup of Pool and is a five-time Italian champion.
Taiwanese 16-year-old sensation Wu, the No. 1 seed in Group 3, tests the
mettle of Nicaragua's Carlos Castro while in Group 4, it will be an all-
Taiwanese clash between top-ranked Yang Ching-sun and qualifier Lui
Hui-Chan, in other featured Day 1 matches.
Source:
http://www.poolphilippines.com/content/view/147/1/