By: Erik Hjorleifson
The World Cup of pool, one of the most prestigious events on the international pool calendar is set to kick off in London, England On Tuesday. This event will feature 32 teams from around the world in a single knockout race to 8 format. As with all Matchroom Sport even in recent history the 9 ball will be racked on the spot which will make the break more of a skill shot rather than a foregone conclusion. The event will be a single knockout and the pressure that comes with short race single knockout tournaments is huge, along with the fact that the players are playing for their country not only themselves.
The tournament is seeded based on W.P.A rankings on paper some of the favored teams include:
Ko Pin Yi and Chang Yu Lung (Taiwan) 5 to 1
Karl Boyes and Darren Aplleton (England) 6 to 1
Niels Feijen and Nick Van Den Berg (Holland) 7 to 1
Carlo Biado and Warren Kiamco (Philippines) 7 to 1
Mike Dechaine and Shane Van Boening (USA) 10 to 1
Ralf Soquet and Thorsten Hohmann (Germany) 14 to 1
Odds courtesy of bet365.com http://www.bet365.com/home/FlashGen4/WebConsoleApp.asp?&cb=105802030819
The draw is seeded so the first round should not produce to many upsets but you never know with the short race format. From my observations the closest first round match will be between the Philippines and Russia who will feature Konstantin Stepanov and Ruslan Chinakov both world class players. For our North American fans Canada will play France in the first round and the U.S will play Qatar.
Brackets can be seen http://www.matchroompool.com/world-cup-of-pool/#draw
Regardless of the supposed favorites, teamwork will be an important ingredient to success in this years tournament. Teams that have experience playing together include:
Ralf Soquet and Thorsten Hohmann
Karl Boyes and Darren Appleton
Nick Van den Berg and Niels Feijen
Jason Klatt and John Morra
The event will be live streamed at www.livesport.tv Cuesport Natikon will be following the action all week.
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