Europe Fields 52 Players in World Ten Ball

From l to r: Mika Immonen, David Alcaide & Thorsten Hohmann

Determined to retain its hold on major world pool titles won last year, the European Pocket Billiards Federation (EPBF) is fielding 52 players from 21 member countries in the 2009 World Ten Ball Championship set at the World Trade Center in Manila on November 25-30.

Gre Leenders, EPBF president and secretary-general of the World Pool-Billiard Association, formally announced the composition of the European delegation in an email sent to Raya Sports, organizer of the WTBC.

The European contingent is bannered by defending WTBC champion Darren Appleton (Great Britain), 2008 world 8-ball champion Ralf Souquet (Germany), 2007 world 9-ball champion Daryl Peach (GBR), Qatar Open champion Mika Immonen (Finland), China Open champion Thorsten Hohmann (Germany), and Portugal Predator Open champion David Alcaide (Spain).

Other notable members of the squad are: Marcus Chamat (Sweden), Niels Feijen (Netherlands), Stephan Cohen (France), Bruno Muratore (Italy), and Ruslan Chinakhov (Russia).

Great Britain and Germany, two major powers in the sport, have the most number of participants with 11 and 9 players respectively.

The countries sending players to the WTBC apart from Great Britain and Germany are: Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Austria, France, Norway, Turkey, Spain, Serbia, Belgium, Denmark, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, and the Czech Republic.

Leenders said that the WTBC and the10-Ball format have become quite popular in Europe. “EPBF was able to fill all its spots. A European WTBC qualifier, which was held in September after the Euro Tour, attracted over 50 players who wanted to qualify,” he said.

The European players will battle for the WTBC title with players from the other continental federations: North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia.

The WTBC is the only world pool championship being held this year. Both the world 8-ball and 9-ball championships for 2009 have been cancelled.

The complete EPBF list follows:

1. He, Mario Austria

2. Kempter, Martin Austria

3. Das, Serge Belgium

4. Stojanovic, Phil Croatia

5. Hybler, Roman Czech Republic

6. Lotfy, Bahram Denmark

7. Immonen, Mika Finland

8. Juva, Markus Finland

9. Cohen, Stephan France

10. Facquet, Vincent France

11. Souquet, Ralf Germany

12. Hohmann, Thorsten Germany

13. Engert, Thomas Germany

14. Ortmann, Oliver Germany

15. Reintjes, Christoph Germany

16. Vogel, Marko Germany

17. Zobrekis, Klaus Germany

18. Mund, Ralf Germany

19. Heimmerer, Benjamin Germany

20. Appleton, Darren Great Britain

21. Peach, Daryl Great Britain

22. Melling, Chris Great Britain

23. Gray, Mark Great Britain

24. Majid, Imran Great Britain

25. Osborne, Craig Great Britain

26. Boys, Karl Great Britain

27. Fulcher, Jonni Great Britain

28. Jones, Ricardo Great Britain

29. Burford, Phil Great Britain

30. Higgins, Scott Great Britain

31. Koukiadakis, Andreas Greece

32. Muratore, Bruno Italy

33. Petroni, Fabio Italy

34. Kristoffersen, Kasper Denmark

35. Feijen, Niels Netherlands

36. Van den Berg, Nick Netherlands

37. See, Huidji Netherlands

38. Kristiansen, Vegar Norway

39. Babica, Radoslaw Poland

40. Sniegocki, Mateusz Poland

41. Kaplan, Thomasz Poland

42. Skoneczny, Mariusz Poland

43. Chinakhov, Ruslan Russia

44. Stepanov, Konstantin Russia

45. Tot, Sandor Serbia

46. Erculj, Matjaz Slovenia

47. Alcaide, David Spain

48. Guzman, Rafael Spain

49. Chamat, Marcus Sweden

50. Jungo, Dmitri Switzerland

51. Cankurt, Mehmet Turkey

52. Dincer, Ramazan Turkey

WPA General Assembly to Convene in Manila

Pictured above: WPA president Ian Anderson

The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) will convene its General Assembly in Manila on November 27 this year, in the same week that the Philippine capital will host the 2^nd World Ten Ball Championship (WTBC) at the World Trade Center.

Long in the planning, the biennial meeting of the world’s governing body of pool was officially announced by WPA president Ian Anderson, and he relayed the same in a letter to Raya Sports chairman Yen Makabenta.

“I would like to inform you that I have chosen Manila as the venue for the upcoming general assembly of the WPA,” said Anderson in the letter. “This is a meeting that is held every two years, and I thought it appropriate that we hold it this time in Manila during the period of the World Ten Ball Championship.”

The WPA Assembly will be attended by representatives of the six continental federations: the European Pocket Billiards Federation (EPBF), Asian Pocket Billiards Union (APBU), Billiards Congress of America (BCA), All African Pool Association (AAPA), Confederacion Panamerica de Billar (CPB) and the Oceania Pocket Billiards Federation (OPBF).

Slated to tackle vital matters affecting pool sports, the meeting will be held at the Heritage Hotel, the official hotel of the WTBC and where WPA members and officers will be billeted.

“All our members are looking forward to attending, and to having the opportunity to witness some of the great matches that will undoubtedly take place during the

Championship,” Anderson said.

Meanwhile, the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP), led by its president Mr. Sebastian Chua, has welcomed the choice of Manila as assembly venue as “fitting recognition” for the role that the country is now playing in the development and propagation of pool worldwide.

During the visit of the WPA officers and members, the BSCP will host a dinner in their honor.