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Ronnie
Alcano starts defense of his title against unheralded
Saeed Ahmed al-Mutawa of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
right on opening day of the 2007 World Pool Championship
(WPC) on November 3 at the Araneta Coliseum.
This
according to the organizing Matchroom Sport, which
announced the schedule of matches for this year’s world
championship the Philippines is hosting for the second
straight year.
The
35-year-old Alcano, also the current World 8-Ball ruler,
leads Group One and is expected to hurdle the Group
Stage with ease. A victory over al-Mutawa will move him
to the winners’ side where he will meet the winner of
the match between veteran campaigner Alex Lely of the
Netherlands and Harald Stolka of Germany for the first
of four slots to the next round.
The
other players in Group One are Ricky Yang of Indonesia,
Xu Meng of China, Charlie Williams of the United States
and Brady Gollan of Canada.
Each of
the 16 Groups has eight players bracketed randomly based
on their present world ranking, previous performances
and continent of origin, among others. They will play in
a double-elimination, race-to-nine racks, winner breaks
format. The top four from each group will advance to the
Last 64, the start of the knockout stage.
Former
champions Efren “Bata” Reyes (1999), who is in Group
Six, and Alex Pagulayan (2004), who is in Group Eight,
will open their bids opposite the second survivor of the
Manila Qualifier and Hamsa Mohammed Saeed Ali Eritrea,
respectively.
Former
world No. 1 and 2002 runner-up Francisco “Django”
Bustamante will begin his campaign in Group Nine—the
so-called “Group of Death”—against Zbynek Vaic of Russia
before moving on to a potential all-Filipino encounter
with Antonio Lining, who drew fellow former Asian Games
gold medalist Jeong Young Hwa of South Korea as his
first assignment.
Also in
the group are former titlist Oliver Ortmann of Germany,
ex-US Open champion Corey Deuel of the
USA
, Pham Tuan Ngoc of Vietnam and John Wims of
Ireland.
Prince
Haji Al Mutahdee-Billah, the Crown Prince of Brunei,
will also be competing in the tournament. The
33-year-old
Oxford
graduate and heir to the Brunei throne will also be
making an official visit to the Philippines in between
competing in the nine-day tournament. During his visit,
he will be meeting with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
and other government officials.
The rest
of the 12 Filipinos, who have so far qualified to the
128-man main draw, are expected to breeze their way
through the knockout phase.
Reigning
national champion Lee Van Corteza, who is in Group 12,
will debut against Goran Mladenovic of
Serbia
, while 2005 semifinalist Marlon Manalo, who is in Group
14, will take on Dejan Dabovic of Austria , and Rodolfo
Luat, in Group 16, will go up against Toh Lian Han of
Singapore .
Former
World Pool League titlist Dennis Orcollo, who is in
Group 13, will take on Kenny Kwok of Hong Kong
Asian
Games silver medalist Jeff de Luna, who was bracketed in
Group 5, will face another Serbain in Sandor Tot, while
the Japan-based Ramil Gallego, who was put in Group 7,
will meet Singaporean Chan Keng Kwang, and newcomer
Joven Bustamante, who is in Group 4, will make his WPC
debut versus Ibrahim Bin Amir of Malaysia.
The
Group Stage will run for four days before the tournament
shifts to knockout phase with the Last 64 to be played
in a race-to-10, winner breaks format, while the Last
32, Last 16, quarterfinals and semifinals all
race-to-11. The finals will be a race-to-17 affair.
A total
of $400,000 (P18-million), including the champion’s
purse of $100,000 (P4.5-million), is at stake in this
nine-day tournament coorganized by Raya Sports,
presented by San Miguel Beer in cooperation with the
Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor),
Department of Tourism, Accel and Sofitel Philippine
Plaza.
There
are already 119 from 45 countries who have secured a
slot in the main draw, and the remaining nine slots will
be disputed in a series of qualifying tournament slated
from October 27 to 31 at the Star Billiards Center in
Quezon City, which, according to Raya Sports, already
attracted some 130 entries, most of them foreign
players.
Prince Haji, a Senior Minister in the Brunei government,
is aiming to improve his showing in last year’s WPC. He
recently showed that he is no pushover and can hold his
own against the toughest competition. He upset Taiwanese
Chang Jung-Lin, the reigning Guinness 9-ball champion,
with a riveting 9-8 victory in the quarterfinals of the
Brunei 9-Ball Invitational Cup last month before a
banner crowd at the National Indoor Stadium.
Drawn in Group 10, Prince Haji faces an uphill battle in
his opening match against German ace Thomas Engert, the
2007 World Pool Masters champion.
Also in the same group is second-seeded
English-Pakistani Imrad Majid, who won the 2006 Italian
Open and is currenty ranked No. 3 on the European tour.
Another player to watch in the same bracket is Taiwanese
No. 3 seed Kuo Po-Cheng, WPC runner-up in 2005 to
compatriot Wu Chia Ching. |
