MANILA, Philippines - Last year, the duo of Fu-Jian Bo and Li-He Wen (photo) won the World Cup of Pool for China. In an exciting battle against the duo of Dennis Orcollo and Roberto Gomez, the Chinese built an early lead but the Filipinos mounted a comeback to cut the lead. However, the lead proved to be insurmountable as the Chinese held on for a 10-5 victory. It was China’s second time to win the World Cup of Pool as the same duo also won in 2007.
This year, the best players from all over the world will head to the Philippines once again to represent their respective countries. The Philippines, as the host nation, will again be allowed to have two teams in the tournament. Philippines A will be composed of Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco Bustamante and Philippines B will feature Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano.
This year’s World Cup of Pool will still feature 32 tandems from 31 countries featuring the best pool players. It will be played under the standard rules of doubles pool. The round of 32 and round of 16 will be a race to eight racks, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals will be a race to nine racks, and the championship match will be a race to 10 racks.
China is still one of the highly favored teams to win along with the two entries of the Philippines. These teams, however, will encounter stiff opposition from the teams from the US, Chinese Taipei, England and Germany.
The World Cup of Pool will be held on Sept. 3 to 11 at The Block Atrium of SM North EDSA in Quezon City.