MANILA, Philippines - The world’s top 128 players from a record 144-nation field prime up for the World 10-Ball Championship which gets going May 10 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
Defending champion Mika Immonen of Finland, fresh from his victory in the US 10-Ball Masters last March, heads the cast that includes Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, Chang Jun Lin of Chinese Taipei, Ralf Souquet of Germany, Darren Appleton, Wu Chia-ching and local aces Dennis Orcollo and Antonio Lining.
Hohmann, a former world champion, won the Philippine Open last April; Chang is the reigning Guinness series champion and winner of the Beijing Open recently; Souquet and Wu are former double world champions in 8-ball and 9-ball; while Appleton won the inaugural World 10-Ball crown here in 2008.
Orcollo, on the other hand, is the reigning WPB world 8-ball champion while Lining is the current world No. 1.
Aside from the traditional world pool powers – Great Britain, Germany, the United States, China, Chinese Taipei and the Philippines, a slew of first-timers will also be out to spring a surprise in the six-day event, including Peru, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Norway, Uruguay, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The field includes national champions, winners of regional and international tournaments or reigning and former world champions.
Meanwhile, Ruben Cuna swept the all-Filipino Qualifier 3, beating the likes of Warren Kiamco, at the Star Billiards Center in Grace Village, QC to gain a spot in the main draw.
Cuna bested Florencio Banar, 9-4, then upset Kiamco, 9-7, in the final. He thus joined early qualifiers Mario Tolentino and Ramil Gallego who topped the first two elims.