Europeans picked to rule World Ten Ball tilt

Backstopped by three world champions, Europe will try to add the Ten Ball plum to its list of championship collections as it will send a strong 44-man contingent in the inaugural staging of the World Ten Ball Championship from Sept.29 to Oct.5 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila.

Ralf Souquet of Germany, winner of this year’s 8-Ball title; Daryl Peach, the reigning World 9-Ball title holder; and Neils Feijen, the recent champion of the World Straight Pool, head the European invaders in the WTBC—sanctioned and run by the World Pool Association, the world’s governing body in billiards.

The event is being organized by Raya Sports.

Gre Leenders, secretary-general of the European Pocket Billiards Federation, submitted its roster this Tuesday following the completion of qualifiers in Europe during the weekend.

The 41 other European players selected by EPBU for the WTBC are Thomas Engert, Oliver Ortmann, Christian Reimering, Sascha Tege, Christian Weigoni and Daniel Merbitz of Germany; Mark Gray, Imran Majid, Darren Appleton, Jonni Fulcher and Karl Boyes of Great Britain; Bruno Muratore, Fabio Petroni and Patrick Menillo of Italy; David Alcaide and Carlos Cabello of Spain; Nick van den Berg and Huidji See of The Netherlands; Radoslaw Babica, Tomasz Kaplan and Mateusz Sniegocki of Poland; Marco Tschudi and Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland; Zoran Zvillar and Sandor Tot of Serbia; Martin Kempter and Albin Ouschan of Austria; Marcus Juva of Finland; Marcus Chamat of Sweden; Vilmos Foldes of Hungary; Tony Drago of Malta; Martin Larsen of Denmark; Murat Ayas of Turkey; Stephan Cohen and Vincent Facquet of France; Konstantin Stepanov and Ruslan Chinahov of Russia; Roman Hybler of Czech Republic; Ivica Putnik of Croatia; Matjaz Erculj of Slovenia; and Farhad Shaverdi of Iran.

Confident Mika Dents Peach Hopes

Mika Immonen, the 2001 World Pool Champion, enjoyed a comfortable 8-2 win over Daryl Peach to progress at the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.

Peach, who himself won the World Championship last year in Manila, was never really in the match as he made too many unforced errors for a player of Immonen’s caliber.

The Finn, who spends most of his time living and playing in the United States, has featured in the Masters many times over the years but has never made it to the business end of the tournament but on this form he will be one of the favourites for Sunday’s final.

“I think I made just one error in the match while Daryl made a lot,” said Immonen.

“He seemed confused out there and I gained confidence from his confusion. I was able to outsmart him and I felt really composed.

“My next match against Corey will be exciting – we’ve played each other many times and it’s always a good game.”

He now meets America ’s Corey Deuel , who earlier beat Christian Reimering, in Sunday afternoon’s quarter-finals.

2008 World Pool Masters Site Starts Today

Matchroom Sport is delighted to announce that www.worldpoolmasters.com , the Official Online Home of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters, is now live.

With the tournament being held for the first time ever in Las Vegas, the site will be your first port of call for news, player profiles, results, stories and pictures of what promises to be a hugely exciting event featuring some of the world’s top players.

Four World 9-ball Champions – Daryl Peach, Mika Immonen, Ralf Souquet, Alex Pagulayan – will be taking part in the event as well as some of the biggest names in the game, including Shane Van Boening, Francisco Bustamante, Niels Feijen and Corey Deuel.

All will be vying for the $20,000 top prize.

The World Pool Masters will be taking place at the Riviera Hotel and Casino from Thursday 9th to Sunday 11th May with afternoon and evening sessions daily, concluding with the final scheduled to commence around 9.15pm on Sunday evening.

www.worldpoolmasters.com will feature exclusive interviews with the stars who make up the field as well as comments and predictions from the big names of world pool.

Bookmark www.worldpoolmasters.com today for full details and information about the 16th annual running of one of pool’s most prestigious events.

Final Names added to 2008 World Pool Masters Line-up

The final names have been added to the players’ roster for the forthcoming 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters which takes place at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from May 9 to May 11.

Filipino superstars Francisco Bustamante and Alex Pagulayan have confirmed their attendance as well as top-rated Europeans Ralf Souquet (Germany) and Niels Feijen of Holland.

With 16 players in the field competing for a $62,000 prize fund, event promoters Matchroom Sport believe they have assembled the strongest line-up yet in the 16 year history of the event.

“With four World 9 Ball Champions, six US Open Champions and a host of other title-holders in the field, I believe that this will be the toughest ever World Pool Masters,” said Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn.

“With winner breaks, race to eight matches on the toughest equipment it will take a series of fantastic performances over the three days to lift this prestigious trophy,” he added.

Other recent confirmations include 2001 US Open Champion Corey Deuel and a quartet of stars recently qualified from the Euro Tour.

They are the latest English 9 Ball sensation Mark Gray, Germany’s dangerous Christian Reimering, up-and-coming Italian player Bruno Muratore and 2006 Mosconi Cup player Imran Majid (England).

World Junior Champion, the 18 year-old Ko Pin-Yi of Taiwan cemented his credentials to a Masters spot at the weekend by coming from 14-4 down to beat Dennis Orcollo 15-14 and lift the Brunswick Thailand 9 Ball Open.

Elsewhere, 2003 Masters Champion Tony Drago won the Paris Open at the weekend, his first Euro Tour title, after three losing finals.

2008 World Pool Masters Field:

Daryl Peach (England)
Thomas Engert (Germany)
Mika Immonen (Finland)
Tony Drago (Malta)
Shane Van Boening (USA)
Rodney Morris (USA)
Francisco Bustamante (Philippine)
Alex Pagulayan (Philippines)
Ko Pin-ye (Chinese Taipei)
Niels Feijen (Netherlands)
Ralf Souquet (Germany)
Corey Deuel (USA)
Mark Gray (England)
Christian Reimering (Germany)
Bruno Moratore (Italy)
Imran Majid (England)

2008 Partypoker.net World Pool Masters Announced

The 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters will be heading to Las Vegas for the first time. A total of 16 of the finest players from around the world will be competing in the event, which will be staged at The Riviera Hotel and Casino from May 9 to May 11.

2007 champion Thomas Engert from Germany will be back to defend his title and will be joined by a host of big names from the sport. Other players confirmed include 2007 World Pool Champion Daryl Peach (England), 2001 World Champion Mika Immonen (Finland), 2007 Mosconi Cup players Tony Drago (Malta), Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris (both USA) and 2007 World Junior Champion Ko Pin-yi (Chinese Taipei).

Francisco Bustamante and Alex Pagulayan (both Philippines) have also been invited while the leading four players on the Euro Tour rankings after the Paris Open later this month will also qualify with the other players to be announced shortly.

The PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters is now in its 16th year and has grown into one of the biggest and most prestigious Pool competitions in the sport's calendar. This year it will be hosted by the BCA National 8-Ball Championships with the opening matches on Friday, May 9 with the final on Sunday, May 11.

Matchroom Sport spokesman said: "It's fantastic that the event is coming to the USA for the first time. "I'm sure there will be big crowds, lots of excitement and drama and will be a great competition.

"The invite list is taking shape and, through our agreement with the WPA, we take the top four ranked players on the Euro Tour after their next event which finishes on the 24th of this month."

As always, the World Pool Masters will be televised throughout the world in 15 one-hour highlights programmes. There will be a $62,000 prize fund with the winner collecting $20,000.

Tickets will be made available in March on the Playbca.com website, and if any are left, at the Championships. The BCAPL, in conjunction with the Riviera, is working on a seating plan that will accommodate a few hundred spectators.

BCAPL's Mark Griffin added: "Our players love professional action. This is the first time the Masters has been held on U.S. soil and we are honored Matchroom has chosen us.

"It's been a tradition to entertain the thousands of BCA Pool League members who travel the globe to compete in our National 8-Ball Championships. This year will be no different."

Daryl Peach, World Champion!

Daryl Peach has become the first Brit to become the 9 ball pool world champion. The final match was an epic battle that went almost all the way, with Daryl remaining composed while his opponent, Roberto Gomez of the Philippines, wilted under the pressure in the final few racks. The match was played in Quezon City, with just about the entire crowd rooting for their man rather than Peach.

Could this be the turning point for British pool? After years of not being in the running, despite the huge amount of cue sports talent in this country, we finally have a champion. Even more remarkable, prior to the event this year no Brit had made it to the last 8 since Steve Davis in 2000, but the semi-finals this year featured two Englishman, Peach and fellow Blackpool cueist Karl Boyes. This year's astonishing run for the UK can only be good for the sport.

So congratulations Daryl, on a deserved victory, and well done both Daryl and Karl Boyes for flying the flag and doing Britain proud.

Daryl Peach

Personal Background

• Name: Daryl Peach
• Known as: "Razzledazzle" or "The Dazzler"
• Sex: Male
• Age: 35 years old
• Date of Birth: March 08, 1972
• Place of Birth: Blackpool, England
• Country: England
• Nationality: English
• Hobbies: Golf, Music, Darts, Eating out
• Spouse: na
• Sports: Billiard

Achievements:

• 95/96 World Masters Champion
• 95/96 Mosconi Cup Winner with Europe
• Over 50 UK titles won
• 6 UK ranking event wins in 2006
• 2006 EPT London Open Champion
• 3rd 1998 World Masters
• 3rd 1998 World trick shot Championships
• 5th twice in Challenge of Champions
• 5th 2006 World 8ball Championships
• 5th 2003 Dubai Gold Challenge
• 2nd 2005 Eurotour German Open
• 3rd 2005 Eurotour Austrian Open
• 3rd 2006 Eurotour Austrian Open
• 5th 2005 Eurotour Spanish Open
• 5th 2006 Eurotour Spanish Open
• IPT 2006 Tour Card winner
• 7th 2006 IPT American Open
• Winner 2007 Eurotour German Open

Trivia:

• He defeated Roberto Gomez to become the first English player to win the World Nine-ball Championship 2007.
• His favorite world player billiard is Earl Strickland
• He started playing 9-Ball because he got bored of snooker
• He's biggest money match is $4,000 in Florida against John Detoro