Europe fields 52 players in RP World Ten Ball
October 20, 2009 11:05 am
MANILA, Oct. 20 — 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 to 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. (PNA) LOR/jfm
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