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2017 WPA World 9-Ball Championships
Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation
Al-Arabi Sports Club
Al Shaab Street
Doha
Qatar
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Saturday 9 - Friday 15 December 2017

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Select group of veterans and newcomers aim to make their mark in Doha

The long hard slog to the pool world�s most prestigious title began on Saturday here in Doha, as 128 players from nearly 35 countries began the first of six days of action that will culminate in the crowning of the next WPA World 9-ball Champion on December 14th.

124 players competing in 62 first round matches on 14 Wiraka tables saw action on Day 1 at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha. The players have been divided up into 16 groups of 8 playing a double elimination format, race to 9, alternate break. A player needs two wins in his group to advance to the final 64, where the format will become single elimination knockout, race to 11, alternate break, all the way to the finals. The final, which will be played along with the two semis on December 14th, will be a race to 13 alternate break.

The first thing pool fans may notice when looking at the player roster is some glaring absences for this year�s championship. American Shane Van Boening, who finished runner up here the last two years, did not make the trip. Van Boening just competed for Team USA in the Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas and opted to stay there to compete in the US Bar Table Championships. There are, in fact, only two Americans in the field this week; Hunter Lombardo and Robert Hart.

Incredibly, not a single British player has made the trip this year. The Brits have been a mainstay in the World 9-ball Championship going back nearly 20 years, but for various reasons, none have entered the event this week. Perhaps the most noticeable absences are Scotland�s Jayson Shaw and 2012 World 9-ball Champion, Darren Appleton, who had to attend to his ailing mother back in England.

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Fans might notice a lack of players from rising pool playing countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. These countries had been making great strides in their pool development in recent years, but due to ongoing political issues, players from those countries were not allowed to travel to Qatar. Many talented overseas Filipino players, who work as house pros in pool halls in these countries, were also prevented from entering the event.

But while the lack of Americans and Brits, and others, may have drained some good talent from the field, it�s still clear that there are plenty of amazing, world class players on hand that will be competing for the world title.

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Defending World 9-ball Champion Albin Ouschan got his 2017 campaign off to a flying start with a relatively easy 9-5 win over Qatar�s Abdulatif Alfawal. 2013 World 9-ball Champion Niels Feijen, who�s been battling a bad elbow for several months, cruised to an easy win on Saturday with a 9-0 whitewash of Bangladesh�s Ahmed Tanvir. Veteran players in Spain�s David Alcaide and Germany�s Ralf Souquet will be in action on Sunday.

Several top young Europeans are expected to make some serious noise here in Doha. 19 year old Albanian Klenti Kaci, who earlier this year won two World Pool Series events, got his first ever World 9-ball Championship off to a good start with a 9-2 win over the Maldives Mohammed Hassan. Rising Russian star Fedor Gorst, who recently won the WPA World Jr. Championship, stumbled on his first ever outing at the World 9-ball Championship, losing to Chinese veteran Liu Haitao, 9-5.

Germany�s 20 year old Joshua Filler, who just a few days ago won the MVP award for Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup, will see his first action on Sunday.

Other Europeans had good starts to their 2017 campaigns. Among the first round winners on Saturday were Russians Ruslan Chinakov and Konstanine Stepanov, Poland�s Radislaw Babica, Tomazs Kaplan, Mateusz ?niegocki and Mateusz ?niegocki, Finland�s Petri Makkonen, Greece�s Alex Kazakis, and Estonia�s Dennis Grabe. Former World 9-ball Champions Thorsten Hohmann and Mika Immonen both suffered first round loses.

The Philippines, Taiwan and China have big hopes for a high finishes this year. World number one Chang Jung Lin had a hard battle with Australia�s James Georgiadis, and prevailed, 9-6. 2015 World 9-ball Champion Ko Pin Yi took down Kuwait�s Fawaz Al Rashedi, 9-6. Ko�s younger brother, Ko Ping Chun, defeated Henrique Correia of Portugal, 9-5.

The Philippines� Carlo Biado comes into this year�s Championship with high expectations and got off to a fine start with a 9-6 win over China�s Xu Xiao Cong. Fellow Filipinos Warren Kiamco, Jeffrey Ignacio, Johann Chua, Roland Garcia and Jeffrey De Luna all won their first round matches.

China brings its usual power lineup to the proceedings, led by former World9-ball Champion Wu Jia Qing, who beat Taiwanese veteran Yang Ching Shun, 9-5. Also posting first round wins on Saturday were Japan�s Naoyuki Oi and Hayato Hijikata.

Group stage play continues on Sunday at the Al Arabi Sports Club beginning at 10am Doha time(GMT +3).

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The 2017 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Al Arabi Sports Club Sports Club in Doha, Qatar from December 5-15,2017 The qualifying stages run from Dec. 5-7, while the main draw of 128 players runs from Dec 9-15. The winner of the 2015 World 9-ball Championship will receive $30,000. The runner up will receive $15,000. The total prize fund is $200,000.
Fans around the world will be able to view many of the matches via the QBSF�s free live streaming platform. Multiple tables will be available to view online at no charge to the public. The WPA will provide more information regarding the live stream in the coming days.
The players will compete on Wiraka DYNASTY Tables with Simonis 860 Cloth, Electric Blue Color and using Aramith Tournament Pro cup TV Pool Balls featuring the new Duramith Technology.

The 2017 World 9-ball Championship is hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and was sanctioned by the The World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.

2017 WPA WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
DOHA - QATAR
THE PRIZE FUND
1st	$ 30,000
2nd	$ 15,000
3rd ~ 4th	$ ???
5th ~ 8th	$ ???
9th ~ 16th	$ ???
17th ~ 32nd	$ ???
33rd ~ 64th	$ ???
65th ~ 96th	$ ???
TOTAL PRIZE FUND = US $200,000

WPA WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE WINNER'S LIST
1990 - 2017
1990	Earl Strickland	USA
1991	Earl Strickland	USA
1992	Johnny Archer	USA
1993	Fong-Pang Chao	TPE
1994	Takeshi Okumura	JPN
1995	Oliver Ortmann	GER
1996	Ralf Souquet	GER
1997	Johnny Archer	USA
1998	Kunihiko Takahashi	JPN
1999	Nick Varner	USA
1999	Efren Reyes	PHI
2000	Fong-Pang Chao	TPE
2001	Mika Immonen	FIN
2002	Earl Strickland	USA
2003	Thorsten Hohmann	GER
2004	Alex Pagulayan	CAN
2005	Chia-Ching Wu	TPE
2006	Ronnie Alcano	PHI
2007	Daryl Peach	GBR
2008	*Not held	---
2009	*Not held	---
2010	Francisco Bustamante	PHI
2011	Yukio Akakariyama	JPN
2012	Darren Appleton	GBR
2013	Thorsten Hohmann	GER
2014	Niels Feijen	NED
2015	Ko Pin Yi	TPE
2016	Albin Ouschan	AUS
2017	---	---