Stage set for World 9-ball championship

The stage is all set for the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation’s (QBSF) Sixth World 9-Ball Pool Championship, which will get under way on September 2. World No.1 Darren Appleton is the reigning champion of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA)-sanctioned event, to be held at the Al Arabi Indoor Hall. The Englishman had pulled off a thrilling 13-12 victory over China’s Lee He Wen in last year’s final. Appleton, former champions Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama, Dennis Orcollo and Efren Reyes of the Philippines, as well as Germany’s Ralf Souquet are some of the other big names in the fray. The Stage 1 of the championship follows a single elimination format featuring 128 players. The 64 qualifiers will proceed to the tournament proper called Stage 2, where another set of as many players are seeded directly. It will be played in the double elimination format and will start on September 7. “Direct entrants to Stage 2 include the defending champion, the top 24 players in the WPA rankings, allocations of continental federations and wild cards of the WPA and local organisers,” said QBSF Players Affairs Committee Head Mubarak Hamad Al Khayareen. “Being the host nation, we’ll field eight players in Stage 2.” Just like in the previous years, leading American pool equipment manufacturer Diamond Billiards Products Inc will provide the tables for the tournament, which will have Simonis 860 Cloth. The tournament carries a purse of $250,000. “The Diamond tables, with extremely tight pockets, had come in for special praise from players. Our facilities are truly world-class. Players have always enjoyed our hospitality and we want to keep raising the bar,” added Al Khayareen. Source: Qatar Olympic Committee