by Absolute Pool • March 5, 2023

The marathon Premier League Pool begins on Monday afternoon at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England, with 16 players competing against one another in the unique league competition.

Albin Ouschan will be defending his title in the East Midlands, having beaten Joshua Filler and David Alcaide in the 2022 and 2021 finals, as the Austrian bids to pocket the $20,000 top prize for a third consecutive year.

Matchroom confirmed a change of selection process for this year’s edition, with 16 wildcards being chosen instead of the usual 12 players from the world rankings and four wildcards to put across the lesser known names to a wider audience.

Only four of the world’s top ten players will be involved, with world champions Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Shane van Boening headlining the lineup alongside last year’s semi-finalist Jayson Shaw.

Skyler Woodward, who finished fifth following an incredible campaign twelve months ago, returns to the tournament, while three-time world champion Earl Strickland will make his anticipated debut.

Two-time World Pool Championship semi-finalist Wu Kun-Lin is amongst a strong Asian contingent, which also includes the flamboyant Japanese sensation Naoyuki Oi and Vietnam’s Luong Duc Thien.

Youngsters Sanjin Pehlivanovic and Khalid Al-Ghamdi both receive an opportunity to showcase their prodigious talents, while 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan, Chris Melling and Konrad Juszczyszyn have also been selected.

Taiwanese star Chou Chieh-Yu, who won the Women’s World Championship earlier this year in Atlantic City, will make her debut alongside another female sensation in South Korea’s Seo Seoa.

All 16 players will face each other once across the first five days play, after which the bottom six in the league table will be eliminated, before the remaining ten players face one another again across days six and seven.

An additional four players will then be eliminated ahead of the remaining six players renewing rivalries on the eighth day. Four players will contest the play-offs following the conclusion of the final league matches to determine the champion.

All matches will be race-to-five, alternative break in a format identical to the famous Mosconi Cup, with defending champion Ouschan opening the coverage on Monday at midday against the legendary Strickland.

Table One and Table Two coverage will be broadcast live on the Matchroom Pool and Matchroom Multi-Sport YouTube channels respectively unless otherwise stated on the nineball website.

2023 PREMIER LEAGUE POOL

League Fixtures
Monday March 6
Afternoon Session (12pm)
Table One
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 5-4 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-4 Chris Melling 🇬🇧
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-0 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-4 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-4 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-1 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸

Table Two
🇨🇦 Alex Pagulayan 5-1 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 5-0 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-3 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 5-3 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 5-1 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇨🇦 Alex Pagulayan 5-3 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼

Evening Session (6pm)
Table One
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-2 Shane van Boening 🇺🇸
🇹🇼 Chou Chieh-Yu 2-5 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 3-5 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 5-0 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-4 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 4-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦

Table Two
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-2 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 2-5 Chris Melling 🇬🇧
🇰🇷 Seo Seoa 4-5 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇸🇦 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 5-1 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 5-0 Chris Melling 🇬🇧
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 3-5 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱

Tuesday March 7
Afternoon Session (11am)
Table One
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 5-1 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 4-5 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-3 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 3-5 Chris Melling 🇬🇧
🇺🇸 Earl Strickland 3-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 4-5 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸

Table Two
🇬🇧 Chris Melling 3-5 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 4-5 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇸🇦 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 4-5 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-2 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇹🇼 Chou Chieh-Yu 3-5 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 5-4 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱

Evening Session (5.30pm)
Table One
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 4-5 Albin Ouschan 🇦🇹
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-2 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇺🇸 Earl Strickland 5-3 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-1 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇺🇸 Skyler Woodward 3-5 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-3 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸

Table Two
🇨🇦 Alex Pagulayan 5-1 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇨🇦 Alex Pagulayan 4-5 Chris Melling 🇬🇧
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-3 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 2-5 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 1-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 5-2 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦

Wednesday March 8
Afternoon Session (11am)
Table One
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-1 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 5-2 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇬🇧 Chris Melling 2-5 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇺🇸 Skyler Woodward 3-5 Chris Melling 🇬🇧
🇺🇸 Skyler Woodward 5-4 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-2 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳

Table Two
🇨🇦 Alex Pagulayan 3-5 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇨🇦 Alex Pagulayan 5-1 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 5-2 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-2 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-4 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 1-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦

Evening Session (5.30pm)
Table One
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-1 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 4-5 Jayson Shaw 🇬🇧
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-4 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 5-3 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 2-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 4-5 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵

Table Two
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 5-3 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 3-5 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 5-2 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 5-2 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇬🇧 Chris Melling 5-2 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇸🇦 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 5-3 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼

Thursday March 9
Afternoon Session (11am)
Table One
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-3 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 2-5 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇹🇼 Chou Chieh-Yu 5-4 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 4-5 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-3 Chris Melling 🇬🇧
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-4 Albin Ouschan 🇦🇹

Table Two
🇬🇧 Chris Melling 0-5 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-4 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇸🇦 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 4-5 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇻🇳 Luong Duc Thien 5-1 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 4-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇺🇸 Skyler Woodward 5-3 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷

Evening Session (5.30pm)
Table One
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-2 Shane van Boening 🇺🇸
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 0-5 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-2 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-3 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-2 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 4-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦

Table Two
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 1-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 5-2 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇺🇸 Skyler Woodward 5-0 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇺🇸 Skyler Woodward 5-2 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 5-4 Chris Melling 🇬🇧
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 3-5 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼

Friday March 10
Afternoon Session (11am)
Table One
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-2 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇬🇧 Chris Melling 4-5 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 4-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 4-5 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 3-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 4-5 Albin Ouschan 🇦🇹

Table Two
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 5-2 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 5-2 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 1-5 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇻🇳 Luong Duc Thien 1-5 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-3 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-4 Chris Melling 🇬🇧

Evening Session (5.30pm)
Table One
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 4-5 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇺🇸 Skyler Woodward 5-2 Earl Strickland 🇺🇸
🇺🇸 Skyler Woodward 3-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 5-0 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 3-5 Luong Duc Thien 🇻🇳
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 2-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦

Table Two
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 5-3 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 5-3 Chou Chieh-Yu 🇹🇼
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-0 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇬🇧 Chris Melling 3-5 Khalid Al-Ghamdi 🇸🇦
🇺🇸 Earl Strickland 1-5 Seo Seoa 🇰🇷
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-4 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸

Saturday March 11
Afternoon Session (11am)
Table One
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 5-4 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-4 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-3 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 3-5 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-4 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 3-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦

Table Two
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 2-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 5-2 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 2-5 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-3 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 1-5 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼

Evening Session (5.30pm)
Table One
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 2-5 Jayson Shaw 🇬🇧
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-2 Shane van Boening 🇺🇸
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-3 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-3 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 4-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-0 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦

Table Two
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 3-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 5-2 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 3-5 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 4-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 2-5 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 3-5 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸

Sunday March 12
Afternoon Session (11am)
Table One
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 5-2 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 3-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-2 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 1-5 Jayson Shaw 🇬🇧
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-2 Albin Ouschan 🇦🇹
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-1 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱

Table Two
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 2-5 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-2 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇪🇸 Fransisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-1 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇹🇼 Wu Kun-Lin 2-5 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇨🇦 Alex Pagulayan 1-5 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼

Evening Session (5.30pm)
Table One
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-0 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-3 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-3 Jayson Shaw 🇬🇧
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 5-3 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇦🇹 Albin Ouschan 5-2 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇪🇸 Fransisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-4 Albin Ouschan 🇦🇹

Table Two
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 4-5 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇨🇦 Alex Pagulayan 3-5 Skyler Woodward 🇺🇸
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-3 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-3 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇺🇸 Shane van Boening 5-1 Wu Kun-Lin 🇹🇼

Monday March 13
Afternoon Session (11am)
Table One
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-4 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 4-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-0 Jayson Shaw 🇬🇧
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 0-5 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇪🇸 Fransisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-4 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦

Table Two
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 5-2 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-3 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇯🇵 Naoyuki Oi 4-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-3 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦

Evening Session (5.30pm)
Table One
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 5-1 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 🇧🇦
🇬🇧 Jayson Shaw 3-5 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇵🇱 Konrad Juszczyszyn 5-4 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵

Table Two
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 4-5 Konrad Juszczyszyn 🇵🇱
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 5-4 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 4-5 Alex Pagulayan 🇨🇦

Semi-Finals
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 7-3 Naoyuki Oi 🇯🇵
🇧🇦 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 4-7 Jayson Shaw 🇬🇧

Final
🇪🇸 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 7-4 Jayson Shaw 🇬🇧

Prize Fund
Champion – $20,000
Runner-up – $12,000
Semi-finalists – $8,000
5th – $7,000
6th – $6,250
7th – $5,250
8th – $5,000
9th – $4,750
10th – $4,500
11th – $3,750
12th – $3,500
13th – $3,250
14th – $3,000
15th – $2,750
16th – $2,500
Total – $100,000