It’s time for the crown jewel of nineball pool as the World Pool Championship returns to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Fedor Gorst defends his prestigious accolade.
In the richest tournament on the World Nineball Tour calendar, a staggering $1,000,000 prize purse will be up for grabs at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City as well as a chance to etch their names into the history books.
We’ve selected five household names and five dark horses to keep a close eye on throughout the week in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
FEDOR GORST
Fedor Gorst returns to the scene of his finest hour. Having beaten Eklent Kaci in a 15-14 classic in last year’s final to earn his second world title and the mind-blowing $250,000 champion’s purse, the world number one sets his sights on history this time around.
Gorst could follow in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in not only becoming a three-time champion of the world, but also successfully defending the prestigious accolade. No one has retained the title since the legendary Strickland in 1991.
ALEXIS FERRER
Having recently become the latest Filipino champion on the World Nineball Tour in Vietnam, Alexis Ferrer makes his World Championship debut, encountering fellow Filipino AJ Manas in a mouth-watering first round match.
From the same area of the Philippines as the great Francisco Bustamante, Ferrer notably defeated Manas in Vietnam and also gained impressive wins over Wu Kun-Lin and Chang Yu-Lung. He followed that by beating Carlo Biado on his way to the Indonesia International 10-Ball Open semi-finals.
It’s Ferrer’s maiden major appearance in Saudi Arabia and he remains relatively unknown, although the Filipino is brimming with confidence and there’s no better place to build a reputation that the World Championship.
ALBIN OUSCHAN
Sometimes players just warm to specific events – Shane van Boening at the US Open, Ralf Souquet at the World Masters or Jayson Shaw at the Mosconi Cup being prime examples – but Albin Ouschan and the World Pool Championship have become a match made in heaven.
Austria’s Ouschan has reigned supreme on two occasions, once in the desolate Qatar setting and more recently in the WNT era, and also reached an additional two finals. He’s another player who could equal Strickland’s record haul of three championships.
FELIX VOGEL
Teenage sensation Felix Vogel was crowned the Saudi junior champion last summer, and now the 17-year-old German steps up alongside the big boys, making his World Pool Championship debut.
A Scottish Open quarter-finalist earlier this year, it’s Vogel’s ultimate aspiration to become world champion. Perhaps it’s premature to suggest he could achieve that goal this year, but each match will be a learning curve on his path to greatness.
ALOYSIUS YAPP
Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp has been hitting the balls in flawless fashion since defending his International Open title back in November. He had a valiant run to the European Open last 16 in March, before winning the UK Open in the highlight of his career to date.
Singapore’s Yapp initially struggled with the revamped breaking format, but he learned from the best breakers and his improvement in that department was evident in his destructive UK Open final performance, which makes him even more dangerous.
AMEER ALI
Players from the Middle East have sprung surprises at the World Championship in recent years, with Kuwait’s Omar Al-Shaheen and Syria’s Mohammad Soufi reaching the final, and Iraq’s Ameer Ali could become the latest to attract attention.
Ali, who was 852-rated and behind only Joshua Filler in the FargoRate world rankings ahead of the tournament, is commonly regarded as the finest cueist in the Middle East at present.
World champion Fedor Gorst needed to battle back from 7-1 behind to beat Ali in the last 64 last year in Saudi Arabia, with the Iraqi having already beaten both Alex Pagulayan and Max Lechner with relative ease.
WOJCIECH SZEWCZYK
Poland has been brewing up to produce a world champion in nineball pool for numerous years, and their most hopeful prospect probably comes in the shape of former world 10-ball champion Wojciech Szewczyk, a semi-finalist last time around.
Szewczyk swept aside Moritz Neuhausen, Pijus Labutis, Wiktor Zielinski and Shane van Boening last year and was only stopped by the champion in Fedor Gorst. It was a similar scenario at the European Open, when eventual winner Joshua Filler ended his hopes in the quarter-finals.
SEO SEOA
South Korea’s Seo Seoa, the women’s world number seven, winning the World Pool Championship would be the biggest shock in pool’s history, but the recent Women’s Indonesia International Open champion is more than capable of causing a few early round upsets.
The 22-year-old, perhaps most known for her hugging incident with Earl Strickland in the Premier League, is one of the most watchable female players, and she has a tricky first round test against European Open semi-finalist Daniel Maciol.
JONAS SOUTO COMINO
Jonas Souto Comino is promptly establishing himself as one of the world’s elite. He’s a Helsinki Open and a Seattle Open champion this year, a UK Open runner-up during a tremendous campaign, and has Reyes and Mosconi Cup spots well within his grasp.
His obvious aspiration to become champion of the world will be his primary focus right now, but his fast-paced style and flamboyant demeanour around the table makes him one of the most watchable players in the world.
GERSON MARTINEZ
A former International Open semi-finalist, Peruvian cueist Gerson Martinez is the highest-ranked South American on the World Nineball Tour and someone who possesses the capability to become his continent’s first champion.
If Martinez can keep his stroke in check and avoid unnecessary movement, he could emerge as a surprise package. Sometimes too much movement creeps into his technique and there’s no room for error with four-inch pockets.
Martinez will take on fellow countryman Mauricio Garcia in the first round. Imagine traveling halfway across the world and being drawn against the only other player from Peru in the field. Incredible.
