The World Games returns this weekend in Chengdu, China, with Joshua Filler and Kristina Tkach leading the respective men’s and women’s fields.
The World Games is an international multi-sport event which occurs every four years and involves sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games, with pool having featured since 2001 in Japan.
Pool features this year alongside snooker, heyball and carom as part of the billiards sports category, with other sports including archery, hockey and ultimate frisbee.
Despite having been traditionally nine-ball since initially featuring more than two decades ago, it was controversially changed to 10-ball from this year’s event, which takes place from August 10-14.
Germany’s Filler will be defending his title in the men’s tournament, having defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Sanjin Pehlivanovic in the 2022 final, with the Polish duo of Wojciech Szewczyk and Daniel Maciol also involved.
Estonia’s Denis Grabe, Wu Kun-Lin, Peru’s Gerson Martinez, China’s Dang Jinhu and Zhengi Xue, Hsieh Chia-Chen, Hungary’s Oliver Szolnoki, New Zealand’s Lincoln Muaulu and Jeffrey de Luna of the Philippines complete the men’s field.
Reigning women’s gold medalist Kelly Fisher will not be involved this time around, with women’s world 10-ball champion Tkach therefore leading the field alongside the likes of Rubilen Amit and Chezka Centeno.
The women’s field also includes Germany’s Pia Filler and Ina Kaplan, China’s Han Yu and Liu Shasha, Canada’s Brittany Bryant, Australia’s Meng-Hsia Hung, Spain’s Maria Ropero Garcia, USA’s Savannah Easton and Argentina’s Soledad Ayala.
The men’s tournament will be race-to-nine, alternate break throughout its duration, while the women’s event will be race-to-seven, alternate break.
Live scores can be accessed via the WCBS website and coverage will be broadcast on World Games Live, with the men’s final held on August 14 at 10am and the women’s final on August 13 at 7pm local time.
