The World 10-Ball Championship will be held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for the first time starting this Saturday, although some of the world’s elite names will be missing from the lucrative tournament.
The 96-man field consists of 80 invited players and 16 qualifiers, with invitations being determined by the WPA rankings, regional federations and organiser or sponsor exemptions.
With newly-crowned US Open champion Aloysius Yapp, currently ranked number 137 in the WPA rankings, and number 110 Shane van Boening being amongst those exemptions, there aren’t enough spots to go around.
Therefore, numerous household names will not be involved in the $250,000 tournament, predominately World Nineball Tour players who were banned by the WPA and stripped of ranking points almost a year ago for attending the non-sanctioned Hanoi Open Championship.
Former finalist Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, who could have achieved an historic world championship treble, was amongst the big name players who were snubbed, as were Johann Chua and David Alcaide.
Other notable absentees include Wiktor Zielinski, Skyler Woodward, Niels Feijen, Mickey Krause, Jefrey Roda and Bernie Regalario.
UK Open runner-up Jonas Souto Comino and Premier League Pool champion Moritz Neuhausen were also left out of the original lineup, although Souto Comino received a late invite and Neuhausen won through the qualifying event.
The 2025 WPA World 10-Ball Championship takes place from September 20-28 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with the eventual champion receiving $70,000 in prize money.
