Joshua Filler, Shane van Boening and brothers Ko Pin-Yi and Ko Ping-Chung were not considered for the respective Rest of the World and Asian teams ahead of the ongoing Reyes Cup.
Filler was omitted from last year’s European team for the Reyes Cup and then the Mosconi Cup, despite having qualified via the WNT rankings, due to ‘concerns over contractual obligations and team integrity’.
Nevertheless, players were required to attend the recent Hanoi Open Championship in Vietnam in order to be considered for this year’s Reyes Cup teams, which was clarified to them before that tournament.
The likes of Filler, Van Boening, Eklent Kaci and eventual champion Albin Ouschan attended the lucrative World 8-Ball Championship in Indonesia, so they were therefore not considered for Rest of the World wildcards.
The Ko brothers, meanwhile, opted to compete in a Chinese nine-ball event on the Duya Legends Tour, which boasted a top prize of $280,000, but that unfortunately clashed with both the Hanoi Open and the Reyes Cup.
Qualifying for the Mosconi Cup concludes at next week’s Philippines Open Championship, with Filler currently occupying the third automatic qualifying spot on the European rankings, although he has chosen not to travel to Quezon City.
