2016安麗益之源盃即將鳴槍起跑 球星見面會率先登場…
Unlike its predecessors, this year’s Amway Cup has been re-scheduled to avoid a clash with the 2016 YuShan Chinese 8-Ball World Championship which was held in March.
The 2016 Amway eSpring International Women 9-Ball Championship will be held on June 16th-19th in Taiwan. The event will be moved to a new venue at the Banqiao Gymnasium in New Taipei City.
Formerly known as Taipei County, New Taipei City is a special municipality and the most populous city in Taiwan. Located in northern Taiwan, the city surrounds the Taipei Basin. Banqiao District is its municipal seat and the biggest commercial area.
This summer, the world best female players from all over the world will gather in Taiwan, 40 of them will go head to head and try to win the most prestigious title in women’s pool. A total of US$93,400 prize fund are at stake with US$34,000 going to the winner alone while the runner-up will receive US$13,000.
The qualifiers will get underway from June 13th to 15th at the Ji-Hsien Pool Club in Luzhou, New Taipei City. Over than 70 players will scramble for the last 8 spots (2,2,4) to get qualified for the main stage of the Championship. The format will be played with single elimination and race to 7, winner breaks.
The main stage shall commence on June 16th at the Banqiao Gymnasium, with the field completed with the 8 players from the qualifiers. The players will be divided into 8 groups of 5. They will play in a round robin format and race to 7, winner breaks. The top 3 players of each group will advance to the Last 24, in which the format will become single elimination, race to 7 and alternate breaks. The semi-finals will be race to 9. The final will be race to 11 and is going to be played on Sunday June 19th.
As for the Taiwan players, they are well-prepared with a 3-week-training, under the help and supervision from Jung-Lin Chang and Yu-Hsuan Cheng, the former men’s World Nr.1 and the current World Nr. 2, invited by the Chinese Taipei Billiards Federation. Yu-Wen Hsieh and Szu-Ting Kuo earned their main stage passes via the qualifiers that were held recently in Taiwan. They will both join Yuan-Chun Lin (the reigning champion), Chieh-Yu Chou, Ho-Yun Chen as well as Tzu-Chien Wei who are directly qualified in the main stage.
Across from the other side of the shore, Liu ShaSha, Chen Siming, Han Yu and Liu YuChen will be representing China in the main stage of the Amway Cup this year. The four girls will be staying at the CBSA Training Centre for a 10-days intensive training session before the tournament commences. Liu YuChen, being the youngest in the lot, was selected as a member of the national youth team this year. She was underrated last year but managed to make it to the semi-final before losing to Yuan-Chun Lin.
Fu Xiaofang was in the top 8 last year and therefore should have a spot in the main stage. However, she had her big day last year getting married and it seems that she will not be playing on this occasion for her own personal reasons. Pan XiaoTing also finished top 8 last year, but, up to the time of writing, is still yet to decide upon her visit this time round.
Before the actual battles begin, world top-class players including Allison Fisher、Kelly Fisher、Chieh-Yu Chou、Tzu-Chien Wei and Yuan-Chun Lin have been invited by the organiser of the Amway Cup to present at a promotional event to interact with billiard fans at the Mega City (Far Eastern Department Store) in Banqiao tomorrow (June 9). Don’t miss this great opportunity to meet the elites.
The whole event will be broadcast LIVE on Videoland TV in Taiwan and Live on YouTube at same time.
Event Official Website
今年因避開了三月在中國玉山所舉辦的第二屆中式台球世錦賽，素有台灣春天最美麗的戰爭的安麗益之源盃較往年延後數月之多，有些球迷們甚至不太習慣。而自去年起賽事更名為”安麗益之源盃世界女子花式撞球錦標賽”，會外賽將在6月13-15日在蘆洲集賢撞球館登場，為此屆賽事拉開序幕。會內賽則將於6月16-19日在新北市的板橋體育館舉行點燃戰火。40位來自世界各地的女子球員將齊聚新北市角逐本屆冠軍，冠軍選手將獨得34,000美元獎金。
台灣選手方面，謝喻雯、郭思廷、林沅君、周婕妤、陳禾耘及魏子茜將直接從會內賽出發。其中，謝喻雯與郭思廷則是從上月中所舉辦的選拔賽中脫穎而出取得會內賽門票。另外，中華台北撞球總會更特別邀請前男子世界排名第一的張榮麟以及目前世界排名第二的鄭喻軒擔任教練，替選手進行為期3個禮拜的特訓，以此備戰安麗盃。
中國國家隊4位參加本屆安麗盃的隊員，陳思明、韓雨、劉莎莎及劉昱辰則在上周五前往中國台球協會培訓基地展開為期10天集訓。其中，年齡最小的劉昱辰在去年比賽中以黑馬之姿一路闖進到四強賽，今年則入選成為剛成立的國家隊青年隊一員。
下周一起，超過70位的選手將在為期三天的會外賽爭奪最後的8席會內名額。比賽將採取單敗、搶7、勝方開球，首兩日各取2名，最後一天則將有4個晉級名額。
16號展開的會內賽第一階段則將採小組循環賽，40名選手將分成8組，每組5名選手，比賽將採取搶7、勝方開球，每小組前3名選手將可晉級到最後24強的單敗淘汰賽。最後24強採搶7、輪流開球。四強及決賽則分別為搶9與搶11局制。
另外，在明天端午節連續休假的第一天，主辦單位在賽前特地邀請Allison Fisher、Kelly Fisher、周婕妤、魏子茜及林沅君，五位球星也將在明天下午1點在板橋大遠百1F 時尚大道舉辦球星見面會。球迷們別錯過這個與你喜愛球星面對面的機會!!
Alison Chang & Samuel Lai