Naoyuki Oi: Crazy Interview? No, That’s Just Me
Ahead of his trip to London to represent Japan at the forthcoming World Cup of Pool, global sensation Naoyuki Oi has insisted he was just being himself in the interviews which gave him worldwide fame earlier this year.
The Japanese No.1 made waves across the globe in February with his hilarious post-match interview at the Dafabet World Pool Masters, which took inspiration from PIKOTARO’s smash Japanese hit song PPAP (Pen Pinapple Apple Pen). Recent estimates conservatively suggest the video had been viewed in excess of 100 million times.
As the world’s best players prepare to travel to York Hall, East London, June 13-18 for one of the sport’s biggest tournaments – the World Cup of Pool – Oi knows his post-match interview is likely to be almost as much anticipated as Japan’s first-round clash with Thailand.
Speaking of his new viral fame, Oi said: “Many reactions come to me from all over the world. Many people liked the interview. I had a variety of reactions – “It’s funny” “Great!” “Foolish!” But it was most important for me that many people were talking about pool.
“I was normal at the interview in Gibraltar. Of course, the reaction in the world surprised me. I’m crazy? I don’t think so. I hope many people know pool well. Pool is a fantastic sport I think.
“This will be the sixth time I have played at the World Cup of Pool. Twice I have finished third as a representative of Japan.
“I want to enjoy playing against world best players. If team Japan reach the final, we must win!”
See Naoyuki Oi live in London during the World Cup of Pool at York Hall, Bethnal Green from, June 13-18. Japan’s first round match sees them take on Thailand at 6:30pm on Wednesday, June 14.
Tickets are on sale now at www.matchroompool.com priced at just £10.00 per evening session (Tuesday to Sunday) and £8.00 per weekend afternoon session. Tuesday to Friday afternoons are free. A season ticket covering all sessions is priced at £60.00.
The World Cup of Pool will carry a $250,000 prize fund including $60,000 for the champions. The event will be produced by Matchroom Sport Television and televised live on Sky Sports as well as other stations around the world. It is then syndicated internationally as 31 x 1 hour programmes.
2017 WORLD CUP OF POOL is sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplies the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue and Chalk of the event.
Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: [email protected]
Notes: MATCHROOM SPORT is one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and is responsible for over 1,000 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, they operate three pool events; the Mosconi Cup, the World Cup of Pool and the World Pool Masters. In addition, the company produce a multitude of events in darts, snooker, tenpin, golf, fishing, ping pong, gymnastics, netball, basketball and boxing.
2017 雙打世界杯將於英國當地時間6月13-18日在倫敦舉行。陣容方面，在今年撞球大師賽上因爆笑採訪而火遍世界的日本撞球一哥大井直幸將搭檔土方隼斗代表日本參賽。而提及那次讓他吸粉無數的採訪時，大井直幸直言那就是最真實的自己，並不是瘋狂，他更希望人們能夠了解撞球這項迷人的運動。
在今年2月進行的撞球大師賽中，日本頭號球手大井直幸 8-6力挫 “奪命書生” 鄭瑜軒闖入八強，賽後採訪時，幾乎完全聽不懂主持人講話的他用自己的名字和神曲《Pen Pineapple Apple Pen》完美結合，使得現場成為了一片歡樂的海洋，而採訪視頻發布以後，更是吸引了大量粉絲的關注，國內媒體也對此事進行了爭相報導，截至目前，該採訪視頻瀏覽量已經超過1億次！
作為世界頂尖的球員之一，即將遠赴倫敦參賽的大井直幸清楚的知道，他的採訪關注度甚至與日本和泰國的首輪交手一樣高，而對於他自己新的閃光點，他表示：“我吸引了世界上很多球迷的關注，許多人都喜歡那次採訪。可能它顯得有趣，美妙甚至是傻氣，但對我來說最重要的是他們談到了撞球。”
大井直幸補充說到：“在直布羅陀 (2017花式撞球大師賽舉辦地) 的那次採訪我表現得很正常，所以人們的反應讓我特別驚訝。我瘋狂麽？我並不覺得，那就是真實的我。我更喜歡人們能了解撞球，我認為撞球是一項迷人的運動。”
而談到世界杯的比賽，大井直幸表示這是他第六次代表日本參賽，過去曾兩度拿到第三名的佳績，他非常享受和世界頂尖球手的過招，同時他也自信地說：“如果我們進入決賽，那一定會奪冠”。日本隊的首場比賽將於當地時間14日晚6:30開始，對手將是泰國隊。
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