Immonen and Cheng are last minute subs
WITH TWO last minute drop outs due to visa issues, Matchroom Sport can announce the final line-up of the 24th Dafabet World Pool Masters, which gets underway tomorrow Friday, February 17 concluding on Sunday.
Cheng Yu Hsuan aka Kevin Cheng (Chinese Taipei), the 2015 US Open Champion, steps in to replace Wu Jiaqing (China) while Hall of Famer Mika Immonen of Finland comes in for Lee Vann Corteza.
Taking place at the Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar, the Masters sees 16 top international players competing in the shadow of the Rock of Gibraltar to determine the destination of the $20,000 top prize.
For Immonen, it is a great chance to put a World Pool Masters victory on his resume after many attempts, the nearest being an 8-6 defeat to Alex Pagulayan in the championship match in Las Vegas in 2008.
“This is one title I haven’t managed to claim so I grabbed at the chance to travel last minute from New York to Gibraltar. I feel as if I’ve got nothing to lose and I’m really looking forward to facing Albin Ouschan on Friday night,” said Immonen.
Cheng, a US Open winner in 2015 as well as runner-up at the China Open last year, also took a late opportunity to compete in his first ever Masters. He will face Naoyuki Oi of Japan on Saturday and will be well fancied in some quarters.
The star-studded Dafabet World Pool Masters will open up with defending champion Shane Van Boening (USA) against emerging Spanish star Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, whilst current World No.1 Chang Jung Lin of Taiwan faces a tough test in England’s Mark Gray. Elsewhere, 2004 World Pool Champion Alex Pagulayan of Canada will be facing minnow Stephen Webber who came through a local qualification event.
第24屆世界花式撞球大師賽將於17日在英屬直布羅陀的維多利亞體育場舉行。由於2名選手簽證問題，賽事主辦方Matchroom也公布了最終陣容。鄭喻軒取代吳珈慶參賽，而 “The Ice Man” Mika Immonen則接替菲律賓的Lee Vann Corteza，兩位球員都在最後一刻分別從台灣及紐約飛往直布羅陀參賽。
Immonen在經歷過多次大師賽挑戰後，始終無緣捧冠。最近的一次是在2008年決賽中6-8敗給了Alex Pagulayan，故對Mika對於來說，這將是會是一個很好的機會。
“我還未曾拿下過此賽事，所以我也抓住此次機會，最後一分鐘從紐約飛到直布羅陀。我覺得我沒有什麼可失去的，在心態上也相對來得輕鬆些，我很期待與Albin Ouschan的比賽”。Immonen說道。
而對於2015年美國公開賽冠軍及去年中國公開賽亞軍的鄭喻軒而言，也把握住了此次機會，而這也將是他第一次參加大師賽。鄭喻軒將在當地時間星期六對上日本的大井直幸。
衛冕冠軍Shane Van Boening與西班牙新星Francisco Sanchez Ruiz的比賽將為此屆賽事拉開戰幕，前世界排名第一的台灣名將張榮麟則將面臨到英國Mark Gray的考驗。加拿大名將Alex Pagulayan則間碰上直布羅陀資格選手。
Yu-Hsuan Cheng 鄭喻軒
There are a total of five sessions of play and all tickets are available fromhttps://www.buytickets.gi/events/world-pool-masters-2017-87
Tickets are priced at £15 for the Friday evening and both afternoon sessions and £20 for Saturday and Sunday evening sessions. An all-session season ticket is £75.
The Masters will carry an $80,000 prize fund, and the event will be broadcast live for 20 hours in total. In addition, Matchroom Sport Television who will be making 15 x 1 hour programmes of the tournament for international syndication.
The World Pool Masters is sponsored by the following suppliers: RASSON (tables), IWAN SIMONIS (cloth), SALUC (balls), PREDATOR (cues) and ULTIMATE TEAM GEAR (clothing).
Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport:
[email protected]
+447785 395688
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+350 200 47592.
Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are 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, the World Pool Masters is one of a stable of pool events that include the World Cup of Pool and the Mosconi Cup.
CN/Alison