Predator Group, the industry leader in innovative pool billiards products, has announced the resurrection of the Predator World Teams Championship, to take place in Klagenfurt, Austria September 6-11, 2022.
The 24-team tournament will have a €136,000 prize fund and will be the first time the event will be staged since 2014 in Beijing, China. The Predator World Teams Championship will be played alongside the Predator Women’s World 10-Ball Championship, which has a €148,000 prize fund and will run September 6-10.
As host nation, Austria will submit two teams to the tournament. Each team will comprise two men and one woman.
“It has been eight years since the World Teams Championship was held and the WPA has great pleasure to announce Predator as the new event Organiser,” said WPA President Ian Anderson. “The event this year will be held in Klagenfurt, Austria. This continues Predator’s pursuit of promoting our sport which has been of great benefit to everyone, and the WPA is proud to be associated with them.”
The Predator World Teams Championship will be played alongside the Predator Women’s World 10-Ball Championship – 團體世錦賽將與女子10號球世錦賽同時進行｜©Pro Billiard Series
The tournament will be held in the hometown of two previous WPA World Champions, brother and sister Albin and Jasmin Ouschan. Jasmin was WPA Women’s World 10-Ball Champion in 2010 and her Ouschan Academy will be a promotional partner on the organizing committee of the events in Klagenfurt. The Ouschan siblings will be partnered by Mario He on the Austrian ‘A’ team.
The Predator World Teams Championship and Women’s World 10-Ball Championship are two more new events in the ever-expanding portfolio of the United States-based billiards manufacturer, which revamped the dormant Men’s World 10-Ball Championship in 2019 when it partnered with amateur league operator CueSports International to stage the event as part of CSI’s annual Expo in Las Vegas.
Last year, Predator and CSI launched the U.S. Pro Billiards Series – a series of professional 10-ball events coinciding with CSI state championships and expanded their offering into Europe with the Austria Open. The company extended into the women’s game further this year with the creation of women’s U.S. Pro Billiard Series events, including April’s WPBA Alfa Las Vegas Open.
“We are so excited to be reviving the World Teams Championship,” said Karim Belhaj, CEO of Predator Group. “We want to give back across the professional game and this event is a brilliant opportunity to bring together male and female players and create an exciting event which everybody can benefit from.”
A final list of countries and players participating will be published on the Pro Billiard Series website as soon as all countries have been confirmed. Already committed are Philippines (Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, Rubilen Amit), Japan (Masato Yoshika, Tatsu Kuribayashi, Yuki Hiraguchi) and United Kingdom (Darren Appleton, Jayson Shaw, Kelly Fisher).
The tournament will play double elimination down to the last 16. Each match is a best of five sets. The five sets will comprise one doubles set and three singles sets, starting with a set between each team’s female players. If a match is tied at 2-2 after four sets, a shootout set will determine the winner.
The Predator Pro Billiard Series is a series of open, professional events held around the world to provide more opportunities for professional and aspiring pool players to compete in high-quality events, earn more income, sharpen their skills and play their way into the Predator World 10-Ball Championship held each year by Predator and the World Pool-Billiards Association. Follow @probilliardseries on Facebook, @probilliardseries on Instagram or @PBilliardSeries on Twitter to follow the next events.
美洲豹重啟世界團體錦標賽 九月奧地利登場
美洲豹集團 (Predator Group) 宣布將於今年 9 月 6 日至 11 日在奧地利的克拉根福 (Klagenfurt, Austria) 舉行 “美洲豹” 團體世界10號球錦標賽。
團體世錦賽將由 24 支隊伍組成， 共同角逐136,000歐元的總獎金，而這將是該賽事自 2014 年在北京舉行過後以來首次的舉辦。作為東道主，奧地利將派出兩支球隊參賽。每支隊伍將由兩名男子和一名女子組成。美洲豹世界團體錦標賽將與美洲豹世界 女子10 球錦標賽同時進行，該女子10號球世錦賽的總獎金則為148,000歐元，比賽將於 9 月 6 日至 10 日舉行。
WPA會長 Anderson 說道: “距上次世界團體錦標賽的舉辦已有八年之久，WPA 很高興宣布 美洲豹 成為新賽事的主辦者。今年賽事將於奧地利克拉根福舉行。這延續了美洲豹集團對推廣我們這項運動的追求，這對每個人都有很大的益處，WPA 很自豪能與他們建立夥伴關係。”
比賽將在兩位前世界冠軍 Albin 和 Jasmin Ouschan 的家鄉舉行。 Jasmin 是 2010 年 WPA 世界女子 10 號球冠軍，她的 撞球學苑 (Ouschan Academy) 將成為賽事組委會的宣傳合作夥伴。Ouschan 姊弟將與 Mario He 組成奧地利A隊。
美洲豹集團執行長 Karim Belhaj 表示: “我們很高興能夠重新舉行世界團體錦標賽。我們希望通過職業賽事來給與回饋，這項賽事是一個絕佳的機會，能夠將男、女球員聚集在一起，創造出每個人都能從中受益且激動人心的賽事。”
所有參賽國家/地區將於全部確認後公佈最終參賽隊伍與球員名單。目前已確認的有菲律賓 (Carlo Biado、Johann Chua、Rubilen Amit)、日本 (吉岡正登、栗林達、平口結貴)、和英國 (Darren Appleton、Jayson Shaw、Kelly Fisher)。
比賽將採取雙敗淘汰賽制，直至 16 強。每場比賽為五盤制，其中包含一場混雙和三場單打，如四盤結束後雙方 2-2 平局，則以點球決出勝負。