Shane Van Boening will begin the defence of his World Pool Championship title against Japan’s Masato Yoshioka in Kielce, Poland from February 1-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics, DAZN in the USA as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
The American will look to become only the second player in history to defend the title following in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in a packed arena at Targi Kielce. 46 countries will be represented in the 128-player field as it is whittled down to the Last 64 over the first two days of action before it’s straight knockout to the end where one will claim the $60,000 first-place prize and the world crown.
©Taka G. Wu / Matchroom Multi Sport (file)
The draw was completed with the top 64 players from the Nineball World Rankings against an unseeded player from the other 64 in the hat. Standout first-round ties include 2015 world champion Ko Pin Yi facing James Aranas of the Philippines whilst 2022 semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef faces the tricky prospect of Johann Chua. 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan was unseeded and will meet Michael Schneider.
World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide takes on Billy Thorpe and Shane Wolford‘s mission for a spot on Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup takes on Pia Filler. Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a year to remember last year and will begin his Nineball campaign against So Shaw of Iran.
Double elimination matches are all race to 9, with all matches from the Last 64 a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 13.
| SEED | Name | Name | |
| 1 | Shane Van Boening (USA) | VS | Masato Yoshioka 吉岡正登 (JPN) |
| 2 | Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) | VS | So Shaw (IRI) |
| 3 | Joshua Filler (GER) | VS | James Georgiadis (AUS) |
| 4 | Albin Ouschan (AUT) | VS | Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP) |
| 5 | Mario He (AUT) | VS | Sebastian Batkowski (POL) |
| 6 | Jayson Shaw (GBR) | VS | Francesco Candela (ITA) |
| 7 | Wiktor Zielinski (POL) | VS | Aziz Moussati (MAR) |
| 8 | Alexander Kazakis (GRE) | VS | Erik Hjorleifson (CAN) |
| 9 | Max Lechner (AUT) | VS | Max Eberle (USA) |
| 10 | Ko Pin Yi 柯秉逸 (TPE) | VS | James Aranas (PHI) |
| 11 | Eklent Kaçi (ALB) | VS | Dimitris Loukatos (GRE) |
| 12 | Abdullah Alyousef (KUW) | VS | Johann Chua (PHI) |
| 13 | Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) | VS | Marcel Price (GBR) |
| 14 | Niels Feijen (NED) | VS | Muhummed Daydat (RSA) |
| 15 | Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) | VS | Daniel Guttenberger (AUT) |
| 16 | Mieszko Fortunski (POL) | VS | Emil-Andre Gangflot (NOR) |
| 17 | David Alcaide (ESP) | VS | Billy Thorpe (USA) |
| 18 | Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) | VS | Nguyễn Anh Tuấn (VIE) |
| 19 | Sanjin Pehlivanović (BOS) | VS | Joseph Spence (CAN) |
| 20 | Jonas Souto Comino (ESP) | VS | Karl Gnadeberg (EST) |
| 21 | Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) | VS | Bashar Hussain Abdul Majeed (QAT) |
| 22 | Ko Ping Chung 柯秉中 (TPE) | VS | Michal Gavenčiak (CZE) |
| 23 | Chang Jung-Lin 張榮麟 (TPE) | VS | Jonas-Kvalsund Hansen (NOR) |
| 24 | Ronald Regli (SUI) | VS | Iker Andoni Echeverría (ESP) |
| 25 | Naoyuki Oi 大井直幸 (JPN) | VS | Mickey Krause (DEN) |
| 26 | Jose Alberto Delgado (ESP) | VS | Joey Tate (USA) |
| 27 | John Morra (CAN) | VS | Tayfun Taber (GER) |
| 28 | Denis Grabe (EST) | VS | Ali Nasser Al Obaidli (QAT) |
| 29 | Ralf Souquet (GER) | VS | Sullivan Clark (NZL) |
| 30 | Dimitri Jungo (SUI) | VS | Hunter Lombardo (USA) |
| 31 | Thorsten Hohmann (GER) | VS | Tanes Tansomboon (THA) |
| 32 | Aloysius Yapp 葉浚惟 (SGP) | VS | Sharik Sayed (SGP) |
| 33 | Tomasz Kaplan (POL) | VS | Ko Ping Han 柯秉漢 (TPE) |
| 34 | Moritz Neuhausen (GER) | VS | Lường Đức Thiện (VIE) |
| 35 | Aleksa Pecelj (SRB) | VS | Marco Dorenburg (GER) |
| 36 | Daniel Maciol (POL) | VS | Sina Valizadeh (IRI) |
| 37 | Oscar Dominguez (USA) | VS | Stephen Holem (CAN) |
| 38 | Omar Al Shaheen (KUW) | VS | Joao Grilo (POR) |
| 39 | Skyler Woodward (USA) | VS | Chris Alexander (GBR) |
| 40 | Besar Spahiu (ALB) | VS | Ramazan Akdag |
| 41 | Hseih Chia Chen 謝佳臻 (TPE) | VS | Nick Van Den Berg (NED) |
| 42 | Chris Melling (GBR) | VS | Duong Quoc Hoang (VIE) |
| 43 | Petri Makkonen (FIN) | VS | Elliott Sanderson (GBR) |
| 44 | Imran Majid (GBR) | VS | Marco Teutscher (NED) |
| 45 | Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) | VS | Mohammad Soufi (SYR) |
| 46 | Radoslaw Babica (POL) | VS | Jan Van Lierop (NED) |
| 47 | Robbie Capito (HKG) | VS | Toh Lian Han 卓連瀚 (SGP) |
| 48 | Jani Uski (FIN) | VS | Chetan Chhabra (IND) |
| 49 | Lo Ho Sum 盧浩琛 (HKG) | VS | Lars Kuckherm (GER) |
| 50 | Bader Alawadhi (KUW) | VS | Richard Halliday (RSA) |
| 51 | Pijus Labutis (LTU) | VS | Ajdin Piknjac (BOS) |
| 52 | Mika Immonen (FIN) | VS | Gerson Martinez (PER) |
| 53 | Greg Hogue (USA) | VS | Mariusz Skoneczny (POL) |
| 54 | Shane Wolford (USA) | VS | Pia Filler (GER) |
| 55 | Karol Skowerski (POL) | VS | Abdullah Al-Anzi (KUW) |
| 56 | Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) | VS | Ruben Bautista (MEX) |
| 57 | Tyler Styer (USA) | VS | Mason Koch (USA) |
| 58 | Roman Hybler (CZE) | VS | Matt Edwards (NZL) |
| 59 | Tobias Bongers (GER) | VS | Davy Piergiovanni (ITA) |
| 60 | Mustafa Alnar | VS | Szymona Kural (POL) |
| 61 | Daniele Corrieri (ITA) | VS | Khalid Alghamdi (KSA) |
| 62 | Michael Schneider (SUI) | VS | Alex Pagulayan (CAN) |
| 63 | Wu Kun Lin 吳坤霖 (TPE) | VS | Fabio Petroni (ITA) |
| 64 | Mats Schjetne (NOR) | VS | Jakub Koniar (SVK) |
WHERE TO WATCH
Table 1 will be live on broadcasters worldwide including Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA, Canada, and Italy, as well as on Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide. See where to watch here.
Table 2 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.
Table 3 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.
2023 世界撞球錦標賽籤表出爐 中華台北6選手代表參賽
2023 世界撞球錦標賽將於下周2月1日至5日在波蘭凱爾采 (Kielce) 的 Targi 會展中心正式展開 (比賽將於當地時間中午12點開打，與台灣時差為 -7 小時)。本屆賽事籤表已正式出爐，共有來自46個國家/地區的128名選手將代表參賽。比賽全程將為勝衝制，從搶9的雙敗淘汰賽直至最終64強進入單敗淘汰，64強至半決賽將改搶11局，決賽則為搶13局，優勝者將可收穫6萬美元獎金以及世界冠軍的頭銜。
衛冕冠軍 Shane Van Boening 將展開他的衛冕之旅，而他將有機會跟隨前輩 Earl Strickland 的腳步，有望成為史上第二位衛冕之球員，SVB 首戰將對上日本的吉岡正登，大井直幸則對陣丹麥選手 Mickey Krause，新加坡則將迎來一場內戰-新生代好手葉浚惟與 Sharik Sayed 的對決，而老將卓連瀚 (Toh Lian Han ) 將要迎戰香港小將 Robbie Capito。去年闖進世界花式撞球大師賽決賽的盧浩琛 (Lo Ho Sum) 則要對陣德國選手 Lars Kuckherm。
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport (file)
中華台北將有柯秉逸、柯秉中、柯秉漢、謝佳臻、吳坤霖以及張榮麟在內的6名球員參賽。2015年9號球世錦賽冠軍，”撞球王子” 柯秉逸今年世錦賽的第一戰迎戰菲律賓好手 James Aranas，”天王殺手” 柯秉中將與捷克選手 Michal Gavenčiak 交手，弟弟 “末代武士” 柯秉漢將對上波蘭老將 Tomasz Kaplan，”黑暗騎士” 謝佳臻將對戰六次代表莫斯考尼盃的荷蘭名將 Nick Van Den Berg，”港都魔獸” 吳坤霖則遭遇義大利老將 Fabio Petroni，”火雲邪神” 張榮麟則將碰上來自挪威的 Jonas-Kvalsund Hansen，
1號桌將為電視台轉播桌，包含英國為天空體育 (Sky Sports)、波蘭、斯堪地那維亞地區與波羅的海國家將於 Viaplay 頻道播出，美國、加拿大與義大利則在 DAZN 頻道，以及Matchroom.Live。
2號桌與3號桌則將在於特地地區的 Viaplay 頻道，以及 Matchroom.Live 和 Matchroom Pool YouTube 頻道上直播。