Fedor Gorst will begin his World Pool Championship defence against Estonia’s World Cup semi-finalist Mark Magi after the draw was made for the event, which runs from June 6-10 at Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.
Among the other standout matches for the Double Elimination Group Stage is recent World Pool Masters champion Alex Kazakis against Women’s World Champion Kelly Fisher. Predator Championship League Pool winner Albin Ouschan faces Italian Mosconi Cup legend Fabio Petroni, while former World Champion Mika Immonen will be up against rising star Kristina Tkach.
Players were seeded with defending champion Fedor Gorst seeded 1, and the remaining 63 seeded determined by the WPA World Ranking. Seeded players were randomly drawn against unseeded players. Since the draw has been made, some players have had to withdraw due to travel issues. Any withdrawals are replaced by players from the waiting list.
The tournament begins with a two-day Double Elimination Group Stage, with the 128 players split into 16 groups of eight players. That will reduce the field down to 64, after which the tournament will adopt a straight knockout format.
Group matches are all race to 9, with knockout stage matches a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 11.
Players who win their first two matches in the group stage advance to the last 64, while players who lose their first two will be eliminated. Players with one win and one draw will play a third match with the winner advancing to the last 64 and the loser knocked out.
MATCH SCHEDULE
All matches in the Group Stage are race to 9, and group fixtures follow this pattern:
Match 1: As Drawn
Match 2: As Drawn
Match 3: As Drawn
Match 4: As Drawn
Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 winner advances to last 64
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4 winner advances to last 64
Match 7: Loser Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2 loser is eliminated
Match 8: Loser Match 3 vs. Loser Match 4 loser is eliminated
Match 9: Loser Match 5 vs. Winner Match 8 winner advances to last 64
Match 10: Loser Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7 winner advances to last 64
GROUP DRAW
Group A
Fedor Gorst (ROC) vs Mark Magi (EST)
Mark Gray (GBR) vs Julio Burgos (PUR)
Jeffrey De Luna (PHI) vs Dimitri Jungo (SUI)
Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) vs Jasmin Ouschan (AUT)
Group B
Albin Ouschan (AUT) vs Fabio Petroni (ITA)
Roberto Gomez (PHI) vs TBC
Omar Al-Shaheen (KUW) vs Alain Da Costa (FRA)
Aloysuis Yapp (SGP) vs Kaiden Hunkins (USA)
Group C
Billy Thorpe (USA) vs Francisco Gatsby (CHI)
Marc Vidal (USA) vs Ivica Putnik (CRO)
Petri Makkonen (FIN) vs Benjamin Belhassen (FRA)
Mieszko Fortunski (POL) vs Marcel Price (GBR)
Group D
Thorsten Hohmann (GER) vs Tobias Bongers (GER)
Mika Immonen (FIN) vs Kristina Tkach (ROC)
Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) vs Kevin Lannoye (BEL)
Ralf Souquet (GER) vs Ronald Regli (SUI)
Group E
Jayson Shaw (GBR) vs Moritz Neuhausen (GER)
Jani Siekkinen (FIN) vs Michal Gavenciak (CZE)
Ruslan Chinakhov (ROC) vs Alex Montpellier (FRA)
Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) vs Imran Majid (GBR)
Group F
Casper Matikainen (FIN) vs Elliot Sanderson (GBR)
Mark Foster (GBR) vs Jan van Lierop (NED)
Mohammad Ali Berjawi (LEB) vs Vladimir Matvienko (ROC)
Max Lechner (AUT) vs Mickey Krause (DEN)
Group G
David Alcaide (ESP) vs Andreja Klasovic (SRB)
Pijus Labutis (LTU) vs Jeremy Sossei (USA)
Robbie Capito (HKG) vs Ruben Bautista (MEX)
Denis Grabe (EST) vs Vitaliy Patsura (UKR)
Group H
Skyler Woodward (USA) vs Jaroslav Polach (SVK)
Radoslaw Babica (POL) vs Ivo Aarts (NED)
Vincent Halliday (RSA) vs DJ McGinley (CAN)
Daniel Schneider (SUI) vs So Shaw (IRI)
Group I
Shane van Boening (USA) vs Petr Urban (CZE)
Oscar Dominguez (USA) vs Roberto Bartol (CRO)
Karol Skowerski (POL) vs Jonas Souto Comino (ESP)
Hunter Lombardo (USA) vs Mats Schjetne (NOR)
Group J
Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) vs Marco Dorenburg (GER)
Richard Halliday (RSA) vs Aleksa Pecelj (SRB)
Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) vs Daniele Corrieri (ITA)
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) vs TBC
Group K
Eklent Kaci (ALB) vs Lukas Fracasso Verner (USA)
Stephen Holem (CAN) vs Badar Alawadhi (KUW)
Yukio Akagariyama (JPN) vs Ricky Evans (USA)
Corey Deuel (USA) vs Benji Buckley (GBR)
Group L
Darren Appleton (GBR) vs Shane Wolford (USA)
Marco Teutscher (NED) vs Christoph Reintjes (GER)
Ricardo Sini (ITA) vs Jeff Nieuwenhuyzen (AHO)
Alexander Kazakis (GRE) vs Kelly Fisher (GBR)
Group M
Niels Feijen (NED) vs Tim de Ruyter (NED)
Chris Reinhold (USA) vs Yip Kin-Ling (HK)
Nick Malai (GRE) vs Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER)
Masato Yoshioka (JPN) vs Muhummed Daydat (RSA)
Group N
Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) vs Miguel Silva (POR)
Mario He (AUT) vs Philipp Stojanovic (CRO)
Jakub Koniar (SVK) vs Vania Franco (POR)
Tyler Styer (USA) vs Henrique Correia (POR)
Group O
Naoyuki Oi (JPN) vs Jennifer Barretta (USA)
Roman Hybler (CZE) vs Daniel Maciol (POL)
Donny Olson (USA) vs Bahram Lotfy (DEN)
Chris Melling (GBR) vs April Larson (USA)
Group P
Tomasz Kaplan (POL) vs Sergey Lutsker (ROC)
Chris Alexander (GBR) vs Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE)
Wiktor Zielinski vs Kim Laaksonen (FIN)
Joshua Filler (GER) vs Margaret Fefilova (BLR)
