FOR the first time in the tournament's history, two teams will be able to qualify for the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool.

A European qualifying event offering two spots will take place on Sunday, July 11 at the Sporthotel Alpina in Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria.

Taking place directly after the Austrian Open on the Euro Tour, the event will feature a maximum of 16 two-man teams representing European nations not already selected for the World Cup of Pool.

As in the main event, all matches will be scotch doubles, races to 8, with the winner breaking. The format will be double elimination until the last four and then single elimination.

Organised by the EPBF, the qualifying tournament will offer two spots directly into the World Cup of Pool, which takes place in Manila, Philippines from September 7 to 12 and carries a prize fund of $250,000.

The European teams already selected are Austria, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden so players from all other European nations are eligible to apply for entry.

There will be a maximum of two teams per country in the event and precedence will be given to the current Euro Tour rankings (after the German Open). However, no two pairs representing the same countries can qualify.

A spokesman for Matchroom Sport said: "With there being so many countries in Europe competing regularly to a high standard, it seemed only fair that we introduced a qualifying event for the World Cup.

"No one can argue that the big guns of England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain etc should be in the starting line up but over the past few years, more and more countries are upping their respective games and they should all be given a chance to compete in the World Cup."

The entry fee is €100 per pair and payable to organizers prior to the tournament. Players should register their interest with either luke.riches@matchroom.com or gre.leenders@planet.nl