The field for the 2022 World Pool Masters is set shaped by the 2022 Nineball World Rankings as 24 players, take aim for one of pool’s most prestigious prizes in some of the toughest conditions against the top contenders.
Pool’s most famous invitational tournament gets underway from May 5-8 at the Europa Point Sports Complex, Gibraltar with tickets from £7 per session.
Defending champion Alexander Kazakis will lead the field as No.1 seed closely followed by newly crowned World Champion Shane Van Boening who will be seeded as the No.2 seed. The top 20 players on the Nineball World Rankings were given automatic wildcards with the top eight seeds avoiding the preliminary stage of the tournament.
Four wild cards join the 20 off the rankings with two-time champion Niels Feijen returning to the Rock off the back of claiming the European Championship 9-ball title earlier this year. Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland will make his World Pool Masters debut on the back of a stellar run at the World Pool Championship for the Swiss cueist after reaching the Last 16. The final two wild cards were given to Hong Kong, China’s rising star Lo Ho Sum who beat both David Alcaide and Eklent Kaçi at the World Pool Championship and Kuwait’s World Pool Championship semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef who joins compatriot Omar Al-Shaheen in the field of 24.
Full Field (Seeded players 1-8 move into Last 16 based on 2022 Nineball World Rankings)
- Alexander Kazakis (GRE)
- Shane van Boening (USA)
- Albin Ouschan (AUT)
- David Alcaide (ESP)
- Max Lechner (AUT)
- Aloysius Yapp (SIN)
- Naoyuki Oi (JPN)
- Joshua Filler (GER)
Unseeded players who face the preliminary stage
- Ko Ping Chung (TPE)
- Eklent Kaci (ALB)
- Omar Al-Shaheen (KUW)
- Ko Pin-Yi (TPE)
- Jayson Shaw (GBR)
- Oliver Szolnoki (HUN)
- Skyler Woodward (USA)
- Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP)
- Denis Grabe (EST)
- Chang Yu-Lung (TPE)
- Mieszko Fortunski (POL)
- Dennis Orcollo (PHI)
- Niels Feijen (NED)
- Lo Ho Sum (HKG)
- Abdullah Alyousef (KUW)
- Dimitri Jungo (SUI)
Event Format
The top 8 seeded players enter at the last 16, where they are joined by the winners from the preliminary round, where players ranked 9-24 face off.
All matches race to 7, winner breaks, except for the final which is a race to 9.
The tournament will be played on a Rasson Ox table with pockets measuring at 4 inches.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Thursday 5th May – Evening Session
x4 Preliminary Round matches
Friday 6th May – Afternoon Session
x4 Preliminary Round matches
Evening Session
x3 Last 16 Matches
Saturday 7th May – Afternoon Session
x3 Last 16 Matches
Evening Session
x2 Last 16 Matches / x1 Quarter-Final
Sunday 8th May – Afternoon Session
x3 Quarter Finals
Evening Session
x2 Semi-Finals / Final
Draw
The draw for the Preliminary Stage and Last 16 will be made soon. Keep an eye on the Matchroom Pool social media pages for the draw.