THE Philippines will host the World Cup of Pool for the fourth straight time this year from September 4 to 9 at the Robinsons’ Place in Ermita, Manila.
Thirty-two pairs from different countries will compete in a knockout format tournament although there has been no announcement on who will carry the Philippine colors in the five-day event organized by Matchroom Sport.
So far, 13 countries from Europe are already entered after they hurdled the qualifying event held in June. The countries are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The Philippines will look to bounce back after two Filipino teams bowed out of the quarterfinals in 2011.
Two-time champion Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes and Francisco ‘Django’ Bustamante lost to eventual champion Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohman of Germany, 1-9, while Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano were eliminated by Ko Pin-yi and Ko Ping-chun of Chinese Taipei, 9-8.
Hohman and Souquet ended Thailand’s fairy tale run in the final when the Germans beat Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Kobkit Palajin, 10-4, at SM North Edsa in Quezon City.
Reyes and Bustamante won the inaugural edition in 2006 in Wales and reclaimed the title in the Philippines in 2009.
Solar Sports said on its Twitter account that it will broadcast the event live.
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