The World Cup of Pool took place from 22nd-27th of September. 32 two-player teams represented 31 countries and competed for a $250,000 prize fund, including Karl Boyes who is sponsored by us at Home Leisure Direct.
Such historically strong teams as England A (Karl Boyes and Darren Appleton), Holland (Niels Feijen and Nick van den Bergand) and Finland (Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen) were be among the host of talent vying for the title of World Cup of Pool champions this year.
There were afternoon and evening sessions every day from Tuesday through to Sunday at 12:30 and 18:30 each day.
Andy, Josh and Reece from the Home Leisure Direct team attended the World Cup of Pool in London to watch the games and keep us up-to-date on all the action live from York Hall, London.
Sunday 27th September - 18:30 - Final
The finals arrived and it was a very tense moment for everyone. England B and Chinese Tapei had proven to be very strong teams in their previous matches, making it very exciting. The results were as follows:
Chinese Taipei 10-8 England B
The England B team mates came off with a strong start and seemed likely to win the title but Chinese Taipei players Ko Pin Yi and Chang Yu Lung managed to pull it back an win the World Cup of Pool.
Sunday 27th September - 13:30 - Semi-Final
For English supporters, the semi-final matches were crucial. The results were as follows:
England A 6-9 Chinese Taipei
England A tried their best for their space in the finals, with some great shots from both Karl Boyes and Darren Appleton but they were unfortunately defeated by Chinese Taipei's team mates Ko Pin Yi and Chang Yu Lung.
Japan 7-9 England B
England B's team mates Mark Gray and Daryl Peach had more luck in their battle for the place in the finals and proved that they are hard to beat in their win against Japanese players Naoyuki Oi and Toru Kuribayashi.
Saturday 26th September - 18:30 - Quarter Final
In the evening session, it was England A, Romania, Finland and England B's turn to battle for their place in the semi-finals. The results were as follows:
England A 9-3 Romania
Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes, who is sponsored by us at Home Leisure Direct strongly fought for England A's place in the semi-final and won the spot against Romania's Babken Melkonyan and Ioan Ladanyi. They beat them in a brutal 9-3 defeat.
Finland 4-9 England B
England B players pulled out all the stops to prove that they were worthy of a place in the semi-finals and succeeded against Finland's Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen.
Saturday 26th September - 13:30 - Quarter Final
These two matches proved to be very tense as it determined who would be playing in the semi-finals. The results were as follows:
Austria 5-9 Chinese Taipei
The Austrian team Albin Ouschan and Mario He were up against Chinese Taipei's team Ko Pin Yi and Chang Yu Lung in the battle for their place in the semi-finals. Chinese Taipei defeated Austria with a 5-9 win, proving themselves to be great competitors for the World Cup of Pool Champion title.
Japan 9-4 Qatar
Naoyuki Oi and Toru Kuribayashi, representing Japan, won against Qatar's finest players, Waleed Majid and Bashar Hussain.
Friday 25th September - 18:30
This was an exciting session for all teams involved as it decided who would go through to the quarter-finals. The results were as follows:
Czech Republic 3-7 Qatar
Waleed Majid and Bashar Hussain, representing Qatar, were on form, beating the Czech Republic by 5 racks, showing their next opponents, Japan, that they are serious competitors.
Singapore 4-7 Finland
The Finnish team Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen gave Singapore the players, Aloysius Yapp and Chan Keng Kwang, no mercy and showing the other quarter finalists that they are as strong as ever.
England B 7-4 Philippines
Another good result for English supporters saw England B team, Daryl Peach and Mark Gray, triumph over the Philippines. This means that both English teams have made it through to the quarter-finals, but England B have a real test of strength to come in their match against Finland in the Saturday evening session.
Friday 25th September - 12:30
Both Friday sessions are Round 2 matches which will see the winning team in every match go through to the quarter-finals.
Austria 7-2 France
Austrian pair Albin Ouschan and Mario He were semi-finalists in last year's World Cup of Pool and have shown that they are still a strong pair by defeating the French team, Stephan Cohen and Alex Montpellier by 5 racks.
Indonesia 7-5 Romania
Indonesia and Romania showed they were more closely matched than Austria and France, with the Indonesian players Muhammad Simanjuntak & Irsal Nasution battling through to claim a win by 2 racks.
Thursday 24th September - 18:30
The evening session saw some tense games and held a good result for both England teams. The results were as follows:
England B 7-4 Sweden
Mark Gray and Daryl Peach stood for the England B team in this match, winning against Swedish players Marcus Chamat & Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer.
Holland 6-7 Japan
After a super tense round between Holland and Japan, the historically strong Dutch duo, Niels Feijen and Nick van den Berg, buckled to Japan, launching Japanese team mates Naoyuki Oi and Toru Kuribayashi into Saturday evening's quarter-final match.
England A 7-0 Korea
In this match the England A team, comprised of Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes, bulldozed their way through, leaving Korea no chance to win even one rack and left Korean players Jeong Young Hwa and Ryu Seung Wu literally shaking in their boots.
Thursday 24th September - 12:30
The matches that took place in the early session were Spain vs. Czech Republic, Finland vs. Belgium and Greece vs. Singapore. The results were as follows:
Spain 3-7 Czech Republic
Spain's Team mates Francisco Diaz-Pizarro and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz tried their best in the game against the Czech Republic but were defeated by Roman Hybler and Michal Gavenciak in a 3-7 win.
Finland 7-4 Belgium
The strong Finnish team of Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen returned again this year and won the battle against Belgium's Serge Das and Olivier Mortierin their game.
Greece 5-7 Singapore
Greece's duo Nikos Ekonomopoulos & Alexander Kazakis put up a strong fight against Singapore's Aloysius Yapp and Chan Keng Kwang but lost out at the end of the match.
Wednesday 23rd September - 18:30
The matches that took place in the evening session were Qatar vs. USA, Holland vs. India and Philippines vs. Russia. The results were as follows:
Qatar 7-5 USA
Playing for USA's team was Mike Dechaine and Shane Van Boening who were defeated by Quatar's Waleed Majid and Bashar Hussain who played great throughout the game.
Holland 7-3 India
Niels Feijen & Nick van den Berg played for Holland in their battle against India's Raj Hundal and Amar Kang in which they achieved a whopping 7-3 win.
Philippines 7-4 Russia
Both Carlo Biado and Warren Kiamco made their debut in pool playing for the Phillipenes team in their win against Russia's Ruslan Chinakhov and Konstantin Stepanov.
Wednesday 23rd September - 12:30
The matches that took place in the early session were Poland vs. New Zealand, Chinese Taipei vs. Estonia and Japan vs. Italy. The results are as follows:
Poland 7-3 New Zealand
Polish team mates, Mateusz Sniegocki and Wojciech Szewczyk managed to defeat New Zealand's Matt Edwards and Nick Pera in their game.
Chinese Taipei 7-5 Estonia
Ko Pin Yi and Chang Yu Lung from the Chinese Taipei team put up a strong fight for their win against Estonia's Dennis Grabe and Erki Erm.
Japan 7-3 Italy
Similarly to the Rugby, Japan's players Naoyuki Oi and Toru Kuribayashi pulled it out of the bag with their win against Italy's Danieli Corrieri and Antonio Benvenuto.
Tuesday 22nd September - 18:30
The matches that took place in the evening session were Germany vs. Indonesia, England vs. Australia and Austria vs. Peru. The results are as follows:
Germany 3-7 Indonesia
Representing Indonesia was Muhammad Simanjuntak and Irsal Nasution who managed to defeat Germany's Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann in a 3-7 win.
England A 7-5 Australia
English team mates Karl Boyes (who is sponsored by us at Home Leisure Direct) and Darren Appleton won the battle again Australia's Robby Foldvari and Chris Calabresein this very tense match. The game was almost equal until the last few minutes where England managed to pull off a 7-5 win.
Austria 7-5 Peru
Playing for the winning team, Austria, were Robby Foldvari and Chris Calabrese who defeated Peru's Cristopher Tevez and Manuel Chau.
Tuesday 22nd September - 12:30
The matches that took place in the early session were Korea vs. Malaysia, China vs. Romania and Canada vs. France which proved to be very tense. The results are as follows:
Korea 7-6 Malaysia
Playing for the winning team, Korea, were Jeong Young Hwa and Ryu Seung Wu who were up against the very experienced Malaysian pool player, Ibrahim Bin Amir and his team mate.
China 4-7 Romania
The Romanian team mates, Babken Melkonyan and Ioan Ladanyi managed to defeat China’s Li Hewen (who has not just proved himself as a top 9-ball player in the past but is now known for his all-star Chinese 8-ball skills as well) and Liu Haitao.
Canada 6-7 France
Representing France in their win was Stephan Cohen and Alex Montpellier who were up against Canadian’s Jason Klatt & John Morra.