2007 WPA Men's World Nine-ball Championship

2007 WPA World 9-Ball Championship
Tournament details
CountryPhilippines
CityPasay
Venue(s)International Convention Center
Dates3–11 November 2007 (2007-11-03 – 2007-11-11)
FormatDouble elimination / Single elimination
Participants128
Final positions
ChampionsEngland Daryl Peach
Runner-upPhilippines Roberto Gomez
← 2006
2010 →

The 2007 World Nine-ball Championship was the 18th annual international nine-ball pool tournament for men sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). It was held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines from 3–11 November 2007. It was the second consecutive time the tournament has been held in the Philippines.

The tournament is sponsored by Matchroom Sport, which has sponsored the event since 1999. 128 participants from 46 WPA member countries competed for US$400,000 in total prize money, including defending champion Ronato Alcano of the Philippines. The overall winner received a purse of $100,000, the highest-ever payout for the tournament.

Format

[edit]

The Format of qualifying used on 2006 was used for 2007. Several last-minute qualifying tournaments were held in the Metro Manila area a few weeks before the tournament starts.

All matches are in winner's break: the winner of the previous rack will break on the next rack, it was reverted from alternate break used in 2006.

There are 32 seeded players prior to the group stages; they are distributed 2 per group. The defending champion, Ronnie Alcano, is seeded #1.

Also, a double-elimination tournament will be used for the group stages; instead of 32 groups of 4, there will be 16 groups of eight, with the top four advancing. Each player will be seeded 1–8 in their groups, with a routine double-elimination tournament following the first round; however the player that wins twice will advance to the quarterfinals and will not take part in other group matches, in contrast if a player loses two games, he is eliminated. The top four players in each group therefore would have won twice. After the group stages, the routine 64-man single elimination tournament follows.[citation needed]

In the initial group stages the format consists of races to 9 racks. The last 64 play races to 10 racks. This is followed by the round of 16 (quarterfinals and semifinals) where the races are to 11 racks. The race in the finals jumps to 17 racks.[1]

Notable occurrences

[edit]
  • On day 1, a group match (race to 9) between Charles Williams and Ricky Yang took over 2 and half hours to complete, with both players accused of playing too slowly. Calls were made for moves to outlaw overly-slow play in future years.
  • On day 3, Jeremy Jones of the U.S. and Finland's Mika Immonen almost came to blows after Immonen eliminated Jones from contention, 9–6 at the group stages.[2]
  • There was high drama on day 4, Tuesday afternoon at the Big Dome when fire broke out in the lighting rig over Table 5 on the upper tier. Each of the outside tables has a light box with fluorescent tubes that light the table and a short circuit sent sparks flying and before long the box was ablaze. Matchroom Sport's John McDonald alerted venue staff and only his quick thinking saved the table as he and cameraman Lawrence 'Lol' Lustig covered it to stop debris and foam raining down onto the felt. Before long temporary lights were installed and play was able to commence at the designated time.
  • On the quarterfinals, Francisco Bustamante, leading Daryl Peach 10–9 in a race to 11 match, failed to play position on the 3-ball and snookered himself behind the 9-ball. A kick shot struck both the 3 and 9 balls, fluking the 9 into a corner pocket. With the player and crowd celebrating the win, a lengthy inquiry began, in which the referee and tournament officials studied frame-by-frame replays of the shot, before concluding that the 9 had been struck first, and the shot was therefore a foul. After the lengthy break in play, in which Bustamante insisted the shot had been legal, Peach held his nerve amongst a partisan Filipino crowd to run the last two racks of the match to win 11–10, en route to his World Championship victory the following day.

Players

[edit]

By nation

[edit]

The WPA considered the home nations of England and Scotland as separate entities for the tournament and the codes of "ENG" and "SCO" was subsequently shown in the TV broadcast instead of "GBR."[3]

Champion
Runner-up
Semifinals
Quarterfinals
Last 16
Last 32
Last 64
Group stages
  • 15 players: Philippines
  • 14 players: Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
  • 11 players: United States
  • 7 players: Germany
  • 6 players: Canada and England
  • 5 players: Japan
  • 4 players: Australia
  • 3 players: China, Holland (Netherlands), Indonesia, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Serbia and Singapore.
  • 2 players: Chile, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Spain and Vietnam.
  • 1 player: Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Finland, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Qatar, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey and UAE

Seeded

[edit]

Unseeded players who advanced to the round of 64

[edit]

Player boldfaced made it to the final.

Group stage

[edit]

Group 1

[edit]

Group 2

[edit]

Group 3

[edit]

Group 4

[edit]

Group 5

[edit]

Group 6

[edit]

Group 7

[edit]

Group 8

[edit]

Group 9

[edit]

Group 10

[edit]

Group 11

[edit]

Group 12

[edit]

Knockout stages

[edit]

Section 1

[edit]
Last 64
Race to 10
Nov 7 		Last 32
Race to 10
Nov 8 		Last 16
Race to 11
Nov 9 		Quarterfinals
Race to 11
Nov 10
            
1 Philippines Alcano 6
17 England Peach 10
17 England Peach 10
Chinese Taipei Lee 7
Chinese Taipei Lee 10
England Hundal 6
17 England Peach 11
Germany Stolka 5
Slovenia Erculj 3
Germany Stolka 10
Germany Stolka 10
Chinese Taipei Wu Y-L 2
Philippines Andam 5
Chinese Taipei Wu Y-L 10
17 England Peach 11
9 Philippines F Bustamante 10
9 Philippines F Bustamante 10
25 Spain Alcaide 1
9 Philippines F Bustamante 10
Netherlands van den Berg 8
Netherlands van den Berg 10
23 England Majid 4
9 Philippines F Bustamante 11
8 Philippines Pagulayan 2
8 Philippines Pagulayan 10
Vietnam Pham 6
8 Philippines Pagulayan 10
Australia Condo 2
Australia Condo 10
Singapore Kwang 2

Section 2

[edit]
Last 64
Race to 10
Nov 7 		Last 32
Race to 10
Nov 8 		Last 16
Race to 11
Nov 9 		Quarterfinals
Race to 11
Nov 10
            
Chinese Taipei Ko 8
Serbia Mladenovic 10
Serbia Mladenovic 2
Canada Martel 10
Switzerland Tschudi 4
Canada Martel 10
Canada Martel 8
12 Finland Immonen 11
12 Finland Immonen 10
28 Chinese Taipei Fu 5
12 Finland Immonen 10
27 Malta Drago 6
27 Malta Drago 10
Denmark Lofty 7
12 Finland Immonen 7
Hungary Földes 11
13 United States Van Boening 10
Philippines Gabica 7
13 United States Van Boening 8
Hungary Földes 10
Hungary Földes 10
Serbia Dabovic 2
Hungary Földes 11
Chinese Taipei Lu 5
Chinese Taipei Lu 10
Sweden Chamat 6
Chinese Taipei Lu 10
Poland Babica 3
Philippines Manalo 1
Poland Babica 10

Section 3

[edit]
Last 64
Race to 10
Nov 7 		Last 32
Race to 10
Nov 8 		Last 16
Race to 11
Nov 9 		Quarterfinals
Race to 11
Nov 10
            
30 Vietnam Luong 10
United States Strickland 8
30 Vietnam Luong 3
Japan Kawabata 10
Japan Kawabata 10
4 Chinese Taipei Yang 3
Japan Kawabata 9
Philippines J Bustamante 11
19 Italy Petroni 9
3 Chinese Taipei Wu C-C 10
3 Chinese Taipei Wu C-C 8
Philippines J Bustamante 10
Philippines J Bustamante 10
Philippines Orcollo 6
Philippines J Bustamante 8
England Boyes 11
11 Russia Stepanov 10
6 Philippines Reyes 5
11 Russia Stepanov 10
Philippines de Luna 4
Philippines de Luna 10
21 Philippines Corteza 7
11 Russia Stepanov 4
England Boyes 11
Japan Uchigaki 7
South Korea Rye 10
South Korea Rye 8
England Boyes 10
England Boyes 10