2007 WPA Men's World Nine-ball Championship

The 2007 WPA Men's World Nine-ball Championship (billed in the host country as 2007 Philippines World Pool 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 are expected to compete 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

The 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.

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 had won twice. All matches are race to nine racks.

After the group stages, the routine 64-man single elimination tournament follows.

Notable occurrences

• 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.

• 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 committed a foul when the cue ball hit the 9-ball before it hit 3-ball when he was leading 10-9. Replays indeed showed that the cue ball did hit the 9-ball first, and the call was valid. Daryl Peach won the next 2 racks to win 11-10.

Players

By nation

	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

Seed	Name	Previous titles	2007 finish
1	Ronato Alcano	1 (2006)	Last 64
2	Ralf Souquet	1 (1996)	Last 32
3	Wu Chia-ching	1 (2005)	Last 32
4	Yang Ching-shun	none	Last 64
5	Thorsten Hohmann	1 (2003)	Group stage
6	Efren Reyes	1 (1999)	Last 64
7	Chang Jung-lin	none	Last 32
8	Alex Pagulayan	1 (2004)	Last 16
9	Francisco Bustamante	none	Quarterfinals
10	Thomas Engert	none	Last 64
11	Konstantin Stepanov	none	Last 16
12	Mika Immonen	1 (2001)	Quarterfinals
13	Shane Van Boening	none	Last 32
14	Li He-wen	none	Group stage
15	Johnny Archer	2 (1992, 1997)	Group stage
16	Niels Feijen	none	Last 16

Seed	Name	Previous titles	2007 finish
17	Daryl Peach	none
18	Chao Fong-pang	2 (1993, 2000)	Last 32
19	Fabio Petroni	none	Last 64
20	Dennis Orcollo	none	Last 64
21	Lee Van Corteza	none	Last 64
22	Rodney Morris	none	Group stage
23	Imran Majid	none	Last 64
24	Corey Deuel	none	Last 16
25	David Alcaide	none	Last 64
26	Christian Reimering	none	Withdrew
27	Tony Drago	none	Last 32
28	Fu Che-wei	none	Last 64
29	Jonni Fulcher	none	Group stage
30	Luong Chi Dung	none	Last 32
31	Ronnie Wiseman	none	Group stage
32	Ricky Yang	none	Group stage

Unseeded players who advanced to the round of 64

Players boldfaced made it to the final.

• Group 1:
  • Charles Williams
  • Alex Lely
  • Harald Stolka
• Group 2:
  • Leonardo Andam
  • James Delahunty
  • Raj Hundal
• Group 3:
  • Vilmos Földes
  • Radoslaw Babica
• Group 4:
  • Lu Hui-chan
  • Joven Bustamante
  • Antonio Gabica

• Group 5:
  • Ko Pin-yi
  • Jeff de Luna
  • Edwin Montal
  • Sandor Tot
• Group 6:
  • Kenichi Uchigaki
  • Alain Martel
• Group 7:
  • Ramil Gallego
  • Nick van den Berg
  • Chan Kwen-Kwang
• Group 8:
  • Muhammad Zulfikri
  • Philipp Stojanovic

• Groop 9:
  • Oliver Ortmann
  • Phan Tuan Ngoc
• Group 10:
  • Louis Condo
  • Kuo Po-cheng
• Group 11:
  • Marco Tschudi
  • Bahram Lofty
  • Rye Seung-Woo
• Group 12:
  • Karl Boyes
  • Goran Mladenovic

• Group 13:
  • Satoshi Kawabata
  • Marcus Chamat
• Group 14:
  • Marlon Manalo
  • Dejan Dabovic
• Group 15:
  • Lee Kung-fang
  • Naoyuki Oi
  • Wu Yun-lin
• Group 16:
  • Roberto Gomez
  • Matjaz Erculj

Knockout stages

	Last 64 Race to 10 Nov 7					Last 32 Race to 10 Nov 8					Last 16 Race to 11 Nov 9					Quarter-finals Race to 11 Nov 10					Semi-finals Race to 11 Nov 10					Final Race to 17 Nov 11
	1	Alcano	6
	17	Peach	10
						17	Peach	10
							Lee	7
	Lee		10
	Hundal		6
											17	Peach	11
												Stolka	5
	Erculj		3
	Stolka		10
						Stolka		10
						Wu Y-L		2
	Andam		5
	Wu Y-L		10
																17	Peach	11
																9	F Bustamante	10
	9	F Bustamante	10
	25	Alcaide	1
						9	F Bustamante	10
							van den Berg	8
		van den Berg	10
	23	Majid	4
											9	F Bustamante	11
											8	Pagulayan	2
	8	Pagulayan	10
		Pham	6
						8	Pagulayan	10
							Condo	2
	Condo		10
	Kwang		2
																					17	Peach	11
																						Földes	2
	Ko		8
	Mladenovic		10
						Mladenovic		2
						Martel		10
	Tschudi		4
	Martel		10
												Martel	8
											12	Immonen	11
	12	Immonen	10
	28	Fu	5
						12	Immonen	10
						27	Drago	6
	27	Drago	10
		Lofty	7
																12	Immonen	7
																	Földes	11
	13	Van Boening	10
		Gabica	7
						13	Van Boening	8
							Földes	10
	Földes		10
	Dabovic		2
											Földes		11
											Lu		5
	Lu		10
	Chamat		6
						Lu		10
						Babica		3
	Manalo		1
	Babica		10
																										17	Peach	17
																											Gomez	15
	30	Luong	10
		Strickland	8
						30	Luong	3
							Kawabata	10
		Kawabata	10
	4	Yang	3
											Kawabata		9
											J Bustamante		11
	19	Petroni	9
	3	Wu C-C	10
						3	Wu C-C	8
							J Bustamante	10
	J Bustamante		10
	Orcollo		6
																J Bustamante		8
																Boyes		11
	11	Stepanov	10
	6	Reyes	5
						11	Stepanov	10
							de Luna	4
		de Luna	10
	21	Corteza	7
											11	Stepanov	4
												Boyes	11
	Uchigaki		7
	Rye		10
						Rye		8
						Boyes		10
	Boyes		10
	Tot		6
																					Boyes		4
																					Gomez		11
	Gallego		5
	Kuo		10
						Kuo		10
						Ortmann		7
	Ortmann		10
	Stojanovic		7
												Kuo	11
											24	Deuel	7
	10	Engert	7
	7	Chang	10
						7	Chang	9
						24	Deuel	10
		Zulfikri	4
	24	Deuel	10
																Kuo		4
																Gomez		11
		Oi	8
	2	Souquet	10
						2	Souquet	2
						16	Feijen	10
		Williams	7
	16	Feijen	10
											16	Feijen	0
												Gomez	11
		Delahunty	0
	18	Chao	10
						18	Chao	2
							Gomez	10
	Gomez		10
	Lely		1

Country representation

Country	Last 64	Last 32	Last 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
England	4	2	2	2	2	1
Philippines	13	5	4	3	1	1
Hungary	1	1	1	1	1	-
Chinese Taipei	10	7	2	1	-	-
Finland	1	1	1	1	-	-
Germany	4	3	1	-	-	-
United States	4	2	1	-	-	-
Netherlands	3	2	1	-	-	-
Japan	3	1	1	-	-	-
Canada	1	1	1	-	-	-
Russia	1	1	1	-	-	-
Serbia	3	1	-	-	-	-
Australia	2	1	-	-	-	-
Vietnam	2	1	-	-	-	-
Malta	1	1	-	-	-	-
Poland	1	1	-	-	-	-
South Korea	1	1	-	-	-	-
Other countries	9	-	-	-	-	-

Final

November 11

Daryl Peach

17-15

Roberto Gomez

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referee: Mikaela Tabb

External links

• Official website