2003 WPA World Nine-ball Championship
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | 9-ball |
| Location | Cardiff, Wales |
| Dates | July 12, 2003–July 20, 2003 |
Tournament format | Round robin / Single Elimination |
| Host(s) | WPA World Nine-ball Championship, Matchroom Pool |
| Participants | 128 |
| Final positions | |
| Champion | Germany Thorsten Hohmann |
| Runner-up | Canada Alex Pagulayan |
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The 2003 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was the 14th edition of the WPA World Championship for 9-Ball Pool. It took place from July 12 to 20, 2003 in Cardiff, Wales.
Thorsten Hohmann won the event 17–10 victory in the final against Canadian Alex Pagulayan.[1] Defending champion Earl Strickland was eliminated in the semi-final against Hohmann.
Tournament format
[edit | edit source]The event featured 128 participating players which were divided into 16 groups, in which they competed in round robin mode against each other. The top four players in each group qualified for a knockout round from the stage of the last 64.
Controversy
[edit | edit source]The event saw reigning champion Earl Strickland play 6-time world Snooker champion Steve Davis in the last 16. Before the match, held in Cardiff, during a press conference, Strickland commented that he knew that the fans were being disrespectful towards him, and favouring Davis. During the match, Strickland referred to a crowd member as an "asshole",[2] and began to talk during Davis' shots, against the rules. Referee Michaela Tabb warned Strickland, to which he replied that Tabb should "shut up".[3] Davis would use his entitled comfort break shortly before the next frame, despite already being down on the shot to break. Davis would later suggest this was used as gamesmanship.[2]
During the break, Strickland put his fingers in his ears to block out the crowd's support for Davis. With the match at 10 racks to 9, in favour of Strickland, he missed a long 6 ball. Using the rest, Davis would miss an "easy" shot (according to Strickland),[2] from where Strickland would leap out of his seat, and exclaim that Davis had "dogged it." Strickland's tirade against Davis, the crowd, and the rules of the event, continued through the main part of a post-match interview, before visibly calming and apologizing for his behaviour.[3] After admitting regret over his reactions during the encounter with Davis, Strickland entered the arena for his next match carrying a bunch of flowers which he gave to Tabb by way of an apology, and proceeded to play in a much calmer manner for the remainder of the event.[4]
Strickland had also played the 2003 World Snooker champion Mark Williams in the preliminaries of the competition, winning 5–3.
Preliminary round
[edit | edit source]The following players were knocked out of the competition in the preliminary round, finishing 5th or lower in the round robin.[5]
| 5. Place | 6. Place | 7. Place | 8. Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1: | Canada Paul Potier | Finland Mark Lohtander | Hungary Vilmos Földes | South Africa Anton Klanfar |
| Group 2: | Chinese Taipei Kuo Po-Cheng | Australia Phil Reilly | Croatia Ivica Putnik | United States Shawn Putnam |
| Group 3: | Indonesia Siauw Wieto | England Imran Majid | Australia Emile Riera | United States Art Wiggins |
| Group 4: | Poland Radosław Babica | Finland Janne Kaipainen | Austria Alexander Markut | Philippines Ronato Alcano |
| Group 5: | Wales Rob McKenna | Canada Jeff Kennedy | United States Charlie Williams | Puerto Rico Alan Rolon |
| Group 6: | England Anthony Ginn | Serbia and Montenegro Šandor Tot | Australia David Reljic | Netherlands Anand Manurat |
| Group 7: | Chinese Taipei Chang Pei-Wei | Czech Republic Roman Hybler | Canada Andre Pelletier | South Africa David Anderson |
| Gruppe 8: | Chinese Taipei Chao Fong-Pang | England Kevin Uzzell | Denmark Peter Nielsen | Sweden Erik Weiselius |
| Group 9: | Germany Christian Reimering | Singapore William Ang Boon Lay | Russia Konstantin Stepanow | Aruba Richard Wolff |
| Group 10: | Greece John Papadopoulos | Singapore Bernard Tey Choon Kiat | Greece Athanasios Vrakas | Mexico Mauro Ibarra |
| Group 11: | France Stephan Cohen | Netherlands Gilliano Smit | Aruba Ditto Acosta | New Zealand Ceri Worts |
| Group 12: | New Zealand Brent Wells | Norway Raymond Hauge | England Dominic Clemens | United States Bill Ferguson |
| Group 13: | United States Jimmy Wetch | Spain Juan Fernández | Germany Thorsten Schober | United Arab Emirates Hanni al-Howri |
| Group 14: | Germany Ralph Eckert | England Daryl Peach | Aruba Ryan Rampersaud | Italy Carmine Nanula |
| Group 15: | Sweden Tom Storm | Germany Michael Schmidt | Switzerland Sascha Specchia | Scotland Michael Valentine |
| Group 16: | United States Nick Varner | Australia Robert Elsley | Puerto Rico Jason Cruz | South Korea Jong Hong-jo |
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Final round
[edit | edit source]Those that qualified, would play in a knockout round.[6][5]
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References
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Live scoring at WPA-pool.com
- Empire Poker WPA World Pool Championship 2003 at azbilliards.com