RISING Filipino billiards player James Aranas has been picked as a wild card bet in the star-studded cast of 16 entries in the 30th World Pool Masters opening today at the Halle39 multi-purpose hall in Hildesheim, Germany.
Aranas, who teamed up with Johann Chua to capture the World Cup of Pool men’s doubles crown last year, will be among those chasing fame and fortune on the pearl anniversary of the meet considered by some as “pool’s most historic invitational event,” according to the event’s website.
Leading the elite field selected based on the World 9-ball ratings plus two wild card players is Taiwanese defending champion Ko Pin-yi, a former world 9-ball and 10-ball king, who will be chasing his second World Pool Masters title.
Also in the field are American star Shane Van Boening, compatriot Fedor Gorst, Albanian Eklent Kaci, Spanish stalwarts David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, the reigning world 9-ball king; renowned hometown bet Joshua Filler, Briton Jayson Shaw, Austrians Albin Ouschan, Max Lerhner and Mario He, Polish Viktor Wielenski, Singaporean Aloysius Yapp, Vietnamese Duong Quoc Hang and Taiwanese Ko Ping-chung, Pin-yi’s younger sibling.
They will vie for the top prize of $40,000 (roughly P2.29 million) in the four-day tournament kicking off with the race-to-9 opening round.
The quarterfinals will be a race-to-10 affair, race-to-11 in the semis, and race-to-13 in the championship match to be held on Sunday.
Aranas will bid to become the next Filipino to claim the prestigious title after Francisco “Django” Bustamante, who won in 1998 and 2000, Fil-Canadian Alex Pagulayan (2008) and Dennis Orcollo in 2010.
