JEFFREY Ignacio drew former world 9 and 10-ball champion Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan for his first opponent while Jeffrey Roda was to face 2017 US Pool champion Jayson Shaw of Scotland at the start of the $1 million World Pool Championship at the Green Halls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last night.
Compatriot Johann Chua, the men’s 9-ball champion in the 2021 Vietnam Southeast Asian Games, was to take on Egyptian Hamzaa Ali in the tournament featuring the top 128 players in the world and offering a huge purse of $250,000 (roughly P14.562 million) to the winner.
Former US Pool Champion Carlo Biado was to take on Dutchman Marco Teuscher while set for today in the opening round was an all-Filipino clash between Anton Raga and Bernie Regalario in the blue-ribbon tournament organized by British outfit Matchroom.
Spanish defending champion and world No. 1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz took on hometown bet Waleed Albakhi while American star Shane Van Boening faced another Saudi in Fahad Alharbi in the competition, a double elimination series and race-to-nine- affair in the first round.
