World 10-ball tilt lures best of the best

THE LEGENDS and the new stars of the game battle it out for the biggest prize in pool—the 2011 World 10-Ball Championship—set May 10 at the World Trade Center as a total of 128 players coming from 44 countries take part in the rich event.

Mike Immonen, the cool and calculating Finn, will attempt to win this event for the second time in three years even as Thorsten Hohmann, the recent winner of the Philippine Open, is also entered.

Traditional powers Great Britain, the United States, China, Chinese Taipei and the Philippines are expected to dominate, but some spotlight will fall on countries represented in the tournament for the first time such as Peru, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Norway, Uruguay, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Reigning world No. 1 Antonio Lining and former top-ranked Dennis Orcollo will be leading the Philippines, which hasn’t won this tournament since its inception.

Darren Appleton is also part of the foreign charge that includes Ralf Souquet and Chang Jun-Lin of Chinese-Taipei, the winner of the recent Beijing Open.

Wu Chia-Ching, another fearsome bet from Taipei, will be making his return to serious pool play in the event after a two-year hiatus. Also expected to shine is Japanese Tohru Kuribayashi.

Qualifying has actually started at the Star Billiards Center and will go on until May 7.