Rigid format forces do or die in World 9-ball

To ensure cutthroat competition in the elims and further generate public interest, a new format will be applied in the opening and final rounds of the World 9-ball Pool Championship set Nov. 3-11 at the Araneta Coliseum.

A double elimination round play in the group stage will be introduced for the first time in the competition where the starting field of 128 will be grouped into 16 of eight players each with the top four advancing to the Last 64.

The organizing Matchroom Sport said the change in format will mean every single game will count, paving the way for highly competitive matches for berths in the second and succeeding rounds.

Unlike in the old set-up, where players vie for slots in a single round-robin format, the eight players in each group this time will play 10 matches. Two successive wins will send players into the last 64, while two straight defeats will boot them out of the race.

The final set of matches in the group will feature players with one win and one defeat fighting it out to stay in the hunt for berths in the Last 64. All first-round matches will be race-to-9 racks.

Each group will play on two tables in one day and the first round matches will be completed over four days     Nov. 3-6.

After the group stage, which will see the field reduced to 64 players, the competition will become a single elimination, straight knockout affair, as in previous years. This year, however, Matchroom will restore the winner-break format in all matches.

The Last 64 and the Last 32 phases will be race-to-10 affairs while the Last 16, the quarterfinals and the semifinals will be a race-to-11.

The championship is a race-to-17 duel.

“We have consulted with the WPA (World Pool Association) to come up with a format that will liven up the first round of matches and generate more excitement for spectators, both in the arena and on TV,” Matchroom Sport said in a statement.

“After the first four matches in each group, every game will either see a player go through or be dumped out the championship and that can only be good for the competition,” it added.

Ronnie Alcano, who bested German ace Ralf Souquet in the final last year at the PICC, heads the 128 field, which includes the finest cue masters in the world, headed by former champions Efren “Bata” Reyes, Fil-Canadian Alex Pagulayan and Wu Chia Ching and Fong Pang Chao of Taiwan.