DRAW MADE FOR WORLD CUP OF POOL
Apr 28, 2021
Austria will begin their World Cup of Pool title defence against Slovakia, while hosts Great Britain A will face debutants Belarus in the first round of the doubles tournament, which begins on Sunday, May 9 at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes, live on Sky Sports.
Among the standout first-round ties is Great Britain B (Kelly Fisher & Allison Fisher) against three-time champions Philippines (Roberto Gomez & Jeff De Luna), while 2019 semi-finalists Spain will face Italy.
The 16 seeded teams were automatically placed into the draw brackets, with 16 unseeded teams drawn at random. The draw is set for the whole tournament, with some mouth-watering potential second-round match ups including USA vs. Philippines.
Defending champions Austria (Albin Ouschan & Mario He) also lifted the World Cup in 2017 and could become the first pairing to win the trophy three times.
The tournament will begin on Sunday, May 9 with fan-favourites Japan (Naoyuki Oi & Masato Yoshioka) in action against Croatia (Philipp Stojanovic & Roberto Bartol). All first round matches are race to 7, with three matches per session and two sessions per day. The first round will complete on Tuesday, May 11 with Great Britain A (Jayson Shaw & Chris Melling) facing Belarus’ all-female pairing of Margarita Fefilova & Yana Halliday. Halliday’s husband, Richard, will represent South Africa alongside brother Vincent. They face Canada (Alex Pagulayan & John Morra) in the first round.
The World Cup of Pool will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, DAZN and Matchroom.Live, with further international broadcasters to be confirmed.
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MATCH SCHEDULE
Sunday, May 9 (12:00-16:00)R1: Japan vs. CroatiaR1: Czech Republic vs. HungaryR1: Austria vs. Slovakia
Sunday, May 9 (17:30-21:30)R1: Russia vs. SwitzerlandR1: Greece vs. SerbiaR1: Canada vs. South Africa
Monday, May 10 (12:00-16:00)R1: Netherlands vs. Bosnia & HerzegovinaR1: Finland vs. IcelandR1: Albania vs. Denmark
Monday, May 10 (17:30-21:30)R1: Spain vs. ItalyR1: Germany vs. LithuaniaR1: USA vs. Australia
Tuesday, May 11 (12:00-16:00)R1: Philippines vs. Great Britain BR1: Poland vs. KuwaitR1: Estonia vs. Belgium
Tuesday, May 11 (17:30-21:30)R2: Austria/Slovakia vs. Czech Republic/HungaryR2: Canada/South Africa vs. Greece/SerbiaR1: Great Britain A vs. Belarus
Wednesday, May 12 (12:00-16:00)R2: Russia/Switzerland vs. Japan/CroatiaR2: Finland/Iceland vs. Netherlands/B&HR2: Spain/Italy vs. Albania/Denmark
Wednesday, May 12 (17:30-21:30)R2: Germany/Lithuania vs. Poland/KuwaitR2: USA/Australia vs. Philippines/Great Britain BR2: Estonia/Belgium vs. Great Britain A/Belarus
Thursday, May 13 (12:00-16:00)Quarter-final 1Quarter-final 2Thursday, May 13 (17:30-21:30)Quarter-final 3Quarter-final 4
Friday, May 14 (12:00-16:00)Semi-final 1Semi-final 2
Friday, May 14 (17:30-21:30)Final