Ko Ping-Chung 🇹🇼 takes Sharks International 9 Ball title
The inaugural event is the first WNT ranking tournament in Asia.
Ko Ping-Chung may be the middle child of the Ko brothers, but he’s about to overtake his older sibling, Ko Pin-Yi, in the WNT rankings and enter the top 10 after winning the Sharks tournament in Quezon City, Philippines.
Pool fans know that pool is part of the culture in the Philippines, and there are good players everywhere. Not only was the 128-person field populated with local legends (e.g. Francisco Bustamante, Dennis Orcollo, Carlo Biado), native champions (e.g. James Aranas, Johann Chua, Jeffrey De Luna), and countless home field talent, top pros from around the world also joined (e.g. Ko brothers, Chang Jung-Lin, Fedor Gorst, Aloysius Yapp, Naoyuki Oi).
That made Ko’s win even more impressive, as he defeated Michael Feliciano, 17-13, in the final. He takes home $30,000 for first place.
Sharks wows with first Matchroom-sanctioned tournament
Besides the 128 awesome players in the Sharks 9 Ball Championship, the 129th star is undoubtedly Sharks. Officially known as Sharks Billiard League and self-proclaimed “mecca of pool,” the organization partnered with Matchroom to bring a WNT ranking tournament to the Philippines, a country that’s produced so many legendary pool players.
The production quality of the tournament was top notch as seen on the live streams. Granted, they didn’t appear to be the flashy, big budget production like Matchroom events, but I dare say they were the best I’ve seen outside of Matchroom. Everything from the venue to the graphics to the video quality to the live commentaries — all very impressive.
If Sharks is looking to rejuvenate pool in the Philippines, I’d say they’re on a good course.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
European Open, August 8-13 | A major WNT event by Matchroom hosted in Fulda, Germany.
Oceania Tour (Event 1), August 18-20 | WNT ranking event held in Adelaide, Australia.
Turning Stone Classic, August 31 - September 4 | One of the longest running tours in the U.S., now included as a WNT ranking event.
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