2008 World Pool Masters Site Starts Today

Matchroom Sport is delighted to announce that www.worldpoolmasters.com , the Official Online Home of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters, is now live.

With the tournament being held for the first time ever in Las Vegas, the site will be your first port of call for news, player profiles, results, stories and pictures of what promises to be a hugely exciting event featuring some of the world’s top players.

Four World 9-ball Champions – Daryl Peach, Mika Immonen, Ralf Souquet, Alex Pagulayan – will be taking part in the event as well as some of the biggest names in the game, including Shane Van Boening, Francisco Bustamante, Niels Feijen and Corey Deuel.

All will be vying for the $20,000 top prize.

The World Pool Masters will be taking place at the Riviera Hotel and Casino from Thursday 9th to Sunday 11th May with afternoon and evening sessions daily, concluding with the final scheduled to commence around 9.15pm on Sunday evening.

www.worldpoolmasters.com will feature exclusive interviews with the stars who make up the field as well as comments and predictions from the big names of world pool.

Bookmark www.worldpoolmasters.com today for full details and information about the 16th annual running of one of pool’s most prestigious events.

Souquet Wins World 8-Ball Championship

Ronnie Alcano Reign as a WORLD champion came to an end Friday courtesy of the same man he beat to achieve full stardom two years ago. Ralf Souquet of Germany finally exacted revenge with a 13-9 conquest of defending champion Alcano in the finals of the 2008 World 8-Ball Championship in Fujairah City, United Arab Emirates. The clean-shaven German, who lost to Alcano in the finals of the World Pool (9-ball) Championship in Manila in 2006, pounced on a poor start by the Filipino to grab a 3-0 lead which he skillfully protected throughout.

Souquet, who bagged the top purse of $60,000, became just the fourth cue artist -- after Efren "Bata" Reyes, Taiwanese Wu Chia-ching and Alcano -- to hold both the world 8-ball and 9-ball plums. He won his 9-ball title in 1996.

The 35-year-old Alcano, top gun of star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano and the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), won all his previous matches in astounding fashion, while Souquet had to go through the back door after losing his opening match in the $200,000 tournament. But in the game that mattered most, Alcano started sluggishly and eventually settled for the $20,000 runner-up prize.

Alcano later apologized for failing to live up to expectations, saying the breaks went against him early. "I promise to redeem myself and give honor to our country the next time," Alcano vowed. Alcano won the lag but his two straight dry breaks had Souquet taking a 3-0 lead, which the latter stretched to five after 11 racks.

The Filipino then caught fire and pocketed five of the next six racks to close in at 9-8. He had a chance to even the match when the German broke dry in Rack 18, but he was unable to clean it up.

Souquet's victory meant the two world titles are now in Europe. The world 9-ball tiara is in the hands of Englishman Darryl Peach, who claimed it last year at the expense of Filipino Roberto Gomez.

The next best Filipino finisher was world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo, who made it to the semifinals and bagged $10,000. Warren Kiamco of BMPAP and Negros Billiards Stable of Jonathan Sy finished fifth worth $6,000, while Alan Cuartero received $3,000 for reaching the Last 16.