Tonight at 7:30, two players will compete for US$75,000 in the final round of the 2005 World Pool Championship. The event will be broadcast live on ESPN from the Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Center and will last approximately 90 minutes.
"We expect a 30 percent share of the television audience in Taiwan [to be watching] the finals," Luke Riches, spokesman for event organizer Matchroom Sport, said.
In addition to large televised audience, Riches said the nine-day tournament is averaging live audiences of 1,200 people a day.
Reaching the finals is anything but easy, with more than 128 players competing in 500 matches. Adding to the difficulty of the tournament, players need to qualify for a position, rather than other open tournaments which simply require an entry fee.
"I would say that approximately half of this field is professional players, meaning they do nothing but play pool all day," Riches said.
This year, youth is prevailing over wisdom as the average age of players in quarterfinal rounds a mere 26 years.
Riches said that younger players have better hand-eye coordination, as well as being more fearless.
"Also, we are seeing more kids play the game, and we are getting more superstar players who tend to be young," Riches said.
No player has generated more excitement than 16-year old Taiwanese sensation Wu Chia-ching (吳珈慶), one of the youngest players in the tournament. His strong showing was sweetened by the presence of fellow countrymen Kuo Po-cheng (郭柏成) and Huang Kun-chang (黃焜璋) in the quarterfinals -- each of whom each of whom are guaranteed entry into next year's event.
But, not all of Taiwan's top players have fared so well, as 27-year old Kaohsiung native Yang Ching-shun (楊清順) was eliminated in an early stage of the competition. Yang was highly favored after winning the US$20,000 Philippine International 9-ball Open earlier this year.
Similarly, Taiwan native, Chao Fong-Pang (
As the host country, Taiwan benefited from last-minute withdrawals by foreign competitors, increasing the number of Taiwan players in the tournament to 19.
Notable absences include Egyptian Mohammed Farouk El Degwi, who had difficulty applying for a visa, Santos Sambajon who could not travel because he is in the process of applying for an American Green Card.
And, Costa Rican qualifiers, Alex Jimenez and Edgardo Ramirez as well as Alan Rolon of Puerto Rico could not attend because of the cost of airline tickets.
"Man for man, Taiwan is stronger than the US," Riches said. "The level of talent here is very good in Taiwan, ranking alongside other countries such as the Philippines, the US and Germany."
Immonen'S RUN
Foreign players, such as Finland's Mika Immonen, are also putting on a terrific show. This young player has put together an improbable streak of wins, including a comeback from a 6-4 deficit to defeat American Cory Deuel.
Immomen said his competitor showed inconsistency on the break, and after a few unlucky rolls, he was finally able to make a couple of shots.
A day earlier, Immomen saw the greatest comeback of his career, overcoming an 8?2 deficit to Kunihiko Takahashi of Japan by running eight consecutive racks to win the match 10-8.
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