German pool ace named tournament director in WPA Gap 10-Ball event

Double world champion Ralf Souquet of Germany has been named by the World Pool-Billiard Association as tournament director for the WPA Gap 10-Ball Tournament to be held at the Star Billiards Center from May 4-6.

This was announced by Ian Anderson, president of the World Pool-Billiard Association, the governing body of pool which sanctions the tournament. Souquet, a long-time competitor in many world pool championships and also a sentimental favorite in the Philippines, finished runner-up to compatriot and buddy Thorsten Hohmann in the recently-concluded Philippine Open Pool Championships. The former World 8-Ball and World 9-Ball champion has agreed to become the tournament director, according to Anderson. “The WPA is putting up a prize fund of $10,000 for this short tournament. Only players who will compete in the Beijing Open and the World Ten Ball Championship in Manila will be allowed to participate in the tournament," said Anderson. The Beijing Open featuring the world’s best men and women players will be held from April 25 to May 1. The Gap Tournament will be held simultaneously with the qualifying stage matches of the World Ten Ball Championship, which will also be played at the Star Billiards Center. But Souquet, who is seeking his first championship on Philippine soil, will plunge back to action in the main draw of the World Ten Ball Championship on May 9-15, where he is already seeded together with Hohmann and several other world pool champions like Dennis Orcullo of the Philippines, the newly crowned World 8-Ball champ, and other Filipinos in the top 10 — world's No.1 Antonio Lining, Oliver Medenilla, Lee Van Corteza, and double world champion Ronnie Alcano. Other players in the main draw include former World Ten Ball champion Darren Appleton of Great Britain, Marcus Chamat of Sweden and Liu Haitao of China, third placer in the recent Philippine Open. KY, GMA News