PISTOIA - In the Italian town of Pistoia, a Tuscan city with a population of 90,000, the world championship 5 pins will be launched tomorrow (Wednesday 16 October). The 24th edition of the WC in this billiard discipline, which is very popular in Italy and Argentina, will be organized with 64 seeded players. The reigning world champion is the Argentinian Alejandro Martinotti, the Italians Andrea Quarta and Matteo Gualemi are the main contenders for the podium. The finals are on Sunday 20 October.
The tournament location is 37 km north-west of Florence, the tournament hall is the Palacarrara Sport Arena with nine match tables. The previous World championship was two years ago in Necochea, Argentina, where Alejandro Martinotti won the title ahead of the Italians Aniello, Quarta and Diomajuba. German player Toni Rosenberg, now also one of the participants, followed the Italians as the best European in seventh place.
The 64 players are divided into 8 groups of 8 players, the first 4 of each group qualify for the main draw with 32 players in the knock-out. The Argentines are with 14 players, the Italians with 13.
The other players for Europe: for Germany four players (Brancaccio, Gabel, Rosenberg and Berner), Switzerland (Sticco, Ciccolella, Buttino), France (Jublot, Guerin, David), Denmark (Kristffersen, Sjorup, Kampe), San Marino (Gobbi, Della Balda , Guardigli), Luxembourg (Briere, Goedert, Susca), Czech Republic (Pechman, Pechman, Dvoracek), Austria (Jodl, Ruppert), Spain (Argemi, Merino), the Netherlands (Driessen, Driessen), Belgium (Debaes) and Hungary (Timar).
The tournament location in Pistoia: the Palacarrara Sports Arena