PORTO – Jorge Alipio, who for years was the driving force behind the World Cup in Porto, is no longer the big boss. He is the ’Godfather’ of the organisation, as UMB president Farouk Barki describes him. The World Cup in the Portuguese stronghold, which starts on Sunday (29 June), is very popular among players and fans after Dani Sánchez won the first tournament in 1995, when it was still part of the BWA, the Billiards World Cup Association. Many tournaments followed, 17 in total, with Dick Jaspers winning the most (4), followed by Dani Sánchez and Frédéric Caudron (both 3).
The World Cup cycle starts in Porto with the fourth tournament of this season from Sunday 29 June to Saturday 5 July. The traditional Dragão Arena (FC Porto stadium) will make way for the Pavilhão Municipal Do Lagarteiro, located a few kilometres away. The same applies to the Coupe D’Europe, which is played from 8 to 13 July. The cycle was preceded by the World Cups in Bogota (winner Tran Thanh Luc), Ho Chi Minh (Dick Jaspers) and Ankara (Eddy Merckx). The world's top players gather in Porto and then later this year in Belgium (Antwerp), South Korea and Egypt (Sharm el Sheikh).
Mr Farouk Barki about the history of the World Cups: ’’The first major organizations for the UMB, after the BWA era, were in Portugal and Egypt, with Porto and Hurghada as important host cities.’’ With a total of 19 events in Egypt (Hurghada, El Gouna, Sharm El Sheikh) and 17 in Portugal (Porto and Matosinhos), these countries have become strongholds in the World Cup cycle. Even more World Cups, in different cities, were organized in the Netherlands (26), and 19 World Cups were also organized in Belgium.
In last year's World Cup in Porto, Dick Jaspers defeated Myung-woo Cho in the final, becoming the record holder in Porto. The 17 players seeded for this year are traditionally the top 14 players in the rankings: Dick Jaspers, Myung-woo Cho, Eddy Merckx, Quyet Chien Tran, Thanh Luc Tran, Tayfun Tasdemir, Marco Zanetti, Sameh Sidhom, Tolgahan Kiraz, Jung-han Heo, Martin Horn, Berkay Karakurt, Phuong Vinh Bao and Hong Chiem Thai. The wildcards have been awarded to Lebanese player Jihad Koolfad, the organization's two wildcards go to Rui Costa and Jose Miguel Soares. The popularity of the Porto World Cup is evident as the list of players shows: in addition to the 149 players participating, there are 92 players on the reserve list, the last of whom is Korean Kap Se Kim.
Portuguese time is one hour earlier than in Western Europe. The matches will be broadcast on Soop from 12.00 to 21.00 on the first few days.
The ranking points from Porto 2025 will replace those from Bogota 2024 in the UMB Events ranking. Quyet Chien Tran defends 80 points, Sameh Sidhom 54 and Glenn Hofman 36.
On Sunday, Alexander Salazar, Carlos Crespo, Fernando Silva and Patrice Lalanne, among others, will start in the first preliminary round. On Monday, Marcos Morales, Jef Philipoom, Kostas Kokkoris, Ramon Rodriguez, Amir Ibraimov, Adrien Tachoire and David Pennör will enter the tournament. On Tuesday, Huberney Cataño, Dimitrios Seleventas, Sergio Jimenez, Jean Paul de Bruijn, Van Ly Dao, Jose Juan Garcia and Arnim Kahofer will be at the start.
On Wednesday, the final qualifiers are among others: Haeng Jik Kim, Jérémy Bury, Frédéric Caudron, TTT Nguyen, Ruben Legazpi, Gökhan Salman, Omer Karakurt, Peter Ceulemans, Glenn Hofman, Jeffrey Jorissen, Myeong Jong Cha, Chang Hoon Seo and Roland Forthomme.
The main draw with 32 players starts on Thursday at 10.00 Portuguese time, featuring Quyet Chien Tran-Phuong Vinh Bao, Marco Zanetti-Jung Han Heo, Tayfun Tasdemir-Martin Horn, Sameh Sidhom-Tolgahan Kiraz and Thanh Luc Tran-Berkay Karakurt, among others.
The matches will be broadcast live by Soop.
The new FC Porto billiards arena