Hsia Hun-kai reaches main competition again

HSIA Hun-kai secured his place in the World Pool Championship for the sixth successive year after winning the fifth qualifying event.

The 31-year-old from Kaohsiung City, Chinese Taipei clinched his spot in the main tournament after an epic 9-7 victory in a thrilling final against local hope Rody Morta.

Hsia (pictured right) could cause a few surprises in the actual competition, which starts on Saturday, November 4, as he reached the quarter-finals in 2003 and has defeated top players such as Johnny Archer (USA), Marcus Chamat (Swe) and Alex Lely (Netherlands).

This year, Hsia will be in Group 27 and up against Vilmos Foldes (Hungary), Toh Lian-han (Singapore) and outsider Junaine Nicholas (South Africa).

To claim his place, Hsia defeated Kosuke Tojo (Japan), Khaled Al Mutairi (Kuwait), Farhad Shah Verdi (Iran), Lu Hsun-chen (Chinese Taipei) and the Filipino duo of Israel Rota and Rody Morta.

Qualifying tournament final results so far

Event 1 - Roberto Gomez (PHI) bt Naoyuki Oi (JPN) 9-6
Event 2 - Nien Rong-chih (TPE) bt Chien Chin-ju (TPE) 9-4
Event 3 - Eduardo Villanueva (PHI) bt Hisash Kusano (JPN) 9-2
Event 4 - Lee Van Corteza (PHI) bt Max Eberle (USA) 9-2
Event 5 - Hsia Hun-kai (TPE) bt Rody Morta (PHI) 9-7

Click here to see full results from the fifth qualifying tournament

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