Play got underway at the 5th annual PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool at Robinsons Place Mall in Ermita, Manila as 64 of the best players on the planet gathered to do battle for the $250,000 prize fund.
 
Konstantin Stepanov and Referee Nigel Rees look on as Ruslan Chinakov takes aim on their way to a victory over Canada

The Russian pair of Ruslan Chinakhov and Konstantin Stepanov, making their fourth appearance together in this event, recorded an outstanding come-from-behind win to eliminate Canada from the competition.
 
The Canadians – Jason Klatt and John Morra – had looked solid in the early stages as they raced into a 4-0 lead. A mistake from Klatt though, as he missed a banked five ball onto the centre pocket, allowed the Russians to take their first rack of the match and the comeback was on. They took the next two to get to 3-4 before Klatt suffered the misfortune of having a foul called on him by referee Nigel Rees when his shirt touched a ball whilst cueing. Russia didn’t hesitate and squared the match at 4-4.
 
It was the turning point in the game, as Canada failed to stem the Russian tide as Stepanov and Chinakhov won the next four racks to win 8-4 and ease themselves into the last 16. "We were so nervous at the beginning and they played well. But we were just waiting for a mistake, they made one and we took two racks," said Stepanov after the match.

Meanwhile, India will rue the missed opportunities as they blew leads of 5-0 and 6-2 in the second match of the first session, to get dumped out of the competition 7-8 at the hands of Indonesia. The Indonesian pair of Muhammad Zulfikri and Ricky Yang looked out of sorts in the early stages as Raj Hundal and Dharminder Singh Lilly got the better of the exchanges as their confidence grew. At 5-0 to the good, the Indians looked in full control of proceedings but Indonesia took the next two before wasting chances in the ninth game and India moved into a great 6-2 lead. The Indonesians, who looked dead and buried earlier appear to be in the ascendancy as they stole four racks to level the match at 6-6 and leave their opponents reeling. They eventually took the match from India, 8-7.

China, winners of the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool back in 2007, then made light work of Belgium as they booked their second round spot with a comfortable 8-2 win. The pairing of Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen cut contrasting figures at the table but their doubles play is second to none and they look in shape to have another go at winning pool’s most coveted team title. The Belgian pair of Noel Bruynooghe and Serge Das had their share of glory moments in the World Cup and they won a qualifying event in Europe to book their spot in Manila. However, they never had a chance to settle as the Chinese twosome ran away with the match.

Fabio Petroni of Italy busts the rack as Korean female stars Yu Ram Cha look on

The second match of the second session was a thriller as Italy’s Fabio Petroni and Bruno Muratore edged out the girl power duo of Yu Ram Cha and Ga Young Kim by 8-6, in front of over 1,000 people. "The crowd here in the Philippines is the best in the world - it's like a soccer crowd in Italy or Brazil. Here everyone knows me as a player but in Italy only my mother and father recognize me," said Petroni. "It was very difficult for us and I knew they were strong. We know pool and knew we would have to be lucky and play very good. For me the women are very tough, just like the men. Jasmin Ouschan plays better than me. I'm very happy we won and we played good. We've played pool for 15 years so we know the game and if we play well and get lucky then we can beat Efren and Francisco who are the best in the world."
 
There were mistakes as well as quality play from both sides and at 6-6, the match was anyone’s.  Both teams made mistakes in the 13th rack but it was Muratore who saved the day for Italy as he bagged a tricky 9 ball to get them to the hill.
 
The 2010 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world’s leading online poker room. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.