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World 14.1 Begins Group Play
Aug 25, 2008, 11:30 AM

Harriman finished third in last year's world championship.

This morning in the Hilton Hotel in East Brunswick, N.J., the first matches of the 2008 Predator World 14.1 Championship are underway. The world-class straight pool will continue through the week, with the final scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 30.

The field of 64 will first play in a round-robin, with eight groups of eight playing race-to-100 matches. The top four from each flight will advance to a double-elimination bracket of 32. Finally, once 16 players remain, the format will be single elimination, with matches extending to races to 200 points.

One subplot to watch is the large contingent of American players. It has been 18 years since an American has won the 14.1 world championship. With 39 players in this year's field, the United States is by far the most represented country.

Mixed in with young stars like Danny Harriman and John Schmidt are a few legendary 14.1 players. Hall of Famers Allen Hopkins and Mike Sigel are both ranked second in group play.

Oliver Ortmann, who won last year's title by beating Netherlander Huidji See, is the No. 1 seed. Der Maschine is joined by countrymen Thomas Engert, Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann as players likely to make late-round appearances.

Brackets at www.azbilliards.com will be updated throughout the competition.

Group 1
Oliver Ortmann GER
Allen Hopkins USA
Yu Ram Cha KOR
Mike Dechaine USA
Bernie Pettipiece USA
Bob Chamberlain USA
Bill Maropolous USA
Peter Burrows USA

Group 2
Thorsten Hohmann GER
Mike Sigel USA
Jonathan Fulcher SCO
Charlie Williams USA
Ignacio Chavez MEX
Jim Gottier USA
Devon Cataldi USA
Allan Cornia USA

Group 3
Huidji See NED
John Schmidt USA
Dominic Jentsch GER
Shaun Wilkie USA
Mark Vidal SPN
John Rousseau USA
Dan Heidrich USA
David Daya USA

Group 4
Danny Harriman USA
Niels Feijen NED
Danny Barouty USA
Gerda Hofstatter AUT
Bob Maidhof USA
Chris Lynch USA
Mark Snodgrass USA
Stefan Cohen FRA

Group 5
Martin Kempter AUT
Ralf Souquet GER
Tony Robles USA
Francisco Bustamante PHI
Vincent Facquet FRA
Dan Wallace USA
Carmen Lombardo USA
Jonathan Smith USA

Group 6
Thomas Engert GER
Raj Hundal IND
Corey Deuel USA
Nick Van den Berg
Sebastian Staab GER
Liz Ford USA
Tom Parisian USA
Earl Herring USA

Group 7
Mika Immonen FIN
Bobby Hunter USA
Konstantin Stepanov RUS
Mike Davis USA
Ed Deska USA
Mark Ritter USA
Michael Yednak USA
Bob M. Cozzolino USA

Group 8
Johnny Archer USA
Jasmin Ouschan AUT
Radoslaw Babica POL
Alan Rolon PUR
Calvin Coker USA
Mohammed Hakim NED
Steve Lipsky USA
Steve Lillis USA