Filler, Shaw Face Sudden Death as Qatar World Cup Cuts to Last 64
The $450,000 event hits its midway point: half the knockout field is booked, 16 players are already out, and Monday's Doha schedule is wall-to-wall sudden death.
The $450,000 Qatar World Cup 10-Ball is reaching its tipping point in Doha. Half of the winners' qualification round is complete, the losers' bracket has sent its first 16 players home, and by the end of Monday's play the 64-man single-elimination bracket will be close to set.
The qualifiers so far
Defending champion Jonas Magpantay and 2025 runner-up Szymon Kural headline the first players through, joined by Albania's Kledio and Eklent Kaci, two-time World Cup of Pool winner Mario He, Canada's John Morra, and Sweden's Walter Laikre — the man who started Albin Ouschan's slide in the opening round.
Qatar's Ali Alobaidli, the 2023 IBSF world snooker champion, delighted the home crowd with a 9-2 win over Juan Carlos Exposito, while Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Baabad produced the round's biggest shock by downing Jayson Shaw 9-7 — though Shaw lives on in the losers' bracket. Filipinos Aivhan Maluto and Jerico Bonus, Iraq's Ameer Ali, Hungary's Oliver Szolnoki, Austria's Daniel Guttenberger, Ruslan Chinakhov and Juri Pisklov also booked their places.
Daniel Maciol, the 2024 champion, became the latest qualifier with a 9-4 win over Albert James Manas. The remaining winners'-side spots were being decided in a marathon Monday session: Fedor Gorst and Mustafa Alnar — fresh off his upset of Joshua Filler — were closing in on victories over Jefrey Roda and Niels Feijen respectively as of early afternoon in Doha, while David Alcaide trailed Bashar Hussain and teenage Philippines Open semifinalist Bernie Regalario trailed Denis Grabe.
The first 16 go home
The losers' bracket produced the event's opening casualties. Poland's Radoslaw Babica fell 9-6 to Lazar Kostic, Spain's Jonas Souto Comino was beaten 9-3 by Jerson Cumayas, and Syria's Mohammad Soufi went down hill-hill, 9-8, to Haider Ali Yaqoob. Home hope Abdullatif Al Fawal lost 9-5 to Abdulla Juma, and Mark Anthony was edged 9-8 by Petr Urban.
They join Ouschan — beaten by Raymund Faraon in the opening-round carnage — on the list of early exits. Meanwhile Naoyuki Oi and Wiktor Zielinski responded to opening-round defeats in style, winning their losers'-side openers 9-2 and 9-3 over Mohanad Jasim and Jeffrey Ignacio.
Sudden death all day Monday
Sixteen more losers' round-one matches were set for 1:30 pm in Doha, headlined by Joshua Filler against Mohammed Albalushi — the second seed one defeat from a stunning early exit. Thorsten Hohmann, Ralf Souquet and Aleksa Pecelj also face elimination matches.
The losers' qualification round follows at 4 pm and 6:30 pm local time: 32 matches that decide the final 32 berths. Shaw, world No. 1 Wojciech Szewczyk, Oi, Zielinski and Sanjin Pehlivanovic must all win once more to survive.
What comes next
Once the field is cut to 64, play switches to single elimination with races to 11, beginning Tuesday at 11 am in Doha. The champion will be decided in a race-to-13 final on Thursday, October 29, collecting $100,000 from the $450,000 fund. Matches are streaming on the Qatar Billiard Sports Federation's YouTube channel.
Scores and schedule via Rack 9's live draw of Qatar Billiard Sports Federation scoring; winners' qualification results also confirmed by the Saudi Press Agency; format and prize fund via Absolute Pool.