Matchroom Pool, in partnership with the Polish Billiard Association, is bringing the World Pool Championship 2023 to Kielce, Poland. From February 1-5, the world’s finest pool players will converge on the Targi Kielce Exhibition & Congress Centre to compete in the tournament. This marks the first time in history that the World Pool Championship will be held in Poland. Fans can catch all the action live on Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, and the Baltics, as well as on Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy. More broadcasters will be announced soon.
Kielce has a strong history of hosting Matchroom events, including the 2012 World Pool Masters, which Poland’s Karol Skowerski won. Since then, Poland has become a breeding ground for top Nineball players, with 17 currently listed on the Live Nineball World Rankings, including World No. 7 Wiktor Zielinski, World No. 15 Konrad Juszczyszyn, and World No. 16 Mieszko Fortunski.
The Polish Billiard Association has worked closely with Matchroom to bring this tournament to Poland, with partners including the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Poland, Marshal of Swietokrzyskie Province, Mayor of Kielce City, and Nosan Company. Tickets for the event are available soon, starting at just 25 PLZ (€5) for a day ticket and 100 PLZ (€20) for all five days of action.
Defending champion Shane Van Boening will be among the 128 players competing for the $325,000 total prize money, with the winner taking home $60,000. The tournament will feature a new double-elimination format, first introduced in 2022, to improve the quality of the tournament, and fans will have access to three tables, with one TV broadcast and two streaming tables available via Matchroom’s YouTube channels.
We are thrilled to bring the World Pool Championship to Poland,” said Matchroom Multi Sports Managing Director Emily Frazer, “a place that is a hotbed for Nineball. I’m looking forward to welcoming the world’s best to Kielce for what promises to be a thrilling week of action. I want to thank the Polish Billiard Association and its partners for all their hard work bringing the event to a new country. We have exciting plans to extend our coverage further and make this the best production to date for a multi-table event.
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