By MARK REY MONTEJO
James Aranas is determined to defy the odds as he once again vies in the 2024 World Pool Masters at Halle39 in Hildesheim, Germany starting on April 25.
After reaching the semis last season, Aranas, 31, gained a wild card berth to the $125,000 event, this time, hopeful go to all the way to the Promised Land.
It can be remembered that Aranas lost to eventual champion Taiwanese Ko Pin-Yi in the dramatic semis showdown, 11-9.
Only three Filipino players – Franciso ‘Django’ Bustamante (1998, 2001), Fil-Canadian Alex Pagulayan (2008) and Dennis Orcollo (2010) — have so far won the event and Aranas is looking to join that exclusive club.
“Sobrang saya. Hindi ko akalain na ako ulit ‘yong mapipili para maging representative ng Pilipinas this year kasi last year ako na yung naglaro,” said Aranas in an interview with Radyo Pilipinas 2,
But he needs to play extraordinarily as he goes up against the world’s top 14 players and another wild-card entry.
Standing in his way are the likes of Spanish Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, American bets Fedor Gorst and Shane Van Boening, Ko Ping Chung of Taiwan and German Joshua Filler.
Also taking part in the 4-day tourney are Great Britain’s Jayson Shaw, Austria’s Albin Ouschan, Max Lechner and Mario He, Spain’s David Alcaide, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski, and Eklent Kaci of Albania.
Also getting a wild card badge is Vietnamese Dương Quốc Hoàng.
