The Chinese billiard duo of Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo will defend their title at the World Cup of Pool later this year.

Chinese billiard duo Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo will be back to defend their PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool title later this year when the tournament gets underway from 7 – 12 October at the Outland Night Club in Rotterdam, Holland.

The tournament, which features 32 paired teams from around the world, was staged at the same venue in 2007 when China lifted the trophy as they defeated Finland 11-10 in a thrilling final.

The 2008 event, sponsored by PartyPoker.net, will begin on Tuesday, October 7 with the final being played on Sunday, October 12.

Each match will be filmed for television and Matchroom Sport will produce 31 x 1 hour programmes which will be shown on stations worldwide.

This year’s event, the third time it has been staged, is set to feature some of the biggest names in pool, including a host of former World Champions.

Teams competing in the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool

Asia

1. China , 2. Hong Kong , 3. India , 4. Japan , 5. Korea , 6. Malaysia , 7. Philippines , 8. Singapore , 9. Taiwan , 10. Thailand , 11. Vietnam .

North America

12. Canada , 13. USA

Europe

14. Austria , 15. Belgium , 16. Croatia , 17. Denmark , 18. England , 19. Finland , 20. France , 21. Germany , 22. Holland A, 23. Holland B, 24. Iceland , 25. Italy , 26. Malta , 27. Poland , 28. Russia , 29. Spain , 30. Switzerland .

Others

31. Australia , 32. Qatar .

Full lists of players representing each nation will be announced soon.

The play will be held over 12 sessions in six days. Tickets for the weekday afternoon sessions are FREE with the evening sessions costing €5. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday afternoon cost €2.50 and details on how to purchase tickets will be announced soon.