Important World Cup News Update

• Predator chooses Pedro Piedrabuena and Hugo Patiño as its wildcard entries
• USBA and Predator Announce World Cup Qualifying Tournament

Predator, which is the organizer of the 2022 Las Vegas World Cup to be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino from March 27 to April 2, 2022, has selected Pedro Piedrabuena and Hugo Patiño as its wildcard entries into the 1/16 main tournament round at the World Cup. Piedrabuena won his 10th national championship crown last month, and Patiño is a four-time title holder. Both players have extensive international experience.

In conjunction with Predator’s selection, the USBA and Predator have announced a tournament on March 25 and 26, 2022 for USBA members to qualify for the 2022 Las Vegas World Cup. Ten spots will be decided in the qualifying tournament, which will be held at same venue as the World Cup. The qualifying tournament is open to USBA members who are eligible to represent the United States in international competitions.

The Las Vegas World Cup is one of eight similar tournaments on the UMB calendar for 2022. Each tournament is limited to 149 players. Seventeen players are selected for the 1/16 main tournament round pursuant to the UMB rules. This round of 32 players includes the top fourteen ranked players in the world, the two organizer’s wildcard selections, and one UMB wildcard. The remaining 15 spots are determined by a series of four preliminary rounds, the PPPQ, the PPQ the PQ, and the Q.

As part of the UMB rules, the USBA, as the host federation, has the right to designate twenty players for the PPPQ round. In addition to the ten spots to be determined by the qualifying tournament, those players who placed second through eighth at the 2021 USBA national championship have been invited to participate in the World Cup. They are, in order of placement, Tae Kyu Lee, Young Kyu Lee, Edward Gomez, John Park, Miguel Torres, Kang Lee, and Eric Kwon. The remaining three spots will be selected by the USBA.

Players interested in obtaining more information about playing in the qualifying tournament should contact Ira Lee via his email: iralee3c [AT] gmail [DOT] com.