Chao, Mika Immonen, qualifier Ying-Chieh Chen, Earl Strickland and Thorsten Hohmann won all their group matches, whilst at the other end, Michael Valentine, Thomas Hasch, Ramil Gallego and Antonio Lining managed to qualify despite winning o­nly three matches.

The draw for the 2004 World Pool Championship

Elsewhere, 11 from the 12 Filipinos made the KO stages, whilst of the surprise qualifiers, Peru's John Lopez, Norwegian Raymond Hauge, Scots Pat Holtz and Michael Valentine and German Thorsten Schober all have a chance to take o­n the big-guns.

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