The inaugural WPT Cambodia Passport To The World Championship festival wrapped up successfully at NagaWorld Integrated Resorts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The 12-day festival, held from July 12 to 23 in partnership with Connaissance Management Limited, was packed with global talent and high-stakes action, offering players a shot at winning packages to the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas and seats to the Prime Championship. Here is a quick recap of top moments & highlights:
WPT Championship winner Sha Cheng Chun Walks Away As The Biggest Earner
Featuring a total of 41 events, the festival attracted an impressive 5,320 (across trophy events) and recorded a massive $3,478,890 in prize pool. The biggest highlight of the series was the $500K GTD WPT Championship with $1,300 buy-in, which concluded on Monday, crowning China’s Sha Chengchun as the champion. Facing a massive field of 913 players over three days of play, Chengchun secured his first-ever WPT title and a career-high payout of $175,542, making him the biggest earner of the festival. Additionally, he secured a package to the WPT World Championship worth $12,230.
Several Players Win WPT World Prime Championship Seat Worth $1,100
In addition to the $12,330 WPT World Championship package, there were also seats each worth $1,100 for the WPT World Prime Championship. Here are the winners of the World Prime seats:
Xiaosheng Zheng – 2nd place WPT Cambodia Passport To The WC Championship
Zhang Cheng – 3rd place WPT Cambodia Passport To The WC Championship
Colin Taliwanth – Championship Warm Up
Karan Sitlani – 8 Max Survivor Bounty
Soon Lee Toh – Mini Championship
Rui Bouquet – 3K HR
Several Players Win Multiple Titles With Portugal’s Rui Bouquet Claiming Most Trophy Wins
We saw several players securing multiple victories, with Portugal’s poker pro and coach Rui Bouquet topping the charts with three incredible victories. He first won the 3K Single Day High Roller and then went on to win the HR Hyper Turbo for $16,566. He completed his hat trick by winning Event #36: 3K High Roller after he defeated India’s Raju Jaruplavath at heads up to claim $59,739 in top prize.
Another player with multiple success was Ukraine’s Erik Rozhynsky who claimed victories in two tournaments. He first won Event 9: Deepstack Turbo where he defeated 62 entries to win $10,825and then overcame 144 entries in Event 37: Micro Championship Freezeout to win the title for $8,588.
The series also had an exciting ladies event on the schedule. Thailand’s Pannasa Prempluem took down the title after beating 19 entries in the $200 Ladies NLH event, pocketing $1,612 for her remarkable performance. USA’s Sophal Yon took the second spot, earning $968. Three players were paid from the $3,225 prizepool, with Thailand’s Woraruethai Thanaphat walking away with the third-place payout of $645.
Korea Tops The Charts With Most Trophies, India Finishes Second Along With China
Talking about the trophies, Korea won the most trophies, with India winning four trophies to finish second on the leaderboard along with China. The first trophy for Korea was won by Jungsup Yun, who shipped Event 1: NagaWorld Superstack 50K for $11,067. Winning the next five trophies for the country were:
Dong Hyup Kim (Event 8: Megastack High Roller for $26,373)
Seongho Cho (Event 15: Superstack Freezeout for $7,041)
Seonggwon Kim (Event 18: 5K Single Day Challenge for $62,248)
Yongoh Lim (Event 26: Superstack Turbo for $6,721)
Jongkook Kim (Event 27: Megastack Freezeout for $5,315)
Continuing their streak from the WSOP, Team India made a significant impact at the WPT Cambodia, securing four title victories and more than 3 dozen final table finishes. Somashekar Kurkhepally Nahadeva secured India its first victory in the recently-concluded series. He won Event #7: $350 Bounty where he outlasted a field of 180 players to win his second WPT title and $8,136 in top prize after a heads-up deal with compatriot Gagandeep Singh Malik (runner-up for $7,500).
One of the most memorable moments for India came was online poker phenom Karan Sitlani took down Event #10: $800 8 Max Survivor 1.5K Bounty, scoring a maiden live victory on his debut international trip. He banked $40,330 and a seat worth $1,100 in the WPT World Prime Championship.
The third trophy for India was won by Peter Hubert Fanthome, who shipped Event #23: $300 Deepstack, besting a field of178 other players to claim the title and $11,922 in top prize money.
The fourth trophy for India was won by Nalin Rastogi who took down Event #30: $300 20/15/10 15 Sec, securing his first live poker title and a career-best payout of $3,696, following a six-way deal.
A Quick Look at Final Table Finishes by Indians
| Player | Event | Rank | Prize |
| Vineet Kumar | Event 5: PLO | 8 | $568 |
| Vishal Ojha | Event 2: Deepstack Mini HR | 5 | $4,615 |
| Somashekar Nahadeva | Event 7: Bounty | 1 | $8,136 |
| Gagandeep Singh Malik | Event 7: Bounty | 2 | $7,500 |
| Vishal Ojha | Event 8: Megastack High Roller | 5 | $5,873 |
| Karan Sitlani | Event 10: 8 Max Survivor 1.5K Bounty | 1 | $40,330 |
| Amit Kaushik | Event 10: 8 Max Survivor 1.5K Bounty | 2 | $40,960 |
| Harsh Dev Jhirmiria | Event 11: Megastack | 8 | $672 |
| Avinash Tauro | Event 13: PLO 15/15/15 | 5 | $779 |
| Nikesh Chawla | Event 15: Superstack Freezeout | 6 | $1,080 |
| Yatish Yeshwanth Mysorekar | Event 15: Superstack Freezeout | 7 | $915 |
| Anirban Kundu | Event 16: Bomb Pot Turbo | 5 | $687 |
| Gagandeep Singh Malik | Event 16: Bomb Pot Turbo | 6 | $550 |
| Harsh Dev Jhirmiria | Event 17: Megastack Action Clock 30 Sec | 2 | $7,651 |
| Pratibh Saluja | Event 20: Short Deck Hyper Turbo | 6 | $509 |
| Abhishek Ramesh | Event 20: Short Deck Hyper Turbo | 7 | $382 |
| Peter Hubert Fanthome | Event 23: Deepstack | 1 | $11,922 |
| Akshat Verma | Event 23: Deepstack | 2 | $7,995 |
| Avinash Tauro | Event 23: Deepstack | 4 | $2,869 |
| Parikshit Dhall | Event 26: Superstack Turbo | 4 | $1,707 |
| Siddharth Karia | Event 26: Superstack Turbo | 7 | $946 |
| Bharathan Kanthimathinath Balasubramanian | Event 27: Megastack Freezeout | 7 | $962 |
| Somashekar Kurkhepally Nahadeva | Event 29: Hyper Turbo Big Bounty | 2 | $4,652 |
| Ayan Biswas | Event 29: Hyper Turbo Big Bounty | 7 | $981 |
| Pradeep Nudurumati | Event 29: Hyper Turbo Big Bounty | 9 | $754 |
| Nalin Rastogi | Event 30: 20/15/10 15 SEC | 1 | $3,696 |
| Pratibh Saluja | Event 30: 20/15/10 15 SEC | 5 | $2,935 |
| Ayan Biswas | Event 30: 20/15/10 15 SEC | 8 | $905 |
| Yatish Yeshwanth Mysorekar | Event 34: Hyper Turbo 15 SEC | 5 | $791 |
| Harsh Dev Jhirmiria | Event 35: Bounty | 9 | $1,173 |
| Raju Jaruplavath | Event 36: 3K High Roller | 2 | $39,821 |
| Bharathan Kanthimathinath Balasubramanian | Event 37: Micro Championship Freezeout | 9 | $859 |
| Vishal Ojha | Event 38: 6 Max | 4 | $5,238 |
| Ayan Biswas | Event 39: The Closer 8 Max | 3 | $3,976 |
| Naveen Singal | Event 41: 10/10/10 | 3 | $1,046 |
| Pratibh Saluja | Event 41: 10/10/10 | 4 | $747 |
Upcoming WPT Events in Asia
Up next, players in Asia can look forward to WPT Prime Taiwan which runs from August 6 to 19, 2024 at the Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City. Following the Taiwan stop is the WPT Australia in September.
Last year, WPT Australia generated over A$12.5 Million (~USD 8 Million) across 16 events but this year’s festival is set to surpass that figure with an expanded schedule of 23 events from September 12 to 25, 2024. The main highlight is the A$8,000 WPT Australia Championship Event which takes place from September 20 to 25, 2024.
Additionally, WPT Live Events Specialist Danny McDonagh has also announced the 2025 WPT Cambodia Championship, which will run from February 6 to 24 at NagaWorld.
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates and recaps of all key live events in Asia.
Image Credit: WPT & SOMUCHPOKER
