The 2024 World Championships, which will be held on 16–18 August 2024, are hosted in Honolulu, HI, United States. This is the third time the World Championships are held in Hawaii, after the 2010 and 2012 editions; and the first time they are held in the United States since 2019. In these articles, we will take a look at the best players that are qualified to compete in the biggest event of the year.
Here we have Oceania! Let’s meet the 4 players with a Round 1 bye at Worlds, and take a look at the other 47 invitees this region brings.
Table of Contents
Oceania at Worlds
Oceania is the underdog in the TPCi sanctioned regions. After losing all South East Asian countries in its sphere to TPC except for the Oceanian-proper Australia and New Zealand in 2020, this region’s competitiveness has been reduced… but they still have some of the strongest performances!
Although it is the weakest region in paper, Oceanian players have gone far in previous World Championships, with Australian Sam Pandelis even reaching the 2017 Worlds finals.
Other notable Worlds runs by players from this region include Dayne O’Meara‘s top 8 finish in 2014, Sam‘s top 16 in 2016, Graham Amedee‘s top cut in 2019 and Meaghan Rattle‘s back-to-back top 8 in 2019 and 2022.
Last year there were no Oceanians in the Worlds top cut. Will they make it this year?
Requirements for a Worlds invite
As per the Oceanian system, all players that have achieved at least 300 CP (or Championship Points), won a Regional Championship or made finals of an International Championships in the 2024 season receive a Tier 3 invite. Additionally, the players ranked 5th to 8th get a Tier 2 invite, which includes a Travel Stipend, and the top 4 players achieve a Tier 1 invite, which corresponds to a Round 1 bye at the tournament as well as a Travel Award.
The final result is a big increase in spots from the 2023 World Championships: from 24 invitees last year to a total of 51 this season!
Players with Round 1 bye
1. 
Nicholas Kan
It’s remarkable that someone at Oceania can reach a total of 1280 CP, given there are only 3 Regionals and there has been no OCIC, but the younger Kan is no less successful than his brother Christopher, a former International Champion. He will play Worlds for the tenth consecutive time, having played every season since he was one of the youngest Junior Division players in 2013. He was the 2017 World Champion in his last year as a Junior, and made back-to-back top cuts in the Senior Division reaching the silver medal in 2022. Although he’s such a veteran, this is only his second Worlds in the Masters Division!
Nicholas is one of only 4 players to make Day 2 at all three International Championships this season: he got top 32 spots at LAIC and EUIC and a top 64 at NAIC. In his home region, he won Brisbane just one week after LAIC, and was the #1 seed falling in top 8 in Melbourne. Overall, he has earned during this season:
- 810 CP in major events
- 430 CP in local events
- 40 CP in Global Challenges
- $11,000 in prize money
Nicholas has been a part of Team Australia in the World Cup since the 2022 edition, when they reached semifinals. Last year, the team got to top 16, where they were defeated by Italy.
He has been favouring Ice Rider Calyrex in Regulation Set G: he used this team at NAIC!
Watch At 967 CP, Diego has qualified to Worlds for the seventh straight time, having earned a spot every season since 2016, although he only made it to Day 2 once, in 2022, with a direct invite, after moving to Oceania from his native Chile, where he once was a Special Event Champion back in 2018.
Most of Diego’s success this season came with his Regulation Set F hard Trick Room teams. They pushed him to a top 4 at Melbourne, a top 32 at EUIC, and a powerful 6-2 result in Perth, which would have been enough for another top cut if his tiebreakers had been better. Overall, he has earned during this season:
- 530 CP in major events
- 402 CP in local events
- 35 CP in Global Challenges
- $4,000 in prize money
Diego has been a part of Team Chile in the World Cup since the 2022 edition.
He has been favouring Lunala in Regulation Set G: he used this original team at NAIC!
At 870 CP, Meaghan has qualified for her fifth Worlds. She has the accolade of having been the first-ever Australian to play in Day 2 of Swiss rounds in Worlds when it became a thing, as she made it all the way from Day 1 in 2016. In her following Worlds, both in 2019 and 2022, she went even further and surprised everyone with back-to-back top 8 finishes! Meaghan also was a Regional Champion back in 2019.
Meaghan’s 2024 season has been less successful than previous ones, as her best result and only Day 2 was a top 64 at EUIC. One week later, and similarly to Diego, she got a 6-2 finish in Perth, but the tiebreakers held her back from reaching top cut. She hasn’t earned any prize money this season apart from International TAs, but has earned:
- 340 CP in major events
- 450 CP in local events
- 80 CP in Global Challenges
She has been favouring Zamazenta in Regulation Set G: she used this defensive team at NAIC!
4. Lewis Tan
At 837 CP, and after earning a second place in the 2019 World Championships as a Senior, Lewis has qualified for his third Worlds in the Masters Division. Although he hasn’t made it to Day 2 yet, he has earned a Round 1 bye this year in order to ease the way to find success also in the higher age division.
Lewis is showing a lot of improvement every passing season. This time he reached finals of a major event for the first time, placing second at Brisbane, followed later in the season with a 6-3 finish at EUIC and a top 16 at Perth. Overall, he has earned during this season:
- 390 CP in major events
- 442 CP in local events
- 5 CP in Global Challenges
- $4,750 in prize money
He hasn’t played any major Regulation Set G event yet, but he has practiced some Shadow Rider Calyrex compositions in online tournaments!
Other players
Oceania has 47 other representatives in Worlds, some of which are big names in the scene. Watch out for 2017 Worlds finalist Sam Pandelis, 2024 Melbourne Regional Champion Kiran Singh, or 3-time Regional Champion Alister Sandover!
The following list comprises all other players with 300 or more CP in the Oceania rating zone, and is based on the official Play! Pokémon leaderboard.
- Kiran Singh (Melbourne Regional Champion)
- James Katsaros (Perth Regional Champion)
- Ryan Hercus (682 CP)
Alex Donaldson (612 CP)- Yoav Reuven (538 CP)
- Luke Iuele (537 CP)
- Guilherme Schilling (510 CP)
- Henry Rich (493 CP)
- Toby Kongmun (477 CP)
- Chloe Bourke (414 CP)
- Trent Sayer (414 CP)
Joji Kaieda (412 CP)- Alister Sandover (410 CP)
- Vivek Arunagiri (401 CP)
- Chamath Abeyawardana (390 CP)
- Paul Amedee (388 CP)
- Harrison McCowage (381 CP)
- Andy Brophy (379 CP)
- Sam Pandelis (373 CP)
Danijel Zitko (370 CP)- Dimitri Koziaris (369 CP)
- Matthew Robinson (365 CP)
- Lorenz Ravalo (358 CP)
- Mitch Kendrick (355 CP)
- Luke Milligan (340 CP)
- Jesse Beard (338 CP)
Michael Navas (335 CP)- Galvin Hui (333 CP)
- Thomas Dervan (331 CP)
- Michael Hagan (329 CP)
Liu Genting (328 CP)- Spencer Whitlow (328 CP)
- Nicholas Bingham (325 CP)
Reynaldo Janala (325 CP)- Daniel Walker (320 CP)
- Wang Yuxiang (320 CP)
- Jake Zaffira (317 CP)
- Raad Chowdhury (317 CP)
- Christopher Gibson (316 CP)
- Thomas Chen (315 CP)
- Jackson Mayberry (312 CP)
- Ben Madigan (310 CP)
- Jim Sullivan (310 CP)
- Lu Lingdi (307 CP)
- Bryce Facey (306 CP)
- Jack Lloyd (305 CP)
- Braden Cleur (300 CP)
