Details from the highly anticipated Corner Bank 10 Ball series have recently been announced. A few weeks back owners Jim Wych and John White caused a stir announcing a five event $225,000 added 10 Ball pro circuit with a grande final. There will be $25,000 added to each event and $100,000 added to the Grand Final, instantly making this one of the most coveted pro tours to play on in North America and perhaps the World.
In order to qualify for the final one needs to play in 3 out of 5 of the preliminaries. The entry fee for the 5 prelims will be $250 each and the final entry will be $500, all entry fee prices and payouts are represented in Canadian currency.
Each event will take place at The Corner Bank Sports Bar & Grill, located at 925 Warden Avenue, Toronto, Canada. This establishment has not even celebrated its second anniversary and has already established itself as one of the elite establishments in the country.
Adding to the prestige of this circuit, each event will be carrying Mosconi Cup points for the 2017 teams. This is great news for Mosconi Cup hopefuls, with these prize pools I expect to see most of the top players in the world at these events and it's nice for them to be able to kill two birds with one stone. Each field is limited to the first 128 players paid, an online payment method will be made available shortly. There is an option for those who want to guarantee their spot now for the first event. You can mail your entry directly to the address below;
The Corner Bank 925 Warden Ave. Toronto, Ontario, M1L 4C5 Canada ATTN: Jim Wych
Tournament Format, Dates and Payout Structure:
16 groups of 8 players (two seeds per group) playing in a double elimination format, race to 7 games, and alternate break. 3 players from each group will advance to the single elimination stage (48 players in total). The group winners will be seeded into the final 16. The remaining 32 players will be randomly drawn to face each other with the match winners playing into the group winners to make up the final 32.
Winner: $15,000 Runner-Up: $8,000 3-4 Place: $4,000 each 5-8 Place: $2,000 each 9 -16 Place: $1,000 each 17-32 Place: $500 each 33-48 Place: $250 each
Unlike its predecessors, this year's Amway Cup has been re-scheduled to avoid a clash with the 2016 YuShan Chinese 8-Ball World Championship which was held in March.
The 2016 Amway eSpring International Women 9-Ball Championship will be held on June 16th-19th in Taiwan. The event will be moved to a new venue at the Banqiao Gymnasium in New Taipei City.
Formerly known as Taipei County, New Taipei City is a special municipality and the most populous city in Taiwan. Located in northern Taiwan, the city surrounds the Taipei Basin. Banqiao District is its municipal seat and the biggest commercial area.
This summer, the world best female players from all over the world will gather in Taiwan, 40 of them will go head to head and try to win the most prestigious title in women's pool. A total of US$93,400 prize fund are at stake with US$34,000 going to the winner alone while the runner-up will receive US$13,000.
The qualifiers will get underway from June 13th to 15th at the Ji-Hsien Pool Club in Luzhou, New Taipei City. Over than 70 players will scramble for the last 8 spots (2,2,4) to get qualified for the main stage of the Championship. The format will be played with single elimination and race to 7, winner breaks.
The main stage shall commence on June 16th at the Banqiao Gymnasium, with the field completed with the 8 players from the qualifiers. The players will be divided into 8 groups of 5. They will play in a round robin format and race to 7, winner breaks. The top 3 players of each group will advance to the Last 24, in which the format will become single elimination, race to 7 and alternate breaks. The semi-finals will be race to 9. The final will be race to 11 and is going to be played on Sunday June 19th.
As for the local girls, they are well-prepared with a 3-week-training, under the help and supervision from Jung-Lin Chang and Yu-Hsuan Cheng, the former men's World Nr.1 and the current World Nr. 2, invited by the Chinese Taipei Billiards Federation. Yu-Wen Hsieh and Szu-Ting Kuo earned their main stage passes via the qualifiers that were held recently in Taiwan. They will both join Yuan-Chun Lin (the reigning champion), Chieh-Yu Chou, Ho-Yun Chen as well as Tzu-Chien Wei who are directly qualified in the main stage.
Across from the other side of the shore, Liu ShaSha, Chen Siming, Han Yu and Liu YuChen will be representing China in the main stage of the Amway Cup this year. The four girls will be staying at the CBSA Training Centre for a 10-days intensive training session before the tournament commences. Liu YuChen, being the youngest in the lot, was selected as a member of the national youth team this year. She was underrated last year but managed to make it to the semi-final before losing to Yuan-Chun Lin.
Fu Xiaofang was in the top 8 last year and therefore should have a spot in the main stage. However, she had her big day last year getting married and it seems that she will not be playing on this occasion for her own personal reasons. Pan Xiaoting also finished top 8 last year, but, up to the time of writing, is still yet to decide upon her visit this time round.
Before the actual battles begin, world top-class players including Allison Fisher、Kelly Fisher、Chieh-Yu Chou、Tzu-Chien Wei and Yuan-Chun Lin have been invited by the organiser of the Amway Cup to present at a promotional event to interact with billiard fans at the Mega City (Far Eastern Department Store) in Banqiao tomorrow (June 9). Don't miss this great opportunity to meet the elites.
The whole event will be broadcast LIVE on Videoland TV in Taiwan and Live on YouTube at same time.
First Qualifiers for the World 14.1: New York, California, Chicago
76th World 14.1 September 5-11, 2016 New York City, Steinway Billiards
The greatest 14.1 players in history come back each year to vie for the most prestigious & traditional title in pool
New York City- The first 3 official qualifiers for the 76th World 14.1 has been announced. NYC's NAPL National Amateur Pool League, Easy Street Billiards in California, and Red Shoe Billiards in Chicago will kickoff the first half of the qualifier series. All three locations have previously held World 14.1 qualifiers before, which proves their success in growing the interest of straight pool in their respective areas. 2016 will mark the 11th consecutive year the World Tournament of 14.1 will be staged. This is the longest consecutive run of the championship ever in its 104 year history with Dragon Promotions continuing production of the world's oldest billiards event. This year's confirmed dates for the 76thWorldTournament of 14.1 will take place on September 5th-11th,2016. For the fourth straight year, Steinway Billiards in New York City will host the prestigious championship. As usual, a star studded 56 player field is expected for this year's lineup to win the world's greatest straight pool championship.
Title sponsorship of the 76th World 14.1 is currently available.
2016 World 14.1 Qualifiers
June 4th - The 4th NAPL Qualifier for the World Straight Pool Championship- New York City - Amsterdam Billiards
June 25th- The 2nd CA Qualifier for the World Straight Pool Championship- Monterey, California-Easy Street Billiards
July 9- The 9th Chicago Qualifier for the World Straight Pool Championship- Chicago- Red Shoe Billiards
In addition, the 6th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame Banquet will take place in the middle of the event on September 7th at 7:30pm. Every year the popular dinner sells out with all the pool stars and legends attending.
The 14.1 HOF is always the hottest ticket in town every year with laughter & tears
This year will also be a great opportunity for players coming from far away to play in 4 consecutive events within driving distance with Turningstone Casino, Robles 9-Ball Tour, the World 14.1, and newly announced major the Corner Bank 10-Ball series in Toronto, Canada all going back to back.
"Straight pool has the best pool fans in the world. I have no doubt this year will equal if not surpass 2015", said Charlie Williams, Executive Producer of the World Tournament.
Great players have been honored & fans of billiards have been treated to some unforgettable moments during the past decade of the World 14.1 revival
Be a proud sponsor of the most prestigious and classiest event in the United States, the World Tournament of 14.1 which has been ongoing since 1912. For only $250, become part of the elite World 141 Club and garner all the benefits that well exceed the money you will spend. Click here for full details. We invite you to join this year's 76th anniversary event in New York City as a supporter or attendee. For those interested in a higher level of support as one of our advertisers or elite World 14.1Patrons, please reply here or call 407-782-4978 .
Throughout a decade, Dragon Promotions has been able to revitalize straight pool back into the sport and to new audiences. In 2006, straight pool was near it’s complete death in the US. Since then we have poured our resources in media, finance, and know-how to grow the popularity of 14.1. Today, the consensus among the professionals on tour is that the World14.1 is one of, if not the most, important titles to win in America. Something not expected decades ago.
Sponsors are welcomed to contact 407-782-4978 Also for tickets, Vendors, tournament entries and information: worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com
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For interest in marketing and branding your company, business, or events please contact Orlando Synergy at 1-407-782-4978 or email support@dragonpromotions.com
Canadian pool players and fans alike had to swallow a tough pill today as it has been announced that the World 8 Ball Championships have been granted to China. Just over a month ago the story broke that the World 8 Ball would be played at the Corner Bank pool hall in Toronto, Ontario. This was exciting news for North American players as they usually have to take a plane to the other side of the world to compete in a World Championship. There has not been a world title held on this continent since the 1990's and this was a real opportunity to grow the game here.
The word is that the China association after hearing about the Toronto announcement just simply outbid them. Once again we get to see how poorly pool is run even at the highest level, when saying that I mean the World Pool-Association. There has not been a World 8 Ball Championship in the last 4-5 years as pool has seen one if its biggest downturns in the last century. In Toronto a group came together stepped up, and put in the $275,000 needed for the prize fund and the W.P.A announced the first World 8 Ball in years, a good thing right?
This was announced as a firm bid but China countered with a long term deal and supposedly for the best interest of the sport the Toronto organizers stepped aside. The W.P.A like many associations is just a hollow organization who's sole ability is to give a rubber stamp sanction so you can call your promotion a World Championship. They do not organize any event, they sit back and wait for someone to come up with the minimum prize fund and a venue and then they take their cut of "administration fee's". This is the reason that we have had so much trouble getting the World 8 and 10 Ball played over the last decade. No one is putting up the money and the W.P.A is not doing anything to raise it so it simply does not happen.
This is what made the Toronto announcement so exciting. Someone is stepping up and doing a good thing for pool. You could say China is doing the same but why could they not wait until next year? Especially if there has not been a World 8 Ball in years. This is how it breaks down, China has guaranteed $300,000 prize pool for this years men's and women's events and have committed to invest $3,000,000 over the next 5 years. Overall this would be good news but it really speaks volumes to how the W.P.A is run, just based on integrity they should have postponed this announcement until next year. Let Canada enjoy a year of the World Championships and build the sport here then they can have it for the next 5 years that would have been perfectly acceptable.
The other thing that really burns for Canadian pool players is the timeline of this cancellation. I know many players personally who have signed up for the Canadian Championships next week in Québec City just so they have a shot to qualify for the World 8 Ball in Toronto. The commitment this takes financially and in terms of being away from work and family is significant and for this news to come out a week before the Canadians kick off is ridiculous. This did not happen overnight, the organizers must have had some advanced noticed and and should have shared this. Once again before a ball has been hit players going into the Canadian Championships players can only shake their head in disbelief.
For now Canadians and all North American players just have to suck up another disappointment as many were looking forward to having a World Championship in their backyard. In the end hopefully this does not mean that people will cancel their plans to play in the Canadian Championships. The C.B.S.A is struggling and could really use the boost in participation which was happening this year with the new location and the announcement of the World 8 Ball.
When a World Association in any sport announces a World Championship and location that's where it should be, this would never happen in any other sport. They are reporting this as the best move for pool which financially I guess could be argued for the players. For the W.P.A the reality is they are going to make more in fee's and hopefully strengthen the W.P.A. However I would compare this to a government program, sometimes more money does not mean the service will be better. As a Canadian pool fan I am severely disappointed in how this was handled and I think by making one announcement then changing their minds when a "better deal" comes through shows a lack of integrity.
Fortunately for Canadian pool fans their are rumors of another big event coming to Toronto around August nothing has been secured yet, so I will let you all speculate. Overall this does look like a good deal especially for the Women's side who get left out of a lot. But for myself and many others a bad taste has once again been left in our mouths.
This past weekend at Gold Crown Billiards in Erie, Pennsylvania the annual Tri-State open took place. Gold Crown billiards is a very impressive two level complex that contains a nice upscale restaurant at street level and a 20 table pool hall on the lower level. Although the pool room area is underground there is ground level windows that allow natural light into the playing area. I must say that this was one of the nicest pool rooms I have ever been in. You can tell that owner Paul Schofield takes a lot of pride in his business , which has been in operation for 37 years. The Gold crown 3 tables were newly clothed and the balls seemed brand new for this 32 player invitational.
The format for this weekend is something that is rarely seen. Players would be eliminated in a quadruple elimination format until 8 players remained. From their it turned into single knockout bracket to determine the winner. Two players would advance undefeated, two with one loss, two with two losses and two with 3 losses. Players were seeded in the single elimination according to their performance in the quadruple elimination portion. For example players with no losses were drawn into players with 3 losses. In addition the tournament featured "No conflict" rules for racking and breaking. Breakers were not required to pocket a ball on the break, the goal on the break is to play position on the one and not have to worry about manipulating the rack to make a ball. Opponents also place the balls randomly in the rack and then the breaker racks their own balls. Might sound a little quirky but I can assure you that compared to the alternative traditional rules this is in my opinion a great way to play. The spirit of the rules is to have no conflict over racking and breaking and from what I saw there was none and for all the top players in the room this was nice to see.
The player auction drew a nice total of approximately $10 000, last years winner Dennis Hatch went off in the first blind, Mike Dechaine was second and John Morra third. Other notable players in the field included Corey Deuel, Billy Thorpe, Danny Smith, Shawn Putnam and Shane Winters. Gold Crown Billiards also generously added $5000 to the prize fund with the help of local sponsors. Play began Friday night and continued until about 6 pm on Saturday here are some of the notable matches fro the quadruple elimination portion.
Dennis Hatch over Corey Deuel
Mario Morra over Shawn Putnam
Shawn Putnam over Mike Dechaine
Erik Hjorleifson over Billy Thorpe
John Morra over Mario Morra
Mike Dechaine over Billy Thorpe
Here is the bracket for the final 8 re-draw
The key in this format was the break especially considering that the pockets were fairly generous. As expected Deuel excelled at this employing a cut break playing the 1 ball back down to the same corner he was breaking from. I chose to use the same break as did Thorpe, Putnam and Hatch. John Morra chose to hit the break square from the box also bringing the one back to the top corner pocket on the same track it takes playing ten ball, Danny Smith also used this strategy and Dechaine used a bit of both.
Match scores from the single elimination:
Quarter finals
Thorpe 8 Hjorleifson 7
Morra 8 Smith 7
Putnam 8 Dechaine 5
Deuel 8 Hatch 5
Semi Finals
Deuel 8 Morra 5
Putnam 8 Thorpe 5
Finals
Deuel 8 Putnam 6
Overall it was interesting to play in a tournament that didn't have a traditional format and I will definitely be back and plan to hopefully run some tournaments in the Toronto area with the same format. The main advantages of the quadruple elimination is that if you lose once it does not devastate you for the rest of the tournament, it also keeps players playing throughout the weekend and those entering to gain experience are able to get in a lot of play. It should also be mentioned that owner Paul Schofield has been running these tournaments for years and has perfected the scheduling and placement of players in the brackets.
The pool world is reeling today as it lost one of its biggest figures over the past 40 years. Barry Behrman founder of the U.S Open 9 Ball Championship and owner of Q-Master Billiards, who turned 70 on April 1st has passed away today after a short battle with MRSA-based pneumonia, which caused septic shock. When it comes to prestige the U.S Open ranks as the second most important title to add for any Hall of Fame hopeful right after a World Championship.
Late last October Behrman celebrated the 40th anniversary of this coveted event. To think when it originated it was a 15 player invitational and has now grown into a 128 player field of the best players in the world. Behrman will be remembered as a very passionate promoter for pool, who would often take the mic during the U.S Open Championships to give various heartfelt speeches where he exuded energy and excitement for the sport.
Behrman was not without controversy as over the past few years the U.S Open was experiencing a bit of a decline. The prize fund was shrinking, the venues were not up to par and at times players were being paid out weeks after the tournament. When it is all said and done I think Behrman has left a gem for the world of 9 Ball with this event and I believe his legacy is intact.
From years of watching him on television and the Accu-Stats stream you can tell this man let his emotions hang on his sleeve. If he had a fault it was that he loved the sport of pool and its top players too much and perhaps over extended himself at times. It should be noted there has been no issues with payouts recently and this year with a full field, first prize is guaranteed to be $40,000 once again. Myself and Erik Hjorleifson would like to extend our condolences to the the Behrman family at this difficult time.
Winner John Morra with girlfriend Kaitlin Bick. Photo credit: Erik D. Lynch
By: Markus Noé
April 14-17 the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania hosted the 2016 Super Billiard Expo. This event is one to circle on the calendar for many die hard pool fans. It boasts several professional tournaments. Which are a Men's Pro 10 Ball, 1 Pocket and a Women's Professional 9 Ball. There is also an Open Amateur event to play which usually has around 1000 players. and there is the TAP leagues playing out their tournaments. All this and I haven't even mentioned the dozens of billiard related exhibitors in attendance and the all night action pit where players can match up for a friendly wager.
I took a stab at the amateur event against Mike. Z, his last name is too difficult for me to even try to spell properly. But he plays out of Mike Dechaine's home room Snookers in Rhode Island. The format for this event was races to 5 alternate break best 2 out of 3 sets. We played three close sets with Mike edging me out for the win. Later on we matched up in the action pit for cheap sets with me edging him out by 1 set. In the end I made a new friend, something that the Expo is great for, as there are literally thousands of die hard pool junkies roaming around the convention center.
With so much going on I really did not have much time to play, in fact most of my focus was on the Pro 10 Ball event. Many of my personal favourite players such as Earl Strickland, John Morra, Mika Immonen, Shane VanBoening and Rodney Morris to name a few were all in attendance.
The first match I was present for was Morra vs Lee Brett. Some of you may remember Brett as he was the referee in the short lived Bonus Ball league. Morra won this match 10-4 and then met up with Donny Mills in the next round. In what I think would be classified as an upset Mills walked away with a 10-7 win.
I believe this tournament was seeded so for the first day of action most of the favourites did not meet up. Friday evening is when the tournament atmosphere kicked up a notch as there were some big matches on the winners side. I caught the end of the Dechaine/Deuel match which had a lot of peoples attention. When it comes to big breaks and run out power Dechaine is well known and if he gets rolling it is hard to keep up with him. Deuel, I am assuming, in his mind employed a breaking tactic that would give him an edge. In most tournaments there is a rule against soft breaking, this tournament did not employ this rule so Deuel was soft breaking often not making a ball and leaving a significant cluster. This seemed to play on Dechaine who was visibly disgusted with this tactic. In the end Deuel won 10-9 and moved on to play Shane VanBoening.
Deuel continued this tactic in his next set and had success early on leading 3-1. However a little bit of controversy arose, as in one break in particular it was unclear if at least 4 balls hit the rail for a legal break. So from that point on the tournament director had me recording each of his breaks and if there was a dispute I had a video review ready. There was one rack which was deemed a foul because of my recording and I must admit it was a bit nerve racking to be involved like that however Deuel just laughed it off with a wry smile. The crazy thing with this break is that the 8, 9 and 10 ball would remain frozen and needed to be broken out in each rack. However there was a pattern to the run out that SVB figured out and midway through the set he waited for the 7 ball which was always near the pack and used that to break them open and run out. In the end SVB sent him to the losers side 10-6 where Hohmann eliminated him. The video of the break is on the Cue Sport Nation Facebook Page and I will be uploading it to our YouTube page for easier access.
Next for SVB was Strickland who was having a good showing beating Michael Wong, Thorsten Hohmann, Vilmos Foldes and Sylvain Grenier. The final 8 session in both the men's and women's events were played simultaneously. Most players took issue with the format being single elimination with no redraw. Single elimination late in a tournament is a common tactic to speed tournaments up however with no redraw the players who were playing the best and favourites to win the event had to face in the final 4 winners side. Strickland who played well all week, ended up losing to SVB. I know I felt a little deprived myself being a Strickland fan as did others. SVB matched up with Alex Pagulayan in what would usually be the winners side final and eliminated him in the 3/4 place. It should be noted while the men were starting their 8th place matches the women banded together and demanded a redraw, which they did end up getting.
While all this was happening Morra was charging through the losers side. He was playing poor for his standards and admitted this to me early on in the tournament. Even though he was winning on the losers side it was not up to his own standards. This continued in his match Friday night against Johnny Archer however he was able to find a way to win 10-9. Things turned around for him against the very dangerous Billy Thorpe as it was like looking a different player on Saturday. He was breaking much better controlling the rack and took full advantage of his opportunities winning 10-2. Next up was the reigning Turning Stone Classic Champion Mika Immonen who he dispatched.
Going into Sunday Morra found himself in a position to keep his run going against a very dangerous Dechaine. He was breaking well and playing at a high level and won this match 13-8. Next up was Hohmann who he also beat by the same scoreline I believe. By winning the losers side of the bracket Morra earned himself a shot at SVB the 4 -time 10 ball Players Champion in the finals, who has been a nemesis of sorts in big spots as of late. SVB got off to the better start going up 3-1 then Morra tied it up at 3-3. The turning point in this match was after exchanging racks to 5-5. Morra capitalized on some dry breaks from SVB and went ahead 8-5. From here Morra showed great composure and went up 12-9. SVB secured his 10th rack and it felt like he was starting to come on but he missed a difficult 2 ball and gave Morra the opening he needed. He ran out the rack and secured his first major title since 2012 which was the 9 Ball Banks at the Derby City Classic. It was really an emotional win for Morra who has been on the scene so long that at 26 he is a seasoned veteran.
In the post match interview he was very candid about what it is like to be a pool player. He even admitted he wanted to quit pool on several occasions because of how result based this sport is. If you don't win you basically don't eat, which is a type of pressure that most athletes do not have to endure. Imagine the 5th ranked player in the world in golf worried about not finishing in top 4 in one the majors for fear of not profiting enough to cover basic expenses. The interview was done by Upstate Al and I am sure it will be released at some point.
I wanted to thank Allen Hopkins for the media pass this week and for allowing me everything to cover this event. Overall I would declare the entire event a success especially considering how many tournaments that take place and the sheer numbers of people that are roaming around. As a fan the Pro arena seating was uncomfortable; it was metal roll-in benches something you would see at a high school football game and very tough on ones rear end. The lighting above the tables was too small for the 9 ft tables and the fluorescent lights hanging above made shadows on the table. All things that can be easily fixed and which would make for an even better event next year. Thank you to all who followed along here and on our Facebook page. I have noticed a few of our videos have been getting shared a lot so I will post the most popular ones on our YouTube page for easier access.
Below are the winners of the 1 Pocket and the Women's event, congratulations to Karen Corr and Darren Appleton. If this tournament taught me anything, it is that I am severely understaffed. I could easily use two or three more people updating. I did make some good contacts and it looks like through sponsorship I will be able to attend more events this year, Hopefully others' in the billiard industry catch on to the type of promotion Cue Sport Nation can bring to pool and we can continue to grow and feed pool fans around the world the information they crave. .
Women's 9 Ball Champion Karen Corr, Men's 10 Ball Champion John Morra, 1 Pocket Champion Darren Appleton. Photo Credit: Erik D.Lynch
10 Ball Pay Outs John Morra $10,000 Shane VanBoening $5,000 Alex Pagulayan/Thorsten Hohmann $3200 Mike Dechaine/Tommy Kennedy/Warren Kiamco/Earl Strickland $2600 Mika Immonen, Eddie Abraham,Corey Deuel, Vilmos Foldes
Mike Davis, Billy Thorpe, Shauwn Wilkie,Donny Mills,$1700
