Efren Reyes wins World Open 8-Ball Championship

Efren "Bata" Reyes from the Philippines won the World Open 8-ball Championship.

Reyes earned a massive $500,000 for the win, the richest prize in pool history.

USA's Rodney Morris was defeated 8-6 in a tight final. His three scratches on the break might have been his downfall. The runner-up checque of $150,000 isn't a bad consolation prize though.

Mika Immonen (Finland) and Oliver Ortmann (Germany) came third and fourth respectively. Dennis Orcollo (Philippines) came 5th and Corey Deuel (USA) took sixth.

Francisco Bustamante (Philippines) had the best games won percentage in the event with 63.67. Ortmann had the best break and run percentage with 47.94.

Reyes and Orcollo also made the last six in the North American Open.

The win moves Reyes to the top the Money List Rankings, ahead of Thorsten Hohmann (Germany), Morris, Orcollo, Immonen and Manalo.

This was the second event of the International Pool Tour's inaugural season. It ran from September 2-10 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada. 200 players participated. Next up is the Masters 8-Ball Championship in Chicago November 26 - December 3.

See also:

Newspapers & Magazines:

• Unbreakable (Billiards Digest - PDF)
• Reyes Racks in $500,000 (Billiards Digest)
• Reyes Wins Again! (AzBilliards)
• Efren Reyes is the World 8-Ball Champion (Inside Pool Magazine)
• Efren Reyes is the World 8-Ball Champion (Professor-Q-Ball)
• Efren Reyes Wins $500,000 in World 8-Ball Champ's! (Pool & Billiard Magazine)
• Beta weaves magic, pockets $.5-m prize (Manila Standard Today)
• Bata's courage and confidence (Manila Standard Today)
• Reyes is World 8-Ball king (The Manila Times)
• Filipino billiards player wins IPT 8-ball champion (Xinhua)
• Winners Announced in Eight Ball Pool Tournament in Reno (Channel 4 KRNV)
• Reyes n'en finit pas d'impressionner (Kozoom.com - French)
• Right on Cue (Sports Illustrated)
• Champion racks it up in tournament (RGJ.com)
• Pool sharks aim for more money, respect (RGJ.com)

Players:

• IPT World 8-Ball Open (Ralf Souquet)
• IPT World Open 8 Ball Championships in Reno/Nevada (Jasmin Ouschan)

Fans:

• Efren Reyes wins IPT World Open (IPT Pool Fan Blog)
• 2006 IPT World Open 8-Ball Championships (Philippine Billiards)
• IPT World 8-Ball Open: Reyes did it again (billiard.info)
• Efren Reyes - World 8-Ball Champion (Pool Online)
• The Magician does it again! (Under the Radar)
• 8-Ball Junkie - IPT at the Grand Sierra Resort, Reno (medium-rare at MySpace)

Forums:

• International Pool Tour (AzBilliards)
• IPT Tour (uk8ball.com)
• International Pool Tour Discussion Forum (Inside Pool Magazine)

Related posts:

• The IPT World Open 8-ball Championship has started
• Hohmann wins North American Open 8-ball Championship

The IPT World Open 8-ball Championship has started

Play has commenced in the IPT World Open 8-ball Championship.

Two major announcements were made at the players meeting; The London event is cancelled and the IPT has been sold to Ho Interactive.

This is the second event of the International Pool Tour's inaugural season. It runs from September 3-9 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada. The winner receives $500,000 from the $3 million purse.

Germany's Thorsten Hohmann and Marlon Manalo from the Philippines came first and second in the North American Open. They're back and have to play very well to fend off the brilliant cast of contenders.

There are many top names among the IPT cardholders, e.g. Efren Reyes (Philippines), Ralf Souquet (Germany), Earl Strickland (USA), Mika Immonen (Finland), Oliver Ortmann (Germany) and Allison Fisher (England).

Also there's a lot of quality coming through the qualifiers. The biggest name may be Taiwan's double world champion Chia-Ching Wu. There's also a number of qualifiers from the Philippines; Ronnie Alcano, Antonio Lining, Santos Sambajon and Ramil Gallego.

Jasmin Ouschan from Austria is possibly the strongest female player at the moment. She qualified from the Norwegian event. Others coming through were Thomas Engert (Germany), Tony Drago (Malta), Hui-Kai Hsia (Taiwan) and Imran Majid (England).

The two American legends Buddy Hall and Jim Rempe have withdrawn. They have been replaced by Rico Diks from Netherlands and David Matlock (USA). Ronnie O'Sullivan had to stay home because of an ear infection. He was replaced by Michael Schmidt from Germany. George SanSouci had to pull out for personal reasons. His spot went to Rodolfo Luat (Philippines).

Billiards Digest has a superb 2006 Season Preview (PDF) that provides you with all the information you need.

See also:

• IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship Preview (IPT Pool Fan Blog)
• Tournament Coverage
  (Billiards Digest)
• World Open 8-Ball Championship Kicks off Tomorrow (Inside Pool Magazine)
• 2006 IPT World Open 8-Ball Championships (Philippine Billiards)
• International Pool Tour (AzBilliards Forums)

Related posts:

• Hohmann wins North American Open 8-ball Championship
• Efren Reyes wins World Open 8-Ball Championship

Hohmann wins North American Open 8-ball Championship

Germany's Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann won the IPT North American Open 8-ball Championship.

He earned an amazing $350,000 for the win, the richest prize in pool history.

Marlon Manalo (Philippines) was bested 8-7 in an extremely tight and well-played final and had to be content with $99,000.

Manalo's countrymen Dennis Orcollo and Efren Reyes came third and fourth respectively. Ralf Souquet (Germany) came 5th and Evgeny Stalev (Russia) took sixth.

This was the opening event of the International Pool Tour's inaugural season. It ran from July 22-30 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Next up is the World Open in Reno, September 2-10.

See also:

Newspapers & Magazines:

• Hohmann Hits Jackpot: $350,000 Prize at IPT Open and Spot on SportsCenter (Billiards Digest)
• A Perfect Ending (Billiards Digest - PDF)
• Thorsten Hohmann Wins Pool's Biggest Prize (AzBilliards)
• Hohmann on Top of the World (Inside Pool Magazine)
• IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship Record Prize Fund of $2,050,000 Hohmann runs the final rack for a Double-Hill Win (Professor-Q-Ball)
• Manalo loses heartbreaker (Manila Standard Today)
• 'The Hitman' downs Marlon (The Manila Times)
• Manalo falls to German hitman (Manila Bulletin Online)
• Thorsten Hohmann Defeats Marlon Manalo for $350,000 (Pool & Billiard Magazine)
• Still Marvelous (Manila Standard Today)
• Rocket fired up to conquer a new world (Guardian Unlimited)
• Big money gives pro new enthusiasm for the game (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• Racking up a comeback (Quad-City Times)
• 13-year-old Pool Prodigy Wins Thousands (CBS 13)

Players:

• My IPT North American 8-Ball Open Experience (Calcul8r)
• IPT North American Open 8-Ball (souquet.de)
• Reporting Back from the Venetian IPT Tournament (Linda Carter aka rackmsuckr)
• On Our Way to the Venetian (Linda Carter aka rackmsuckr)

Fans:

• Thorsten Hohmann, IPT North American Champion (IPT Pool Fan Blog)
• 2006 IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship (Philippine Billiards)
• North American Open - Final Day (IPT World Pool and Football)
• Hohmann Wins North American Open 8-ball Championships (Billiards Boutique)
• Thorsten Hohmann gewinnt 350.000 USD (billiard.info)
• Hohmann gewinnt IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship (Readers Edition)
• IPT North American Open 8-ball Championship (Pool Online)
• 8-ball Junkie - IPT at The Venetian, Las Vegas (medium rare at MySpace)
• International Pool Tour - North American Open (Ruby's Blog)

Forums:

• International Pool Tour (AzBilliards)
• IPT Tour (uk8ball.com)

Related post:

• The IPT North American Open starts

The IPT North American Open starts

The IPT North American Open 8-ball Championship has begun.

This is the opening event of the International Pool Tour's inaugural season. It runs from July 22-30 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The winner receives $350,000 from the $2 million purse.

Plenty of top names are entered, including Efren Reyes (Philippines), Ralf Souquet (Germany), Earl Strickland (USA), Thorsten Hohmann (Germany), Marlon Manalo (Philippines), Mika Immonen (Finland), Ronnie O'Sullivan (England), Oliver Ortmann (Germany) and Allison Fisher (England).

Four players have withdrawn, namely Americans Buddy Hall, Jim Rempe and Pete Fusco and Chinese Liu Wei. They have been replaced by Hungary's Vilmos Földes and Americans Keith Bennett, Jeff Beckley and Lee Heuwagen.

Billiards Digest has a superb 2006 Season Preview (PDF) that provides you with all the information you need.

European fans can follow the action live on Eurosport.

See also:

• Groupings Announced for IPT North American Open (IPT Pool Fan Blog)
• "Yikes!" or "Whew...": IPT North American Groupings Announced
  (Billiards Digest)
• Inside Pool Magazine
• International Pool Tour (AzBilliards Forums)
• IPT World Pool Tour (Blog)
• Pool Online
  
• Philippine Billiards
  
• Niels Feijen: Latest News
  
• Ronnie und Jimmy beim Pool
  (Snookerblog)

Related posts:

• Hohmann wins American Open 8-ball Championship

Alcaide and Peach snags final IPT places

The final two places on the 150-player strong International Pool Tour have been filled.

It was a Spaniard and a Britain who came through in qualifier E. David Alcaide and Daryl Peach are both accomplished players and are sure to make an impact on the Tour.

See also:

• Peach Rounds out the IPT (Inside Pool Magazine)
• Alcaide Joins the IPT (Inside Pool Magazine)
• David Alcaide and Daryl Peach qualify for the IPT (American Pool Network)
• David Alcaide and Daryl Peach Make the 150 (Calcul8r)
• Challenge Matches at the International Pool Tour Qualifier in Weert (nickvandenberg.com)
• Congrats to Daryl Peach (uk8ball.com: forum)
  

Related post: "Final IPT Qual this weekend"

Final IPT Qual this weekend

Now there's only one more chance to get yourself a card for the International Pool Tour.

The final qualification tournament will be held March 10-12 in House of Billiards, Weert, Netherlands.

The fee is pretty heavy. You have to hand over $2,000 to gain entry! Still, there are 47 players fighting for the two availbable spots up for grabs. Here are some of the best known: Thomas Engert, Tony Drago, Santos Sambajon, Vilmos Foldes, Christian Reimering, Imran Majid, Daryl Peach, David Alcaide, Steve Knight, Roman Hybler, Michael Schmidt and Chris Melling.

See also:

• Inside Pool Magazine