The World Pool Championship has started

Play has started in the World Pool Championship.

This is the major event on the pool sports calendar. It runs from November 4-12 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila. The winner will receive $100,000.

17 year-old Wu Chia-ching from Taiwan is the defending champion. He'll have lots of tough competitors in Manila. There's plenty of top Asian players on site, mainly from the host nation and Taiwan.

Some of the favorites are Efren Reyes (Philippines), Ralf Souquet (Germany), Earl Strickland (USA), Mika Immonen (Finland), Oliver Ortmann (Germany), Marlon Manalo (Philippines) and Thorsten Hohmann (Germany).

Before the tournament a number of qualifiers were held. A total of 14 players made it through to the main event:

• Philippines (8): Roberto Gomez, Eduardo Villanueva, Lee Van Corteza, Antonio Lining, Leonardo Andam, Israel Lota, Jharome Pena and Rudy Morta
• Taiwan (4): Nien Rong-chih, Hsia Hun-kai, Lu Hsun-chen and Chin ju-chen
• Singapore (1): Tan Tiong Boon
• Japan (1): Tomoo Takano

The 128 players have been drawn into 32 four-man groups. The top two from each group advance to the single elimination stage.

Group matches are race-to-eight. The opening two rounds in the single elimination cup are best-of-19. After that the format is first-to-11. The final is best of 33 racks. All matches are alternate breaks.

See also:

• Official site
• Raya Website
• 2006 World 9-Ball Championships (Global Snooker Centre)
• World Championship Underway (AzBilliards)
• A Dream Come True (AzBilliards)
• Reyes says All-Filipino Final Possible in World Pool Championship (AzBilliards)
• Manila Madness: World Pool Championship Preview (Billiards Digest)
• 2006 Philippines World Pool Championship (On the Hill)
• On The Hill Blog (Japanese)
• WK 9ball (Dutch)
• World Pool Championship (AzBilliards Forums)
• Your man in Manila (Jay Helfert, AzBilliards Forums)
• Stan James: Pool (Sports Betting)

Related posts:

• World Pool Championship goes to Manila
• Ronnie Alcano wins World Pool 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

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

Group pairings for the World Straight Pool Championship

The group pairings for the WPA-sanctioned World Straight Pool Championship have been announced.

Among the players taking part are Thorsten Hohmann, Ralf Souquet, Johnny Archer, Mika Immonen, John "Mr. 400" Schmidt, Oliver Ortmann, Thomas Engert, Dennis Orcollo, Mike Zuglan, Bobby Hunter and Tony Robles.

It's also great to see three women on the list; Jasmin Ouschan, Jeanette Lee and Megan Minerich.

The tournament is promoted by Dragon Promotions and will be held from May 30 to June 4, in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

See also:

• World 14.1 Championship Group Draws! (AzBilliards Forum)
  

Related posts:

• World Straight Pool Championship in New Jersey
• Hohmann wins World Straight Pool Championship

The World Snooker Championship has started

It's that time of the year again. The top snooker players assembles in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the 888.Com World Snooker Championship. The event runs from April 15 to May 2.

Shaun Murphy is the defending champion but John Higgins is the favourite. He'll have a tough time though. His half of the draw is crowded with top contenders, mainly Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark J Williams.

See also:

• BBC
• Global Snooker Centre
• Sporting Life
• Eurosport

Related posts:

• Draw for World Snooker Championship
• Dott is new world snooker champion

The European Championships have started

The European Pool Championships have started.

There are divisions for men, women and wheelchair users. They compete, in straight pool, 8-ball and 9-ball. The event ends 1 April.

Defending champions:

• Men: Alex Lely (8-ball and 9-ball) and Torsten Hohmann (straight pool)
• Women: Christine Feldmann-Naeff (8-ball) and Jasmin Ouschan (9-ball and straight pool)
• Wheelchair: Jouni Täthi (8-ball) and Henrik Larsson (9-ball)

Selected players in this year's tournament:

• Jasmin Ouschan (Austria)
• Wendy Jans (Belgium)
  
• Roman Hybler (Czech Republic)
• Oliver Ortmann and Ralf Souquet (Germany)
• Imran Majid and Daryl Peach (Great Britain)
• Vilmos Foldes and Sandor Tot (Hungary)
• Tony Drago (Malta)
• Niels Feijen, Alex Lely and Nick van den Berg (Netherlands)
• Line Kjørsvik (Norway)
• Radoslaw Babica (Poland)
• Marcus Chamat and Tom Storm (Sweden)

See also:

• Alex Lely's Weblog
• Nick van den Berg's Weblog
• European Pool Championships 23-3/1-4 (Matchroom Sport Forums)
  

Related posts:

• EC 2006 website up
• Ortmann and Ouschan on top of Europe

Snooker stars off to China

It's time for the fifth snooker ranking tournament of the season, the Star Dragon Woods Villa Cup China Open.

Last year's surprise winner, Ding Junhui, will try to repeat that performance. The competition is tough though, with all the best players taking part.

The event starts off Sunday, with wild card matches for Chinese hopefuls. Tuesday sees the start of the tournament proper.

CCTV5 of China broadcasts the event. The stream will be viewable at 300k bandwidth.

See also:

• 2006 China Open (Global Snooker Centre)
• O'Sullivan has Ding in his Sights (Sporting Life)
• 2006 China Open (Wheels in Motion)
• China leads snooker's new fan base (China Daily)
• Ding comes back to defend title (China Daily)
  
• Snooker (BBC)

Related posts:

• Williams wins in China

World Pool Championship goes to Manila

The 2006 World Pool Championship will be staged in Manila, Philippines, Nov 4-12.

Sources say the winner will take home at least $100,000. That's a new record for the tournament.

The dates seem to clash with the IPT Players 8-ball Championship. Hopefully they'll reach an agreement.

See also:

• Manila to host World Pool Championship (AZBilliards)
• World tourney excites Bata, local cue masters (Manila Standard Today)
• Filipinos Favored in World Pool Championships (AZBilliards)
  
• Manila to host World Pool Championship (Matchsport Sport Forums)
• Mosconi Cup and WPC Clashes Avoided (Calcul8r)

Related posts:

• Ronnie Alcano wins World Pool Championship

Draw for World Snooker Championship

After the final qualifying round the draw for the 2006 888.com World Snooker Championship has now been made.

Defending champion Shaun Murphy goes up against Thailand's James Wattana. World No.1 Ronnie O'Sullivan plays veteran Dave Harold. Stephen Hendry meets Nigel Bond in a rematch of their 1995 world final.

The tournament will be staged 15 April - 1 May in the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England.

See also:

• Thai Test for Murphy (World Snooker)
  
• 888.com 2006 World Championship (Global Snooker Centre)
• Rocket paired with veteran at Crucible (Sporting Life)
• Champ Murphy faces Wattana in opener (Sporting Life)
  
• Murphy to open defence against Wattana (Eurosport)

Related posts:

• The World Snooker Championship has started
• Dott is new world snooker champion

Shameless plug: Crucible Contest 2006

World Straight Pool Championship in New Jersey

Note: This is the preview for the 2006 World Straight Pool Championship. The results are also available, for both 2006, 2007 and 2008.

The WPA-sanctioned World Straight Pool Championship will be held from May 30 to June 4, in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

The tournament is promoted by Dragon Promotions and boasts an impressive field.

Among the players known to take part are Thorsten Hohmann, Marlon Manalo, Ralf Souquet, Johnny Archer, Mika Immonen, John "Mr. 400" Schmidt and Tony Robles.

Would you like to join them? A total of seven qualifying events will be held, in USA, Canada, Germany and Netherlands.

See also:

• AZBilliards: The World Straight Pool Championship
• Billiards Digest: The World Straight Pool Championship (forum thread)
• AZBilliards: Hilton Hosts the World 14.1 Championships
  
• Inside Pool Magazine: Results of Philadelphia Qualifier at Drexeline Billiard Club
  

Related posts:

• Group pairings for the World Straight Pool Championship
• Hohmann wins World Straight Pool Championship

WPBA goes to Michigan City

This weekend the women of the WPBA are competing in the Great Lakes Classic.

The event takes place at the Blue Chip Casino, Michigan City, Indianapolis.

See also:

• WPBA: Highlights
• Michigan City News Dispatch
• ABC7 Chicago
  

Related posts:

• Allison Fisher takes long road to victory

The ladies contest the world pool title

March 1-5 Taipei will host the WPA Amway World Women' s Championship.

A lot of the top names are missing. Allison Fisher and Karen Corr are some of the stars who chose to stay home. That leaves the tournament wide open.

Still, there is plenty of talent available to fight for the $20,000 first prize and the title of World Champion.

Defending champion Ga-Young Kim must be considered a favourite.

To the short list you can also add England's Kelly Fisher, Helena Thornfeldt from Sweden, Shin-Mei Liu from Taiwan and Monica Webb (USA).

Line Kjørsvik (Norway), Wendy Jans (Belgium) and youngster Jasmin Ouschan (Austria) are some of the others that could do some damage.

The tournament is broadcast on TV. Apparently you'll be able to view some of it on the web.

See also:

• WPA
• AZBilliards
• Mr Tu Sports

Related post: "Ga-Young Kim defends World title"

Billiards World Championship coming up

The World Professional Billiards Championship will take place on the 30 May to 4 June 2006 at the World Snooker Centre at Pontin's, Prestatyn, England.

Billiards (or English Billiards) is a forerunner to snooker. It's played on a snooker table (actually called a Billiards table), with three balls, two whites and one red.

The two players have one white each (one is marked with a dot). You get points for potting the red, potting the other white, making in-offs and making a carom (hitting the two other balls in the same shot).

It's a relative small sport. Most of the top players come from India and the UK. Defending champion is Chris Shutt from England.

See also: 2006 World Professional Billiards Championship (Global Snooker Centre)

Related post: Sethi wins fifth World Billiards trophy

EC 2006 website up

The European Pool Championships starts March 22. Now you can view the official homepage.

There you'll be able to view results, player bios and more.

Related posts:

• The European Championships have started
• Ortmann and Ouschan on top of Europe

IBSF Grand Prix

With the cancellation of the IBSF World Championship in Pakistan, the top amateurs lost an opportunity to qualify for the Main Tour. To alleviate this the IBSF Grand Prix is being staged. The winner of this event is awarded a place on the Main Tour. See also IBSF.org.

The group stage has already concluded and the knock out phase has begun. The final is March 3rd.

Related post: "Michael White wins IBSF Grand Prix"

Ronnie favourite in Wales

The Welsh Open is well underway. It's the fourth ranking tournament of the snooker season. John Higgins, Ding Junhui and Ken Doherty won the previous three.

... but Ronnie "The Rocket" O'Sullivan is once again the favourite. John Higgins and Stephen Hendry are possibly his toughest rivals.

As always you can find splendid coverage at Global Snooker Centre and Sporting Life.

Related post: "Stephen Lee wins Welsh crown"