Do or Fly: Last U.S. Qualifier for IPT Brings 78 Players
It’s gut-check time in the world of pro pool as 78 players prepare to fight it out in the last U.S. qualifier for the International Pool Tour, held this weekend at Country Club Billiards in Boston.
Only four more spots are open on the 150-player tour for the 2006 season, and two will be awarded in Boston. The final qualifier is scheduled March 10-12 at House of Billiards Weert in The Netherlands.
Back for another shot at the open slots are such major names as Chia-Ching Wu, the current WPA world 8-ball and 9-ball champ; Europeans Thomas Engert, Vilmos Foldes, and Imran Majid; and Americans George Breedlove, Robb Saez and Frankie Hernandez. Also in the running are Filipinos Santos Sambajon, Warren Kiamco and Ramil Gallego.
Several of these players are making their third or fourth try at the multimillion-dollar tour. Almost every player paid a $2,000 entry fee for the event, with the exception of a few high finishers from earlier qualifiers who earned free passes.
The IPT’s first major 2006 event — the North American 8-Ball Open Championship — is scheduled for July 22-30 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The purse is set at $2 million, and the top finisher will receive $350,000.
This is the second IPT qualifier in as many weekends. Germany’s Oliver Ortmann and Filipino Dennis Orcollo were the top finishers at the qualifier held Feb. 17-19 at Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, Calif.
Mizerak Still Hospitalized After Surgery on Jan. 20th
Billiard legend Steve Mizerak is still recuperating in intensive care after an operation in late January to remove his gall bladder.
The 61-year-old Hall of Famer has been hospitalized since Jan. 20, according to his wife, Karen. He is under almost constant sedation, while being treated for fluid in his lungs and a blood infection.
“The doctors say that he’s not getting better, but he’s not regressing either,” Karen Mizerak told BD on Feb. 21. “He’s putting up a good fight.”
He was first hospitalized in December for congestive heart failure, which caused his body to retain too much fluid. He was released on Dec. 24, but returned to the hospital on Jan. 20 when he suffered an attack related to his gall bladder.
His gall bladder was removed several days later, but his health woes intensified in a sort of “domino effect,” Karen reported. The end result is that Mizerak has stayed in intensive care, now breathing with help of a ventilator and being fed intravenously.
“It’s a very complicated thing,” Karen said. “He’s a very sick man.”
Doctors hope to be able to eventually wean him from the sedation treatment and stabilize his condition, she said.
Mizerak has a history of health problems, including a stroke suffered in 2001.
A resident of Singer Island, Fla., Mizerak is receiving treatment at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
“Weenie Beenie” Passes Awat at 77
Staton was talk-show mainstay.
Born in Concord, N.C., Staton didn’t take up pool until his 20s. He earned his nickname from a chain of hot-dog stands he started with his brother in Northern Virginia.
Staton was an active tournament and money player during the golden age of pool, making frequent appearances at the Johnston City “Hustlers’ Jamborees” in the 1960s. His resume included five Virginia State Pool Championship titles. However, he was perhaps best known as a mainstay on talk shows and USO tours. He made many guest appearances on “The Tonight Show,” “The Mike Douglas Show,” “The David Frost Show,” and “I’ve Got a Secret.”
In an interview with BD in 2005, BCA Hall-of-Famer Mike Massey cited Staton as his inspiration to become a trick-shot specialist, having seen him in an exhibition while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany. Staton was inducted into the One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2005 as part of its inaugural class.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Norma Jean Staton; four sisters; three children; and four grandchildren.
Teen Sensation Wu Joins Packed IPT Qualifier Field
If you thought the first two qualifiers for the International Pool Tour were tough, you haven’t seen anything yet.
Qualifier No. 3 begins today at Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, Calif., and a full field of 78 players has registered to compete for two open spots on the million-dollar 8-ball tour. The top shooters include Chia-Ching Wu, the current WPA world 8-ball and 9-ball champion; German pool statesman Oliver Ortmann; and Filipino ace Antonio Lining.
With a field packed with pros and excellent amateur players, every match in the double-elimination event looks to be a barn-burner. Almost every player paid a $2,000 entry fee for the event, with the exception of a few high finishers from the previous two qualifiers who earned free passes.
Those taking their second — and, in some cases, third — shot at the IPT include European studs Thomas Engert, Vilmos Foldes, and Imran Majid; and Americans George Breedlove, Robb Saez and Frankie Hernandez. Also in the running are Filipinos Santos Sambajon, Warren Kiamco and Ramil Gallego.
The biggest surprise is 17-year-old Wu, who made the trip from his native Taiwan, apparently in hopes of cashing in on the big-bucks tour.
The IPT’s first major 2006 event — the North American 8-Ball Open Championship — is scheduled for July 22-30 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The purse is set at $2 million, and the top finisher will receive $350,000.
The strength of this weekend’s qualifier field is even more remarkable taking into account that the Joss Tour’s Turning Stone event in Verona, N.Y., has fielded 128 players this weekend. Between the IPT and Joss event, almost every active pool pro in the Western world is playing this weekend.
The remaining two IPT qualifiers are scheduled for Feb. 24-26 at Country Club Billiards in Chelmsford, Mass., and March 10-12 at House of Billiards Weert in The Netherlands.
IPT Announces Long-awaited Tour Dates
The International Pool Tour has released its 2006 calendar of events, some of which conflict with the game’s most established tournaments, including the U.S. Open, the World Pool Championship and the Mosconi Cup.
The IPT announced that its first event — the North American Open 8-Ball Championship — will be held July 22-30 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship is slated for Sept. 2-10 at the Reno Hilton, in Reno, Nev., the same dates as the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Chesapeake, Va. The IPT Players 8-Ball Championship is slated for Oct. 29-Nov. 4 in the United Kingdom, dates already earmarked for the WPA World 8-Ball Championship in the United Arab Emirates. The final day of the IPT’s UK event also overlaps the opening day of Matchroom Sports’ World Pool Championship in Asia. The IPT Masters 8-Ball Championship will be staged Nov. 26-Dec. 3 at the Hyatt Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. The year-ending IPT 2006 King of the Hill 8-Ball Championship (and the concurrently run 2007 Tour Card Qualification Tournament) is scheduled for Dec. 12-17 at the Wynn Las Vegas, which conflicts with Matchroom’s Mosconi Cup.
“We really did try to work around other promoters’ dates,” said Deno Andrews, tour director for the IPT. “But all of the UPA, WPBA, WPA and Matchroom events, as well as the U.S. Open, took up a lot of weeks. We knew there would be a few problems.”
Strickland to Be Enshrined in Hall of Fame
Strickland’s record was too impressive to deny.
Strickland, 44, appeared on his fifth HOF ballot this year, having been previously nominated in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Strickland has been a dominant player since the 1980s, and in recent years has been known just as much for his mercurial personality as for his skill with a cue. His sometimes-volcanic temper was most recently on view in December at the 2005 Mosconi Cup, where he got into a shouting match with jeering fans in the stands.
Born in 1961, Strickland holds over 100 tournament titles and has been named BD’s “Player of the Year” five times (1984-1985, 1987-1988 and 2000). His rack-running resume includes nine wins at the Akron Open, five at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, and a staggering six titles at the World 9-Ball Championships.
BD will have reaction from Strickland here on Headstring News later today.
Strickland’s induction ceremony will take place on April 6 at the BCA International Billiard & Home Recreation Expo in Houston, Texas.
Joyner Named 2006 Louie Roberts A/E Award Winner
Cliff Joyner of High Point, N.C., was voted this year’s winner of the Louie Roberts A/E (Action/Entertainment) Award for his endless pursuit of action at the 2006 Derby City Classic.
The award was instituted in 2003 and is named in honor of Louie Roberts, who was never a Hall Of Famer but certainly was entertaining to watch. Every year the distinction goes to the person that makes the most of his or her time at Derby City, and makes it the most interesting for fans to watch. Recipients of the A/E award win free lodging and a waiver of the Derby City entry fee for life.
Joyner was the top vote-getter in a poll on an Internet forum, where his non-stop one-pocket action is said to have drawn crowds “morning, noon, and night” at the nine-day tournament in Louisville, Ky. He joins the ranks of former winners Alex Pagulayan, Tony Watson, and Scott Frost.
Two More Players Kicked Off IPT Bandwagon
Santos Sambajon of the Philippines and Glenn Coutts of New Zealand have been bumped from the International Pool Tour’s debut season after failing to submit their player agreements, according to IPT officials.
That means that there are two more open spots for the multimillion-dollar 8-ball tour, scheduled to kick off its 2006 season at an undetermined date near mid-year.
Both Sambajon and Coutts received exemptions from attending the IPT’s mandatory player meeting in Orlando, Fla., last December, at which players were presented the agreements, said IPT tour director Deno Andrews. Sambajon cited personal reasons for missing the meeting, and Coutts was contracted to play in a tournament in Australia.
However, neither player followed up on repeated attempts from the IPT to contact them via phone and/or e-mail, Andrews said. Neither player met the Jan. 13th deadline for submitting their agreements.
The two shooters are the ninth and tenth players to be expelled or excused from the tour. Four qualifying tournaments were arranged for the first eight open spots, the first of which occurred Jan. 14-15 in Louisville, Ky. A fifth qualifier will be added to fill the two new empty slots, most likely in Europe, Andrews said.
Jason Miller, the New Darling of Derby City, Joins Pagulayan on IPT
Miller’s Time: Jason dominated at Derby.
After hardly playing pool for a year, Miller arrived at the Eighth Annual Derby City Classic and wrested the Master of the Table title and its $20,000 prize from perennial all-around champion Efren Reyes. Then he strolled undefeated through a tough-as-nails 46-player qualification tournament for the International Pool Tour and won a berth on the million-dollar 8-ball circuit for 2006.
So when we say Miller arrived at the nine-day Derby City Classic, held Jan. 5-14 at the Executive West Hotel in Louisville, Ky., we mean he really arrived.
“I’m extremely excited,” Miller enthused. “This is great. The week was great … and then winning this card is just icing on the cake. It’s been a long ten days. A marathon. I just concentrate on one match at a time, and that’s about it. I got a good night’s sleep every night, didn’t stay up late, no gambling matches. It was well worth it.”
During the nine-day Derby endurance test, Miller won the 9-ball banks division, placed second in the one-pocket pack, and held on long enough for a 15th-place finish in the 9-ball contest. Reyes, who blitzed Miller 3-0 in the 20-minute one-pocket final, needed to top the 9-ball field to keep his Master of the Table title from 2005, but fell short in the semifinal versus fellow Filipino Rodolfo Luat.
As the 9-ball division was wrapping up on Jan. 14, the IPT kicked off the first of its four qualifiers for a handful of open spots on the 150-player tour. Each of the 46 players paid a $2,000 entry fee, and the only reward would be tour cards for the top two finishers.
The all-star field made for perhaps the most intimidating qualifier in pool history. At the top of the list was reigning U.S. Open champ Alex Pagulayan, but there wasn’t much of a drop-off from there, as the dream of competing on the IPT brought a passel of national 8-ball champs from the BCA and VNEA amateur leagues (Shane Van Boening, Brian Groce), 9-ball pros (Tang Hoa, Robb Saez, George Breedlove) and international studs like Hungary’s Vilmos Foldes, Germany’s Thomas Engert and the U.K.’s Imran Majid.
Miller was the first to qualify on Jan. 15, besting Foldes, 10-6, in the winners-bracket final. Pagulayan then outplayed Foldes, 10-2, to win his tour card. The Killer Pixie jigged around the table, crying out, “I made it! I’m in the IPT now!”
“It’s not only the IPT,” Pagulayan admitted afterward. “I’ve been here all week. I was doing good in the banks, and for some reason, they played like God on me. I was doing good in one-pocket, and for some reason Efren — he didn’t play like Efren. He played better than Efren. And then in 9-ball, Luat beat me, played his best against me. … At least I got this. I think I got the most important thing, I think. That might make me a millionaire, I think.”
Ralf Souquet felt almost as fortunate, breaking something of a dry spell to win the 9-ball division at Derby City. Among the top three players in he world in 2002, Souquet has struggled recently with physical and personal woes, and was seeking chiropractic treatment in Louisville for intense back pain during the Classic.
After crushing Luat, 7-0, in the 9-ball final, Germany’s “The Kaiser” was all smiles.
“I don’t know what it is,” Germany’s “The Kaiser” demurred. “… I do have a new girlfriend.”