IPT Announces 25 Qualifier Tournaments for 2006 Season
The International Pool Tour has announced that it will hold 25 additional tournaments to win a spot in the 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Open Championship on July 22-30 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.
Five qualifiers will be held every weekend, starting May 26-28 and ending June 23-25, in locations ranging from Australia to Akron, Ohio. For an updated schedule, visit www.internationalpooltour.com.
Entry into IPT Qualification Tournaments is $1,000, with the option to enter for a $500 fee, by which the player will be eligible for only half of the full prize payout earned. The third through sixth-place contestants who paid the $1,000 entry fee will earn a free entry into another qualifying tournament of their choice. Each tournament will be a double-elimination, race-to-10 format.
Online registration is the only way to enter these events and the form is on the aforementioned IPT Web site.
Last But Not Least: Peach and Alcaide earn final spots in the IPT
At the fifth and final International Pool Tour qualification event in Weert, The Netherlands, David Alcaide of Spain and Daryl Peach of England nabbed the final two spots on the 150-player roster for the 2006 season.
After defeating Peach on Saturday night in a hill-hill nailbiter, Alcaide showed up Sunday morning determined. He met Goh Takami in the winners’ bracket final, and Japan’s “Rising Sun” wasn’t able to stop the Spaniard, who won the match, 10-5.
Peach suffered through a lengthy match against Germany’s Michael Schmidt before reaching the one-loss side final against Takami. It looked as if he were going to run six racks for the $5,000 bonus, but missed a tough cut on an early 2 ball when the score was 7-3. Peach was able to win that rack and only allowed Takami one more game before winning the last match, 10-4.
Kiamco, Breedlove make the IPT cut
The International Pool Tour gained two new players after its fourth qualification event ended Feb. 26 at in Chelmsford, Mass.
Warren Kiamco of the Philippines advanced steadily through the the winners’ side, scorching Furuta Kazao 10-2 and then besting George Breedlove 10-10-8 in the winners’-side finals. Breedlove was down, but not out. Facing an 8-5 deficit in the one-loss side finals to Karl Boyes of the U.K., Breedlove ran five racks in a row in a comeback victory for the coveted tour card.
Players who had been eliminated from the tournament could play Hall of Famer Mike Sigel for a free entry into the final qualifier, to take place March 10-12 in the Netherlands. Imran Majid and Chris Melling, both from the UK, defeated Sigel, while Kevin Brown and Kevin Becker were unsuccessful.
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.
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.”
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.”
IPT hopefuls to compete for final eight spots
Four qualifying tournaments will be held by the end of Februrary to fill eight vacancies in the 2006 season of the lucrative International Pool Tour. Anyone can vie for the final spots on the 150 player roster, although each qualifier requires a $2,000 entry fee. Tournaments are double-elimination and races are to 10. You can register for the following tournaments at:
https://www.internationalpooltour.com/ipt_content/qualifying_form/
Derby City Classic – Louisville, KY – January 14-15, 2006
Pool Room Sports Bar and Grill, Marietta, GA – January 27-29, 2006
Hard Times Billiards, Bellflower, CA – February 17-19, 2006
Country Club Billiards, Chelmsford, MA – February 24-26, 2006
IPT members in 2006 will be competing for over $8 million in prize money.
Reyes crowned King of the Hill
Prior to the International Pool Tour giving Mike Sigel the nickname of “Mike the Mouth”, he was simply known as “Captain Hook”. After Sigel’s match against Efren Reyes on Sunday at the IPT’s King of the Hill Invitational 8-Ball Shootout, he might want to start calling himself “Captain Hooked”. Sigel found himself in that very position numerous times in the match, and not always after a Reyes safety.
The first set of the best two out of three match saw Reyes dominate Sigel on his way to an 8-0 win. Multiple times Reyes came up dry on the break but Sigel found himself without a good shot to get a run started. Unfortunately, on the rare times that Sigel did have a shot, he couldn’t get any momentum going.
The second set started out the same with Reyes racing to a 4-0 lead until he came up dry on the break in the 5th game and Sigel negotiated a very complex table run to get on the board at 4-1. Sigel was able to then string together back to back table runs to get back to 4-3 but got a little careless while running out the next rack and ended up giving Reyes a chance at the table which Reyes capitalized on. Sigel won the next two games to tie the score at 5-5, and then the nerves started to set in as both players suffered surprising missed shots in the 11th game. Reyes was the first to get control of table and win the game for a 6-5 lead, and he then cruised through the final two racks for the 8-5 win.
Reyes earned $200,000 for first place (the highest prize for first place at a pool tournament in the history of the game), while Sigel settled for $100,000 in second place prize money.