IPT World Open Preview: Talented Tots Wu and Ouschan to Debut
The big news in the first round of the International Pool Tour’s latest multi-million dollar 8-ball tournament will be the debuts of young superstars Chia-Ching Wu of Taiwan and Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, both looking for a big piece of the record-setting $3 million purse.
The eight-day 8-ball event — with a precedent-setting $500,000 first-place prize — kicks off Sunday, Sept. 3, at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nev.
Both 17-year-old Wu and 20-year-old Ouschan earned entry into the tournament through the IPT’s rugged qualifier process, and they’re expected to go deep. The precocious Wu is the current WPA world 9-ball and 8-ball champion, and Ouschan topped the star-studded field at the EnjoyPool.com 9-Ball Championship in May.
Otherwise, it looks like smooth sailing for most of the favorites in the first round of the International Pool Tour’s World 8-Ball Open Championship, as the just-released groupings reveal predominantly balanced matchups for the first two days of the event. Top-ranked players were seeded in the field.
Of course, a few players had cause for muttering under their breaths when the groups were announced early Friday. Of the best-known players, Hall-of-Famers and best buddies Ewa Laurance and Loree Jon Jones appear to have their work cut out for them. For that matter, the groupings did no favors for Ouschan, the only female player to have won a spot in an IPT field through the qualifier process.
Expect some surprises. As the players learned in the IPT’s first event of the 2006 season — the North American Open 8-Ball Championship in July — there are dozens of unheralded 8-ball whizzes out there waiting for their big shot, and the 200-player World field features 50 qualifiers who have already proved their mettle.
Look for surprising runs from several Asian qualifiers who now have their feet in the IPT’s door, including Wu from Taiwan (who was seeded 16th in the absence of Filipino Rodolfo Luat), and his countryman Hui-Kai Hsia, a two-time world juniors champion.
The first round will feature 40 groups of five players each. After round-robin play, the top three finishers in each group will proceed to the second round. Eliminated players from the first round will each receive a whopping $5,000.
The complete list of groupings is available at the IPT Web site: www.internationalpooltour.com.
Here are some of the more intriguing brackets from the first round:
Bracket 23 — BD Bloodbath Special: Spectators looking for an exciting bracket to follow should check out this group. No superstars, just tough and hungry veterans: Ivica Putnik (Croatia), Thomas Engert (Germany), Tony Chohan (USA), Tony Drago (Malta), and Zlatko Jakulj (Croatia)
Bracket 1: German sensation Thorsten Hohmann received the top seed by virtue of his $350,000 win at the North American Open, joined here by talented American Steve Moore, Filipino toughie Warren Kiamco, and Americans Jim Raney and Loree Jon Jones. Jones, who survived the first round at the North American Open, will have to bring her “A” game here.
Bracket 26: Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan must contend with Hall-of-Famer Earl Strickland, Swedish veteran Tom Storm, Aruba national champion Roland Acosta and American Pete Fusco. Ouschan regularly hones her skills against the best male players in Europe, so don’t expect her to be intimidated by Strickland, or anyone else in the field, for that matter,
Bracket 18: Hall-of-Famer Ewa Laurance will have her hands full with Australia’s Quinten Hann, the snooker bad boy who finished a surprising 18th at the North American Open; snooker ace Ronnie O’Sullivan from the U.K.; and Jeremy Jones (USA) and Jose Parica (Philippines), both experienced champions who met untimely exits at the North American Open. This bracket will be a dog fight.
Bracket 35: Future Hall-of-Famer Allison Fisher, who was undefeated in the first round of the North American Open, once again has a clean look at the second round. But watch out for qualifier Hui-Kai Hsia of Taiwan and surprising Frenchman Yannick Beaufils. Tough Americans Teddy Garrahan and John Ditoro round out the group, and neither will play patsy.
Bracket 10: Once again, 13-year-old Austin Murphy has a good shot at leaving the first round, this time sharing a bracket with 10th-ranked Darren Appleton (U.K.), Paul Potier (Canada), George San Souci (USA) and Ouahbi Amine (Morocco). Murphy missed the second round at the North American Open by a single rack, losing an 8-7 nailbiter to Danny Basavich. Let’s go, Austin.
IPT Round Three: The Plot Thickens as the Field Thins
Round three starts today in the International Pool Tour’s North American Open and already 17,066 games have been played. Fatigue certainly played a role yesterday with 120 players facing a $5,000 difference in payout as they were whittled down to 60 in 12 straight hours of 8-ball action. The 60 remaining contenders who advanced to round three have been placed into 12 groups of five players each. Three players from each group will advance to the next round. The 24 who are eliminated will receive a lovely parting gift of $10,000.
Here’s a breakdown of yesterday’s highlights:
Mike Sigel was eliminated with a 2-3 record after losses to Marlon Manalo, Marko Lohtander and Quinten Hann. “The Mouth” settled for 61st and a $5,000 consolation prize.
The female players are near extinction, survived only by Sarah Ellerby who edged out Corey Harper by less than one percentage point in win average to advance to round three. Both Loree Jon Jones and Allison Fisher went winless in round two, and Gerda Hofstatter was eliminated with only one win.
Only eight players went undefeated throughout yesterday’s round, including three Americans: David Matlock, Nick Varner, and Charlie Williams. Also unscathed: Australian Quinten Hann, Filipino Santos Sambajon, Mexican Rafael Martinez, Mika Immonen of Finland, and Ivica Putnik of Croatia.
The Filipino contingent is now down three men, with Warren Kiamco and Gandy Valle eliminated after round two, and Jose Parica eliminated after round one. Still, 10 of the original 13 remain and most dominated their groups. Francisco Bustamante fell to Efren Reyes, but has the highest winning percentage of the entire field at 73.68 percent. (Johnny Archer is second with 70 percent.)
Snooker superstar Ronnie O’Sullivan held on by the skin of his teeth, with only two wins, but advanced on the merit of his winning percentage. On the other hand, Takeshi Okumura missed out on advancing by 0.03 percent to Larry Nevel.
Veterans Allen Hopkins, Kim Davenport, Keith McCready are all heading home. George San Souci and Tony Chohan went winless in round two. Other notables who are heading home with $5,000 consolation prizes: Danny Basavich, Jeremy Jones, George Breedlove and Oliver Ortmann.
Round three is upon us, and each player will play five matches among formidable fields. Here’s a quick analysis:
Ellerby will have to face two top Americans: Gabe Owen and Charlie Williams and two Filipinos: Marlon Manolo and Ronato Alcano. Good luck!
Earl Strickland is alive and well in the tournament, but grouped with Raj Hundal and Efren Reyes, the recently inducted Hall-of-Famer will have to fight hard to see another day.
German Thorsten Hohmann is by far the biggest name in his group, but will face Mick Hill, a promising British 8-baller.
Check out this group: Break-and-run Bustamante, Undefeated Ozzy Quinten Hann, 8-Ball Boy Wonder Karl Boyes, Prince of Pool Cory Deuel, and Bad Boy O’Sullivan. Yikes!
Mika Immonen and John Schmidt will face off in their group — undoubtedly there will be some good-looking pool played there.
IPT Open Continues: Filipinos Dominate; Fisher’s Perfect While Most Women Falter
The IPT’s North American 8-Ball Open is shaping up to be the Philippines 8-Ball Smackdown.
The Filipino contingent flew their flag high and often on Monday — the second day of the history-making, $2 million event — as six Pinoy shooters scored perfect 4-0 records in round-robin play: Efren Reyes, Alex Pagulayan, Francisco Bustamante, Marlon Manalo, Dennis Orcollo and Ronato Alcano.
Joining the ranks of the undefeated was Brit snooker and 9-ball superstar Allison Fisher, who steamed through a fairly soft bracket to qualify for the next round of play. However, she was one of only two women of the 15 female tour members to score a winning record, and one of only four to advance. The U.K.’s Sarah Ellerby had the other winning record, 3-1.
Top female pros making early exits Monday included Ireland’s Karen Corr, who went 1-3 in a particularly tough draw; the U.K.’s Kelly Fisher, 1-3; Helena Thornfeldt of Sweden, 0-4; and American Monica Webb, 0-4.
Play on Monday centered on the second set of 100 competitors in the 200-player field, divied up into 20 groups of five. The top three in each group advanced to today’s round, featuring the remaining 120 players, parsed into 20 groups of six.
The 80 eliminated players from the first round will settle for $2,000 each. The winner of the event will pocket a record $350,000.
Here’s a brief wrap-up of Monday’s highlights:
• One of the biggest surprises of the Open so far is the number of players who qualified for the event — those not among the 150 regular IPT tour members — who are posting undefeated records. These surprise contenders from Monday’s play include Dutchman Rico Diks; England’s Karl Boyes; and Anthony Ginn of Australia.
• Keith Bennett, a 27-year-old house pro at Breaktime Billiards in Wilmington, N.C., who made it into the Open as alternate after Hall-of-Famer Jim Rempe bowed out, posted a 4-0 record in the first-round on Monday.
• The four women to advance to Tuesday’s matches in the round-of-120 were Allison Fisher, 4-0; the U.K.’s Sarah Ellerby, 3-1; Hall-of-Famer Loree Jon Jones (U.S.), 2-2; and Austria’s Gerda Hofstatter, who managed to limp into the next round with a 1-3 record when her games-won percentage topped two other players in her group with the same record (Ed Kelly and Jim Weast, both of the U.S.; Hofstatter’s games-won percentage was in fact just 1 percent higher than Weast’s).
• Beyond the Filipinos, who were expected to do well, several favorites sent messages to the field that they were not to be underestimated. Also posting 4-0 records were well-regarded Americans Johnny Archer and Shannon Daulton, and Germany’s Oliver Ortmann.
TONIGHT – IPT’s Sigel vs. Jones on FSN’s Best Damn Sports Show
Tonight, Thursday, Nov. 17, the International Pool Tour’s first event, the “IPT World 8-Ball Championship,” will be showcased on a special one-hour edition of Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period.” The match was an exhibition-style 8-ball contest between Hall-of-Famers Mike Sigel and Loree Jon Jones, held at Mandaly Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev, in August.
The show will be broadcast at 10:30pm local time on FSN – check your local listing for availability. In addition to the national airing on FSN at 10:30, the event will also be shown tonight on a number of FSN’s regional sports channels at 9pm and 11:30pm, according to the IPT’s press release.
IPT Will Air in Prime Time Nov. 17th
The International Pool Tour has sealed a prime-time television deal with the national Fox Sports Network. The IPT World 8-Ball Championship, a challenge match between hall-of-famers Loree Jon Jones and Mike Sigel which took place Aug. 20th in Las Vegas, Nev., will be broadcast several times on FSN. It premiers nationwide at 10:30pm local time on Thursday, Nov. 17th, showcased on a special one-hour edition of FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period.”
According to the IPT’s press release, FSN reaches more than 81 million homes nationwide. “We look forward to this event attracting more than just billiard fans,” George Greenberg, Executive Vice-President of Programming and Production at FSN, told the IPT. Sigel and Jones are scheduled to make appearances on the “Best Damn Sports Show Period” in the days leading up the to Nov. 17th broadcast date.
In addition to the national airing at 10:30 pm, the IPT World 8-Ball Championship will also be shown on the same date on a number of FSN’s regional sports channels at 9 pm and 11:30 pm.
Jones No Match For Sigel
Mike Sigel leaned on his experience to secure pool’s biggest bundle.
Presented with bundles of cash that totaled a highest-ever $150,000 top prize, Sigel tried to put the moment into words. The only thing that came out, however, were tears.
“Six weeks of practice, and all the hype, and what this means for pool, it was too much,” said Sigel of the much-anticipated “battle of the sexes” head-to-head match.
Jones, who admittedly was no match for her own nerves, still received a tidy $75,000 paycheck for the afternoon’s work.
The Sigel-Jones match will serve as the launching pad for bigger and more elaborate events for pro pool in the future, according to entrepreneur/promoter Kevin Trudeau.
“Just think,” Trudeau said after the match. “Mike Sigel just earned the biggest single payday in the history of the sport, and it will be the smallest first prize in IPT events!”
As expected, both players were shaky at the start of the match, played in an elaborate arena setting and witnessed by 500-plus fans, including numerous sports and entertainment celebrities. Jones missed several chances to put pressure on Sigel, who rolled off from a 3-2 lead to a 9-2 first-set win. In the second set, a relaxed Sigel played more to expectations, while Jones again missed several critical shots.
“BD Live Chat” Tonight with Kevin Trudeau
Who is the man behind this weekend’s $225,000 Battle of the Legends match between hall of famers Mike Sigel and Loree Jon Jones?
It’s millionaire entrepreneur Kevin Trudeau … the informercial pioneer and author of The New York Times bestseller, “Natural Cures.” And Trudeau’s grand plan for pool extends well beyond Saturday’s marquee match-up at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Trudeau’s International Pool Tour is the buzz of the pool world.
Tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST, Trudeau will be live on “BD Live Chat,” answering YOUR questions about Saturday’s big match, the IPT, his formula for bringing pool into the big time, and why 8-ball is pool’s future.
The BD Live Chat room will open at 7:30 p.m. EST to give users an opportunity to begin posting questions.
TONIGHT – Live Chat With Mike Sigel!
Get your questions ready – Tonight’s your chance to talk online with Mike Sigel!
Just click the red button above! In advance of their epic $225,000 face-off in Las Vegas, Aug. 20, Loree Jon Jones and Mike Sigel, as well as promoter Kevin Trudeau, are sharing their thoughts on the Battle of the Legends showdown LIVE on BilliardsDigest.com this week.
TONIGHT, (Aug. 17th) at 8pm EST, nine-time world champ Mike Sigel will offer his opinions and answers questions from site visitors. Each night visitors can log on at 7:30 EST and begin submitting questions for that night’s visitor. Tonight, Mike will join the chat at 8pm EST, and he’ll be online with us for about an hour.
The red button above will take you to the BD Live Chat page.
Last night’s guest was Loree Jon Jones; Kevin Trudeau will answer questions this Thursday (Aug. 18) at 8pm EST.
Loree Jon Jones LIVE Chat Tonight!
Tonight’s your chance to chat with Loree Jon Jones!
Just click the red button above! In advance of their epic $225,000 face-off in Las Vegas, Aug. 20, Loree Jon Jones and Mike Sigel, as well as promoter Kevin Trudeau, will share their thoughts on the Battle of the Legends showdown LIVE on BilliardsDigest.com this week.
BilliardsDigest.com will feature live chats on three separate nights leading up to the mega-match. Eight-time world champion and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Jones will offer her views and answer questions from site visitors TONIGHT, (Aug. 16th) at 8pm EST.
Sigel will be online tomorrow (Wednesday Aug. 17) at 8pm EST, and Kevin Trudeau will answer questions this Thursday (Aug. 18) at 8pm EST.
Each night visitors can log on at 7:30 EST and begin submitting questions for that night’s visitor. The red button (above) on the BD home page will direct visitors to the BD Live Chat page.
Sigel, LJ Ready To Lay Down Some Smack!
Bring on the Hype! In advance of their epic $225,000 face-off in Las Vegas, Aug. 20, Loree Jon Jones and Mike Sigel, as well as promoter Kevin Trudeau, will share their thoughts on the Battle of the Legends showdown LIVE on BilliardsDigest.com next week.
BilliardsDigest.com will feature live chats on three separate nights leading up to the mega-match. Eight-time world champion and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Jones will offer her views and answer questions from site visitors on Tuesday (8pm EST). Sigel, nine times world champion and also a BCA Hall of Famer, will surely bring his A game to the BD site on Wednesday (8pm EST). And Kevin Trudeau will talk about his involvement in pool and his grand plans for the International Pool Tour on Thursday (8pm EST).
Each night visitors can log on at 7:30 EST and begin submitting questions for that night’s visitor. A button on the BD home page will direct visitors to the BD Live Chat page.
Let’s get ready to rumble!