Dragon Promotions virtual 14.1
- Thread starter Bob Jewett
- Start date
Yes, he's called it a world championship since it lost its WPA sanctioning in 2008, from which point it has never attracted a field comparable to what was typical from 2006 to 2008. I admire Charlie for what he has contributed to straight pool over the years, but his choice to call this event a world championship is simply a matter of false advertising.DP called it a "World Championship" in 2019 as well.
79th World Straight Pool Championship
Sports event in Jacksonville, FL by World 14.1 Championship on Monday, December 2 2019 with 154 people interested and 50 people going. 19 posts in the discussion.www.facebook.com
This year, Charlie tried to take his fiction to the next level of absurdity, making uncontested recorded high runs the means of qualification. One must admire him for trying to stage an event at all, but this is just over the top. Videotaped solo practice runs have never been and will never be the measure of straight pool excellence. Wanna find out who's the best? Put most of the stars of the discipline in one place and let them match up against each other until just one remains. It hasn't happened since 2008.
Although I'm surprised they did so, the WPA was justified in putting their foot down. They should have done it years ago, but the proposed, and truly absurd, format of this event probably got them to their breaking point.
All that said, you hate to see the pros denied a possible payday in a year in which they've had little chance to earn an income.
Here's my recollection, stu. The WPA sanctioned the event as a world championship in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 (and they show world champions for those 4 years on their website). They did not sanction it in 2009, for lack of enough prize money, but DP still called it a world championship that year. Beginning in 2011 DP started calling it The World Tournament of 14.1 in their advertising, and that continued through the 2018 event. Of course, that didn't stop many people from continuing to refer to it as a world championship. For 2019, the word "Championship" was put back in the advertising.
The Spot Hosts the 78th World 14.1
The greatest 14.1 players in history come back each year to vie for the most prestigious & traditional title in pool New York City- One era ends, and a new era begins. After 5 years, the World 14.1 will be moving to a new venue, the recently opened The Spot Billiards Cafe. On August 13-19th...
www.theworldtournament.com
I felt bad for Stephane Cohan. If I remember right, he beat a great field but he didn’t get the official world champion designation because of the lack of sanctioning for that one year.Here's my recollection, stu. The WPA sanctioned the event as a world championship in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 (and they show world champions for those 4 years on their website). They did not sanction it in 2009, for lack of enough prize money, but DP still called it a world championship that year. Beginning in 2011 DP started calling it The World Tournament of 14.1 in their advertising, and that continued through the 2018 event. Of course, that didn't stop many people from continuing to refer to it as a world championship. For 2019, the word "Championship" was put back in the advertising.
The Spot Hosts the 78th World 14.1
The greatest 14.1 players in history come back each year to vie for the most prestigious & traditional title in pool New York City- One era ends, and a new era begins. After 5 years, the World 14.1 will be moving to a new venue, the recently opened The Spot Billiards Cafe. On August 13-19th...
Yes. In the finals, Cohen trailed Immonen 0-97 and 14-145. But Immonen missed a few times and Cohen had 3 decent runs to win 200-181.
Hey, you're right. I now remember that sanctioning was regained the one year they had it, if memory serves, at the Hyatt in New Brunswick, NJ. Guess that was 2010. I was there and yet I clean forgot about it! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.Here's my recollection, stu. The WPA sanctioned the event as a world championship in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 (and they show world champions for those 4 years on their website). They did not sanction it in 2009, for lack of enough prize money, but DP still called it a world championship that year. Beginning in 2011 DP started calling it The World Tournament of 14.1 in their advertising, and that continued through the 2018 event. Of course, that didn't stop many people from continuing to refer to it as a world championship. For 2019, the word "Championship" was put back in the advertising.
The Spot Hosts the 78th World 14.1
The greatest 14.1 players in history come back each year to vie for the most prestigious & traditional title in pool New York City- One era ends, and a new era begins. After 5 years, the World 14.1 will be moving to a new venue, the recently opened The Spot Billiards Cafe. On August 13-19th...
As you note, they continued to call it the World 14.1 even after the sanctioning was lost, and played it to the hilt, even playing the national anthem of the winner in the post-tournament awards ceremonies.
FYI, the field that Stephan Cohen prevailed over in 2009 was not a very strong field. If memory serves, Cohen came from way behind against Robles to claim his spot in the final four. The 2009 event was the one in which Ortmann ran 125 and out in three consecutive matches, but most of the stars of European straight pool were not present.
On the contrary, Dan, in its first few editions, this was a sanctioned world championship that drew the kind of field of international stars that one would expect of a sanctioned world championship. It was definitely a continuation of the world championships of yesteryear. The problem was that when the event lost its sanctioning (2010, thanks to At Large for that info), the name of the event wasn't changed to avoid misrepresentation.
Yeah, that's a good point, Dan. Even before the Dragon event lost its sanctioning, the rigid qualifying methods of yesteryear were not in use. I used to go to some of the qualifiers for the World 14.1 championship in the late 1970's and early 1980's as a fan. Some of those qualifiers had fields tougher than what we've found in recent Dragon events.
That said, especially in 2006, the Dragon event offered a field of superstars that included Hohmann, Engert, Eberle, Harriman, Schmidt, Immonen, Feijen, Vandenberg, Hopkins, Souquet and others. Back then, it was highly credible as a world championship.
Stephan had to leave for the Philippines were he was playing the World Cup of Pool, and he booked his flight at the latest possible time. He ended up sharing a cab with CW on the way to the airport (I believe Charlie was going to Asia too at the time)
In 2010 it was held in Clifton, NJ, and sanctioned. They had regained the sanctioning after Predator added extra money to meet the prize fund expected by the WPA. Oliver won and Stephan had a decend title defending campaign, losing in the quarters to Huidji.
In 2009 the lack of sanctioning meant that Euro players would not get their expenses paid for / qualify for further subsidies. Which is why Niels Feijen dropped out and didn't defend his 2008 crown for example. Calling the event a World Championship without ties to the WPA means it's not possible to received any purse from continental or national federations. Which is therefore detrimental to the players.
I love 14/1 and I'm always grateful for anyone putting together a world-class event (I worked with DP in 2010 at this event) but you can't expect to run a tournament with a few top players and call it a World Championship, and then blaming the federations. Also, this event is definitely NOT in its 80th edition. Calling it the 14.1 Cup or whatever they could have would have been the best, and fit with what it is. Shame for the players, but it was totally to be expected.
The Dragon Promotion PR title should therefore read:
Cancelled: 2020 World 14.1 Championship Cancelled due to Promoter forcing unauthorized name use
I got an email today from Dragon saying they are going to sue everyone unless stated demands are met. What are the odds of that actually happening? 1/100?
As a supporter in a small financial way and an attendee of every event 2006-2018, I mourn the loss of the Dragon Promotions event. I'm perfectly sensitive to the problems with mislabeling an event and the fact the fields were not always of uniformly high quality, however. We all lose out when a 14.1 event is dropped from the calendar. The Championship Game was in enough of the staggers before Covid-19 showed up. Let's just hope that on the other side of the pandemic the community finds a way to revive the game. Perhaps in that hopefully near future when we drop our masks we can also discard the age old habit of criticizing anyone who tries to do something for the sport.
If the foregoing reads as if I'm studiously avoiding sides, I am. We don't need sides; we need to come together.
If the foregoing reads as if I'm studiously avoiding sides, I am. We don't need sides; we need to come together.
We must leave application of the law to the legal system, but I hope that the outcome results in the resumption of this event. Dragon has, undeniably, helped the game of 14.1 over the years.
When Charlie, bca, and j.s tried to introduce the 626 lie - the rest was soon to follow. Maybe charlie and crew should take their world 14.1 event to Beijing. Ohh I have no mask bay gene. With the recent fake news of the 626 lie that he and john tried to create' - it might be better 'for we all' to have another promoter for 14.1 - IMHO. Good Day
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I disagree on both of yer points, sounds to me like yer another disgruntled person who is a bit bitter. If u want to get hung up on semantics - I leave u to it.
Semantics.
Optimists see the glass as half full. Pessimists see the glass as half empty. Either way it's not enough water.