Pool "World Tour" 2022. The Rise of Pool ?

Does anyone know if the Ko Bros, CJL and Mr Wu will be playing? Hard to imagine a true World Event without them.
 
Mich said:
Does anyone know if the Ko Bros, CJL and Mr Wu will be playing? Hard to imagine a true World Event without them.
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Yes, not to mention Liu Haitao, Xiaohuai Zheng and Anton Raga. We all want the top Asians back in the big events.
 
kling&allen said:
Too bad Gorst is out as long as the WPA keeps following the IOC (and Thorpe for that matter).
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WPA is following the lead of WCBS (World Confederation of Billiards Sports), the cue sports affiliate of the IOC. There is no reason that WPA should not follow WCBS on this matter, so Fedor Gorst, sadly, may not be back anytime soon in WPA sanctioned events.

The Billy Thorpe situation has absolutely nothing to do with IOC. Billy breached his contract with WPA by failing to abide by drug policies expressly stated in that contract.
 
sjm said:
WPA is following the lead of WCBS (World Confederation of Billiards Sports), the cue sports affiliate of the IOC. There is no reason that WPA should not follow WCBS on this matter, so Fedor Gorst, sadly, may not be back anytime soon in WPA sanctioned events.

The Billy Thorpe situation has absolutely nothing to do with IOC. Billy breached his contract with WPA by failing to abide by drug policies expressly stated in that contract.
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I think you and I respectfully disagree as to whether the WPA should have anything to do with the IOC. I don't. The Olympics is dying and is never going to admit billiards. The outcome for Fedor might be the same regardless of who is calling the shots. But I note ATP (Tennis) is allowing the Russians to compete in non-team events under a neutral flag. No reason Fedor (and Tkach and Fefilova) couldn't do the same but for the apparent fascination the WPA has with pleasing the IOC.

My understanding of Billy's situation is that the WPA's drug policies are mandated by WADA, which is a requirement for would-be Olympic sports. But most of the major US sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) do not follow WADA because they would lose 90% of their athletes.
 
middleofnowhere said:
Players need to be sponsored and even salaried. All that traveling and cost, they are way in the hole before they hit the first ball.
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Appearance fees might work. I don't know what the balance sheet looks like but a strong field attracts viewers.

How high do you have to finish to cash in these tournaments and how many entrants are there? And what is the lowest payout? It's got to cost at least $1500/week to be on the road.
 
kling&allen said:
I think you and I respectfully disagree as to whether the WPA should have anything to do with the IOC. I don't. The Olympics is dying and is never going to admit billiards.
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I think you're overlooking that WCBS already has one foot in the Olympic door. Pool, snooker and billiards, the three federations under WCBS, are all included in the World Games and have been for years. Historically, inclusion in the World Games is a stepping-stone to inclusion in the Olympics, as it has been for many sports over the years. How do you know cue sports won't get in at some point?

That said, it is your every right to recommend that WPA should withdraw from the WCBS arm of the IOC, which, for starters, would take pool out of the World Games. Such withdrawal would also take a lot of money out of the pockets of pool pros all over the world. Because of pool's WCBS/IOC connection and the potential for eventual inclusion of cue sports in the Olympics, many governments offer substantial sponsorship to pro pool players in their own country, both men and women. That money, generally referred to as "Olympic money", comes from the IOCs of the individual countries and would likely disappear if pool cut ties with the WCBS arm of IOC.

In short, withdrawal would not come without some serious consequences.
 
sjm said:
I think you're overlooking that WCBS already has one foot in the Olympic door. Pool, snooker and billiards, the three federations under WCBS, are all included in the World Games and have been for years. Historically, inclusion in the World Games is a stepping-stone to inclusion in the Olympics, as it has been for many sports over the years. How do you know cue sports won't get in at some point?

That said, it is your every right to recommend that WPA should withdraw from the WCBS arm of the IOC, which, for starters, would take pool out of the World Games. Such withdrawal would also take a lot of money out of the pockets of pool pros all over the world. Because of pool's WCBS/IOC connection and the potential for eventual inclusion of cue sports in the Olympics, many governments offer substantial sponsorship to pro pool players in their own country, both men and women. That money, generally referred to as "Olympic money", comes from the IOCs of the individual countries and would likely disappear if pool cut ties with the WCBS arm of IOC.

In short, withdrawal would not come without some serious consequences.
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Thanks Stu. Good point on the government funding--but I can't imagine anyone is still expecting billiards to be added now after decades of trying. Especially when the Olympics is in freefall with fleeing advertisers and declining viewers. We didn't make the cut for 2024 or 2028. 2032, in Australia, seems like a longshot as those games are more likely to include rugby and cricket games that are very popular in the host country.

Regardless, Russians are still playing in all pro sports but pool. Pool is an outliner because of the WPA's dedication to the IOC. We're looking at the best tournament year in decades but will be missing 4 of the most marketable young players because of IOC-related demands. It's a big gamble that these sacrifices will be worth it for the small chance that billiards could be added to the 2036 games.
 
The_JV said:
is that a cigarette butt on Albin's head...?
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Ouch now Albin is the butt of jokes :ROFLMAO:

laughing-hahaha.gif
 
mikepage said:
I think US Pro Series/Las Vegas Open will be $30K. Canada, Michigan, & Ohio will I believe all be $25K or more
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Yes, Las Vegas winner $30K. That's big in pool terms

US Pro Billiard Series

usproseries.fargorate.com usproseries.fargorate.com
Mich said:
Does anyone know if the Ko Bros, CJL and Mr Wu will be playing? Hard to imagine a true World Event without them.
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Kos, CJL are playing in Las Vegas Open starting today and will follow on to play World 10 Ball. Kos are invited to World Pool Masters in UK in early May so will play in UK Open following week and the World Pool Championship before the World Pool Masters. So hard to see CJL miss the party in UK starting next month. Mr Wu is not playing. Though there is a junior Wu (Wu Kun Lin no relation to Mr Wu) playing who won the Las Vegas Open last year. :LOL:
 
tomatoshooter said:
Appearance fees might work. I don't know what the balance sheet looks like but a strong field attracts viewers.

How high do you have to finish to cash in these tournaments and how many entrants are there? And what is the lowest payout? It's got to cost at least $1500/week to be on the road.
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Depends on prizemoney. Las Vegas Open (with total prizemoney $125K) starting today to eg. pays minimum $2K for top 16. The field is 192 players so need to finish in top 8% to get at least $2K https://usproseries.fargorate.com/bracket/10
Major events like World Pool Championship WPC (prizemoney $325K) pays $3K for top 32, $1.5K for top 64 players. So to win $3K you need to be in top 25% and $1.5K needs to be in top 50%. That sounds like WPC but it isn't cos WPC has no dead money while Las Vegas Open has dead money (i.e. anyone of any skill level can play as long as they pay the fees) https://matchroompool.com/worldpoolchampionship/

sjm said:
I think you're overlooking that WCBS already has one foot in the Olympic door. Pool, snooker and billiards, the three federations under WCBS, are all included in the World Games and have been for years. Historically, inclusion in the World Games is a stepping-stone to inclusion in the Olympics, as it has been for many sports over the years. How do you know cue sports won't get in at some point?

That said, it is your every right to recommend that WPA should withdraw from the WCBS arm of the IOC, which, for starters, would take pool out of the World Games. Such withdrawal would also take a lot of money out of the pockets of pool pros all over the world. Because of pool's WCBS/IOC connection and the potential for eventual inclusion of cue sports in the Olympics, many governments offer substantial sponsorship to pro pool players in their own country, both men and women. That money, generally referred to as "Olympic money", comes from the IOCs of the individual countries and would likely disappear if pool cut ties with the WCBS arm of IOC.

In short, withdrawal would not come without some serious consequences.
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For some time already, IOC has the exception "Independent" category which is like the "neutral flag" that tennis implemented now.
Hypothetically WPA could applied to IOC to allow Russia/Belarus pool players to be "independent" players but WPA wouldn't dare to ruffle feathers cos pool/billiards is a minor economic political force in the sports universe 😄
 
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