WNT 2024 Hanoi Open (8-13 Oct), Winner $30K

A lot of the European players that withdrew play the Euro Tour and the EPBF is obligated to follow the WPA's sanction so it make sense that they withdrew. What does not make sense is the powerplay between Matchroom and the WPA. There is no clash of dates for the Hanoi Open so it just political nonsense. I think someone mentioned that it’s the Asian Federation pushing for the ban and somehow the WPA has to give them deference since the event is being played in Asia. Not sure how the WPA can treat the Peri Open as sanctioned, but not the Hanoi Open ... unless the Asian Federation is pushing for a ban for the Hanoi Open only.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Except that Matchroom has a contract to run the world championships indefinitely. It will be interesting to see who plays in the next one.
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That’s the “WPA world championship”. You and I could have a world championship (and promote it) provided we didn’t use the WPA trademark. Generic terms can’t be trademarked.

But I was thinking more of the world 8 ball championship and 9 ball championship (and 10 ball) may have different player groups with limited overlap. All of this is bad for the sport (like boxing where top fighters don’t see each other often enough due to the different governing bodies).
 
Bob Jewett said:
In the US, an event can be "owned" by an individual or company that continues to run the event. As an example, Matchroom bought the rights to "The US Open Nine Ball Championship" and/or similar wordings, from the Behrman family, and has run it since. I think this falls under trademark law.

Similarly, the title "US Open 14.1 Championships" fell into disuse after the 2000 event and Mark Griffin restarted the event and claimed the title. I think you lose the title to an event if you fail to produce it for five years.

I think this aspect of trademark law is a very good thing. It keeps imposters from stealing the good name from those who built something up.

The WPA has a wider legitimacy due to its organization and connection with other sports organizations, including the IOC. It has run, or arranged to have run, the World Nine Ball Championship every year since 1990 except for one Covid year.
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Less than five years Bob. Maybe only one or two years. In California it was only one year, and you could lose your trademark on a name.
 
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VVP said:
A lot of the European players that withdrew play the Euro Tour and the EPBF is obligated to follow the WPA's sanction so it make sense that they withdrew. What does not make sense is the powerplay between Matchroom and the WPA. There is no clash of dates for the Hanoi Open so it just political nonsense. I think someone mentioned that it’s the Asian Federation pushing for the ban and somehow the WPA has to give them deference since the event is being played in Asia. Not sure how the WPA can treat the Peri Open as sanctioned, but not the Hanoi Open ... unless the Asian Federation is pushing for a ban for the Hanoi Open only.
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albin has boycotted the eurotour for years.. i don't know why he withdrew, but i suspect it's more related to his sponsor predator than to EPBF. there will be a predator world 10b championship early next year
 
kling&allen said:
That’s the “WPA world championship”. .... Generic terms can’t be trademarked.
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Charlie Williams had a problem calling his unsanctioned 14.1 events the World Championship. He had to change it to something else, like the World Tournament of 14.1, a couple of times. I wonder what the "cease and desist" order said.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Charlie Williams had a problem calling his unsanctioned 14.1 events the World Championship. He had to change it to something else, like the World Tournament of 14.1, a couple of times. I wonder what the "cease and desist" order said.
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It was before my time paying attention to such things, but I did a quick check and there was never a registered trademark on “14.1 world championship.” It is possible that Charlie didn’t want to deal with it. Here is a statement from the WPA consistent with this:

WPA:DRAGON’S ‘WORLD’ EVENTS NOT OFFICIAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS|WPA Pool

wpapool.com wpapool.com

I fear this isn’t the last of the squabbling about pool championships.
 
SA96 said:
If I was Matchroom, I would revoke Filler's invite to the Reyes Cup.
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VVP said:
They are not stupid they will get sued. Matchroom created the bad blood by getting it's cohorts Jayson, SVB, Fedor and Sky trying to shame Filler and Albin on social media.

Had Filler and Albin played in the Hanoi Open, the WPA would have looked more like a clown banning them. However, I think Predator will find a way to get banned players to play in their events, except for the cohorts above who Predator should shun from their events.
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😁
 
Day 1 streaming/broadcast matches
Starts 10am local Hanoi time/ 11pm Eastern

hopen d1.jpg
 
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