Agreement between matchroom and wpa?

trob

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I’m surprised no one started a thread but it looks like they are finally coming to an agreement . I’m on the side of matchroom during this but I’m glad that at a time when I feel pool is getting ready to maybe really take off that these groups aren’t fighting between themselves holding it back.
 

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trob said:
I’m surprised no one started a thread but it looks like they are finally coming to an agreement . I’m on the side of matchroom during this but I’m glad that at a time when I feel pool is getting ready to maybe really take off that these groups aren’t fighting between themselves holding it back.
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that's great news! hopefully less poolitics in the future
 
Some details

𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐏𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓?

According to Billiard Pool VN, Matchroom has signed a memorandum of agreement with the WPA, allowing players to compete in any tournament without facing penalties. This means those who played in the Hanoi Open 2024 will not be fined for joining future WPA events.

Matchroom reportedly made this decision after facing a lawsuit from the WPA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a legal battle that could have cost each party $8 million over the rights to the World Pool Championship. Losing the case would have jeopardized Matchroom’s 10-year contract with Saudi Arabia, as the deal requires the event to be WPA-sanctioned under the Vision 2030 program.

Billiard Pool VN also noted that Matchroom had already reached this agreement in early March, after the 2025 European Open faced a potential player shortage, with nearly 80 players refusing to participate in the event.
 
Did anyone read the article or see the horrible photochopped photos...? Anyone also notice the lack of announcement by either party actually involved..?

If it needed clarifying. The WNT (MR) does not need the permission of the WPA to have a World 9 Ball event/title... MR is also not sanctioning players for playing in WPA events. They only take issue with 'contracted' players not taking part in their events in favour of something else.

I have some quality land in Florida for sale if anyone is interested... just some standing water during certain times of year.

Fake news
 
The_JV said:
Did anyone read the article or see the horrible photochopped photos...? Anyone also notice the lack of announcement by either party actually involved..?

If it needed clarifying. The WNT (MR) does not need the permission of the WPA to have a World 9 Ball event/title... MR is also not sanctioning players for playing in WPA events. They only take issue with 'contracted' players not taking part in their events in favour of something else.

I have some quality land in Florida for sale if anyone is interested... just some standing water during certain times of year.

Fake news
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skepticism doesn't hurt. but i think absolute pool is a serious pool media actor, and the photo is from the WPA 9-ball championship 2023 which MR promoted
 
trob said:
... Matchroom reportedly made this decision after facing a lawsuit from the WPA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS),...
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I believe the lawsuit was in the other direction, but I might be confused. As I recall a previous successful lawsuit was against a different governing body (WPA equivalent) for banning players from independent events, and the WNT was starting a similar lawsuit.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I believe the lawsuit was in the other direction, but I might be confused. As I recall a previous successful lawsuit was against a different governing body (WPA equivalent) for banning players from independent events, and the WNT was starting a similar lawsuit.
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maybe not the same one, if this is specifically about the world championship. i think WPA is contesting WNT's right to have their top 128 ranked featured in the world championship. the WPA wants to pick from federations
 
skogstokig said:
maybe not the same one, if this is specifically about the world championship. i think WPA is contesting WNT's right to have their top 128 ranked featured in the world championship. the WPA wants to pick from federations
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I remember sometime back, Dragon (Charlie Williams) had the word "world" in the title of one of his 14.1 tournaments, and there was some scuttlebut about him using the word "world."
 
JAM said:
I remember sometime back, Dragon (Charlie Williams) had the word "world" in the title of one of his 14.1 tournaments, and there was some scuttlebut about him using the word "world."
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yes, but the matter there was insufficient prize money. i tend to agree that such a small prize fund dilutes the world championship title. i liked the event though, even after it lost it's sanctioning.
 
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JAM said:
I remember sometime back, Dragon (Charlie Williams) had the word "world" in the title of one of his 14.1 tournaments, and there was some scuttlebut about him using the word "world."
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The problem wasn't the word "world", the problem was he called it "The World Championship". He changed it to "World Tournament".
 
Bob Jewett said:
The problem wasn't the word "world", the problem was he called it "The World Championship". He changed it to "World Tournament".
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I just remember the word "world." By the way, since we're in the correction mode, unless you are British, the end quote after "world" in your post should be after the comma.

It's a bugaboo of mine when I see it used wrong. Of course, in England and elsewhere that uses the British stype of punctuation, it would be correct. :)

Source: https://prowritingaid.com/comma-before-or-after-quotation-marks (Retrieved March 21, 2025)

american-vs-british-comma-rules.png
 
I haven't seen anything official from either side. Only articles by 3rd party that to me, seem like they are "guessing" for ad hits. IMO.
 
JAM said:
It's a bugaboo of mine when I see it used wrong.
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"Wrong" or "wrongly"? The former is acceptable, and therefore correct, although the grammar police might insist that it is incorrect (and therefore used wrongly). I don't mind and I would never call anyone out on it unless they'd called someone out first - in the same way that I wouldn't call someone out who used "less" rather than "fewer" in cases where less is also correct.

There's no such thing as American or British English in any formal sense - it's all about usage. The local pool hall in any melting pot is a great example of this - where technical terms are interchangeable and understood by all regardless of where they originated.

Anyway, Bob's use of the comma appears stone cold correct given the natural grammar of the sentence in the context of the words that precede "world" (or could it be 'world'? (or even 'world?')) and qualify it regardless of which form of English he is defaulting to (sorry, "the form of English to which he defaults").

It's his comma and he used it correctly.
 
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Swighey said:
.... It's his comma and he used it correctly.
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Well, I do consciously put the ending/continuing punctuation outside the quotes, usually. To me, it usually makes more sense there for small groups of words. Quotes of conversations are different, often.
 
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