Quality of the field is everything. Couldn't care less who,if anyone, sanctioned it. Sanctioning bodies, imo, tend to be nothing more than stuffed-shirt blowhards.
Yes and no. I agree that quality of the field is everything, but the WPA field filling methodology is a time-tested way of getting that special field that you and I prefer.
For example, a field in which only Europeans are invited cannot gain sanctioning as a world championship, no matter how strong that field is and, as we both know, it could be VERY strong. Similarly, if a tournament failed to invite any of the top five in the world by ranking, even if its field was super-strong, it could not gain sanctioning as a world championship. WPA sanctioned world championship guidelines mandate that event producers reach out to the federations under WPA, with the best known of them being the BCA for America, the EPBF for Europe and the APBU for Asia, and the federations ensure that invitations are based on rankings and merit.
Without the field filling rules of the WPA, we'd get weaker fields in the world championships, and the door would be wide open for bias and corruption in the field-filling methodology of the producer, something pool really doesn't need.
WPA has long done a creditable job when it comes to ensuring that world championship fields are super-elite, and I think others, especially Matchroom, which now handles invites and seeding based on its nine-ball rankings, are starting to follow suit to the great benefit of our sport.
I think we see this the same way, my friend, for we both want the strongest possible fields, but WPA sanctioning requirements continue to play a big role in the extent to which we'll get what we want.
Nick Varner
Efren Reyes
Mika Immonen
