Major Titles?

Raph Cleary

Active member
There has never been defined "Major Titles" in pool and I believe this has been one of the downfalls for pool, other individual sports which are considered "sports" like tennis, golf or even snooker have all definitive "Majors". Tennis has 4 Majors, golf has 4 and snooker has 3.
If you talked to any current player or pundit today they would probably say the "World 9-Ball/Pool Championship" or the "U.S Open 9-Ball/Pool Championship", after that it get's a bit tricky. A major title in all likelihood requires status & longevity, other that the two tournaments already mentioned it's tough.
The "World Pool Masters" has been going for 28 years, but as many people have pointed out it's sort races and an invitational event.
Then you have many events that had status and longevity but had unfortunately come to an end, like the "International Challenge of Champions" that went for 25 years and ended in 2016 or the "Sands Regency Reno Open" that went for 23 years and ended in 2008.
On the other hand there are many newer events that have status like the "China Open 9-Ball/Pool Championship", "International Open 9-Ball/Pool Championship" or the "U.K. Open 9-Ball/Pool Championship" although haven't been around long enough.
So what I'm saying is I don't know, what do you think is considered a Major?
 
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Great post. Beyond the World 9-ball, the US Open 9-ball and the China Open 9-ball, which are the three toughest titles to win in the game and have been for many years, there's room for debate. The All-Japan was certainly a major for many years, but I'm not sure it still is. Perhaps yes.

There are definitely some newer events on the pool calendar that deserve to be considered as majors, including a) the UK Open, b) the European Open, c) the World 10-ball, d) the International Open 9-ball, and e) the World 8-ball. My sense is that now the Europeans are showing up in droves, the Derby City 9-ball may soon be considered a major, too.
 
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I think only time will tell. Hopefully some of these new ones, will be around for awhile!
I always considered the US open and world championship (before it moved to Qatar)
Where the only two that meant something!
The Derby City, ever year is a pilgrimage for any pool player. It's not a major. But It's been around awhile.
 
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Tennis has 8 Majors

hey there raph!

re: tennis
australian open
french open
wimbledon
us open
what are the other four?

good point about majors in pool
if there were more prestige about certain events, that would likely give pool as a whole a boost
I think matchroom, for example, knows this, and is working to bring those events to light
 
I'm of the opinion that 9 ball titles have more weight in the pool world. As much as we want something else to be the game of choice, 9 ball is here to stay.

With that said, the top major title is the us open followed by the derby 9 ball.

With matchroom taking the reigns of the world 9 ball, it will more than likely get back to major status as those years in Qatar really ruined the prestige of that title in my eyes. And with the addition of the uk open, I'm sure it will be a major title form years to come.

The international 9 ball open imo has been the best produced 9 ball event for as long as it has been around. And that field is super tough and definitely should be looked at as a major.

I don't have much of an opinion on the china open as I've never really watched any of it to be honest.
 
Pool has no structure like most sports who live by strength in numbers.

Pool is like 7 - 10 Orginizations each with small Lake, the people in charge of Lake think, and want to be the BIG FISH of the Little kingdom.

Long ago NFL & AFL joined forces to be THE NFL all thingS to pro football. Super Bowl works well, make money, and is big deal.

NFL Payer who make it 5 years in pros get nice pension.
 
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I'm of the opinion that 9 ball titles have more weight in the pool world. As much as we want something else to be the game of choice, 9 ball is here to stay.

With that said, the top major title is the us open followed by the derby 9 ball.

With matchroom taking the reigns of the world 9 ball, it will more than likely get back to major status as those years in Qatar really ruined the prestige of that title in my eyes. And with the addition of the uk open, I'm sure it will be a major title form years to come.

The international 9 ball open imo has been the best produced 9 ball event for as long as it has been around. And that field is super tough and definitely should be looked at as a major.

I don't have much of an opinion on the china open as I've never really watched any of it to be honest.
I used to agree about 9 ball 20 years ago when pool got more air time on Cable TV channels, because it was so easy to flood with commercials. With mainly streaming anymore I think 10 ball (which I actually like even less than 9 ball) and 1 pocket have gained a lot of ground. Regarding majors it doesn't really matter as long as the final matches are played in bars at 1 am with 30 spectators watching. Sponsors will never give up serious money to promote their pool products to hardcore pool players which is all that are still sweating matches by then. Those players already have the newest gear anyway. You have to promote big matches to big audiences to get more people in the game.
 
hey there raph!

re: tennis
australian open
french open
wimbledon
us open
what are the other four?

good point about majors in pool
if there were more prestige about certain events, that would likely give pool as a whole a boost
I think matchroom, for example, knows this, and is working to bring those events to light
I was thinking the same thing – 8 majors in tennis?
 
I just check the fargorates. Whoever is at the top owns the real title. Until they walk into a bar sometime and lose that title to some no name in the boonies. But the world will never know. And life goes on.
 
Wow, there's some major disregard for the China Open 9-ball in this thread. Perhaps some have forgotten it due to its two- year absence as a result of the pandemic.

Anyone who cares to take a closer look will find that the fields found at the China Open over the past fifteen to twenty years are stronger, on average, than the fields found at the US Open 9-ball in that same period. The US Open field quality probably only caught up to the China Open's in the last five years. That said, I believe it will pass the China Open in prestige.

On another note, I think the WPC is more, not less, prestigious since Matchroom took it over and made it a 256-player extravaganza with the widest possible internationally diverse field. It's the hardest event to win on the world pool calendar, even harder than the China Open 9-ball and US Open 9-ball.
 
I would put any event accredited by the WPA as a "major" vs something like a bar table tournament that still has many top players show up due to the huge Calcutta. Or maybe go by first prize moneys, say $25,000 and up we can call a "major". Or by the top players that play there, you have 10 or more top 100 world players there? It's a Major.
 
Wow, there's some major disregard for the China Open 9-ball in this thread. Perhaps some have forgotten it due to its two- year absence as a result of the pandemic.

Anyone who cares to take a closer look will find that the fields found at the China Open over the past fifteen to twenty years are stronger, on average, than the fields found at the US Open 9-ball in that same period. The US Open field quality probably only caught up to the China Open's in the last five years. That said, I believe it will pass the China Open in prestige.

On another note, I think the WPC is more, not less, prestigious since Matchroom took it over and made it a 256-player extravaganza with the widest possible internationally diverse field. It's the hardest event to win on the world pool calendar, even harder than the China Open 9-ball and US Open 9-ball.
I wish the rain of 9 Ball could stay in the United States, We need to bring 9 ball back here and stay with 9 ball... I see we in this country have made 9 Ball our game... Let UK have snooker and 10 ball , Asian have 8 ball, But at least keep the 9 Ball game here in the States... Guy
 
Great post. Beyond the World 9-ball, the US Open 9-ball and the China Open 9-ball, which are the three toughest titles to win in the game and have been for many years, there's room for debate. The All-Japan was certainly a major for many years, but I'm not sure it still is. Perhaps yes.

There are definitely some newer events on the pool calendar that deserve to be considered as majors, including a) the UK Open, b) the European Open, c) the World 10-ball, d) the International Open 9-ball, and e) the World 8-ball. My sense is that now the Europeans are showing up in droves, the Derby City 9-ball may soon be considered a major, too.
Ok Great, If those are the definitive out lines for what majors would be in the sport (World 9-ball, the US Open 9-ball and the China Open 9-ball), by definition we can reasonable determine the best players...…..usually!

Men's-
1. Earl Strickland- 8 Majors.
2. Shane Van Boening- 6 Majors.
3. Joshua Filler, Wu Jia-qing, Thorsten Hohmann, Darren Appleton, Albin Ouschan, Mika Immonen, Johnny Archer, Mike Sigel, Nick Varner- 3 Majors.

Women's
1. Allison Fisher- 10 Majors
2. Kim Ga-young- 7 Majors
3. Chen Siming, Liu Shasha, Han Yu- 4 Majors
 
Ok Great, If those are the definitive out lines for what majors would be in the sport (World 9-ball, the US Open 9-ball and the China Open 9-ball), by definition we can reasonable determine the best players...…..usually!

Men's-
1. Earl Strickland- 8 Majors.
2. Shane Van Boening- 6 Majors.
3. Joshua Filler, Wu Jia-qing, Thorsten Hohmann, Darren Appleton, Albin Ouschan, Mika Immonen, Johnny Archer, Mike Sigel, Nick Varner- 3 Majors.

Women's
1. Allison Fisher- 10 Majors
2. Kim Ga-young- 7 Majors
3. Chen Siming, Liu Shasha, Han Yu- 4 Majors
Yes, those are the rotational pool majors and good job on the tabulations for the men. On the women's side, you'd have to include things like the Amway Cup, the BCA Open and the WPBA Nationals, which are all indisputable majors, to be more accurate, but you've still come up with a good list.

Of course, some of those listed won WPA sanctioned world championships in other disciplines, especially in the straight pool era. My best guess is that Sigel won about four in straight pool. The US Open 14.1 was also a major for sure, Mizerak won many of them, including four in a row, along with his world championships in 14.1.

Nice post!
 
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