Lot of speculation after this CPBA post on Facebook. Matchroom recently signed a deal making CPBA its official cloth supplier.
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The image says CPBA is the official sponsor of all Major Matchroom events. The events listed are the UK, European, US, Florida and Arizona opens, the WPC, the PLP and the Reyes and Mosconi cups.
Missing: The Hanoi Open.
Matchroom has not announced a date for Hanoi, but that can't be why the CPBA doesn't list the event. MR has also not published the date of the WPC, either.
There is also a thread on 77 Billiards speculating about this. Some unconfirmed talk MR couldn't renew it arena contract.
Hmm. Is this why WNT created the Philippines Open last year and Arizona Open this year?
***
What to think? It's hard for me to believe Matchroom is abandoning Vietnam for good. The event has been a huge success, especially symbolically.
There are some problems, however.
For one thing, the event takes place during monsoon season. Last year was a near disaster due to flooding. The outside of the arena was in terrible shape, and inside wasn't much better. Attendance fell off appreciably.
If I am not mistaken, the arena used for the event also relied on lots of temporary AC units to keep the inside cool, but it didn't seem to work well. Carlo Biado indicated the playing conditions were the worst he ever experienced at a big event.
***
The schedule of the event last year was also problematic.
The WPA China Open took place Sept. 7-14.
The Predator/WPA World 10-ball championship took place Sept. 20-28 in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Peri Open, affiliated with WNT, ran Oct 2-5.
The Predator WPA 8-ball World Championship took place Oct 9-13 in Bali.
The Hanoi Open took place at the same time as the Bali event, running from Oct. 8-12.
The packed schedule and conflict with Bali led many players to skip Hanoi, including Shane Van Boening, Joshua Filler, the Kaci brothers, Albin Ouschan, Naoyuki Oi and all the top Polish players.
The Ko brothers chose to play in the Predator 10-ball event and the Peri, skipping Hanoi for heyball. And why not? The Peri offered the same large prize fund as Hanoi. Ouschan, Oi and the Kaci brothers also all played at the Peri.
***
I can think of a few scenarios.
First, maybe there is no more room for the Peri and Hanoi opens around the same time. Predator has a long-term contract to host the World 10-ball championship in Vietnam in September. It's also holding a big even in Bali again in October. The Qatar Open, what's more, takes place later in October.
If so, the WNT could hang it hat on the Peri, at least for now. The Peri took place in Da Nang. It was played in a nicer climate-controlled arena. The event was well organized. And the prize fund was just as good as Hanoi.
The Peri, in fact, had a much better field than Hanoi. The only top 25 player missing was SVB.
Another option: The WNT returns in the near future, say 2027, after finding a new location and perhaos a less busy time in the calendar.
Three, the WNT quits Vietnam for good, Peri or no Peri.
CPBA Cloth
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The image says CPBA is the official sponsor of all Major Matchroom events. The events listed are the UK, European, US, Florida and Arizona opens, the WPC, the PLP and the Reyes and Mosconi cups.
Missing: The Hanoi Open.
Matchroom has not announced a date for Hanoi, but that can't be why the CPBA doesn't list the event. MR has also not published the date of the WPC, either.
There is also a thread on 77 Billiards speculating about this. Some unconfirmed talk MR couldn't renew it arena contract.
Hmm. Is this why WNT created the Philippines Open last year and Arizona Open this year?
***
What to think? It's hard for me to believe Matchroom is abandoning Vietnam for good. The event has been a huge success, especially symbolically.
There are some problems, however.
For one thing, the event takes place during monsoon season. Last year was a near disaster due to flooding. The outside of the arena was in terrible shape, and inside wasn't much better. Attendance fell off appreciably.
If I am not mistaken, the arena used for the event also relied on lots of temporary AC units to keep the inside cool, but it didn't seem to work well. Carlo Biado indicated the playing conditions were the worst he ever experienced at a big event.
***
The schedule of the event last year was also problematic.
The WPA China Open took place Sept. 7-14.
The Predator/WPA World 10-ball championship took place Sept. 20-28 in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Peri Open, affiliated with WNT, ran Oct 2-5.
The Predator WPA 8-ball World Championship took place Oct 9-13 in Bali.
The Hanoi Open took place at the same time as the Bali event, running from Oct. 8-12.
The packed schedule and conflict with Bali led many players to skip Hanoi, including Shane Van Boening, Joshua Filler, the Kaci brothers, Albin Ouschan, Naoyuki Oi and all the top Polish players.
The Ko brothers chose to play in the Predator 10-ball event and the Peri, skipping Hanoi for heyball. And why not? The Peri offered the same large prize fund as Hanoi. Ouschan, Oi and the Kaci brothers also all played at the Peri.
***
I can think of a few scenarios.
First, maybe there is no more room for the Peri and Hanoi opens around the same time. Predator has a long-term contract to host the World 10-ball championship in Vietnam in September. It's also holding a big even in Bali again in October. The Qatar Open, what's more, takes place later in October.
If so, the WNT could hang it hat on the Peri, at least for now. The Peri took place in Da Nang. It was played in a nicer climate-controlled arena. The event was well organized. And the prize fund was just as good as Hanoi.
The Peri, in fact, had a much better field than Hanoi. The only top 25 player missing was SVB.
Another option: The WNT returns in the near future, say 2027, after finding a new location and perhaos a less busy time in the calendar.
Three, the WNT quits Vietnam for good, Peri or no Peri.
