The World 8 Ball Championship was interesting, for lack of a better word. The tournament began with 112 players and they are divided into group stages in order to qualify for a 56 man single elimination field. One interesting thing about the qualifying round was that the top 8 players who conceded the least racks were awarded by being seeded into the Final 32. Two players tied for the 8th seed and had to play a knockout race to 3 match for the last bye. The format of the group stage was an alternatum break, race to 7. If a player had lost his first match in the group stage, he was still eligible to qualify by winning the following matches through the losers' bracket of his group.
Once a player has one the qualifying round, it was then a single elimination tournament to the final. The format for the single elimination round was then changed to winner breaks, race to 9. I've witnessed a lot of great play throughout this tournament, some players in fact breaking and running the whole set. But on the flip side, unfortunately, the opposing player did not even have a chance to make their debut for a fighting chance on the table.
After listening to some of the players' feedback about this tournament, it all came down to the break. Making a ball on the break along with big table pockets enabled some players to make a long break and run streak in many of the matches. This was the case in most of the matches, being that I rarely saw or heard of a match throughout the tournament that included any safety or tactical play. 112 entries including some of the most talented in the world, no player should have to sit in his chair throughout the entire match without even a chance to put a score on the board. For this level of play, it seems to me that either the format or the equipment did not seem fit.
In fact, it is surprising that a tournament described as "World Class" had no schedule for the week. Most of the players after playing their last match of the night had no clue when they would be playing the following day. I am guessing the matches scheduled for the day were posted on a bulletin in the venue lobby first thing in the morning or late evening the previous day. Actually, on a Sunday of this "World Class" tournament, some of the players were told there were to play Monday. As they show up for their match that day, they are told there was a typo in the schedule and their matches are actually scheduled for Tuesday. Surely you will never find this happening in any other world class sporting event.
In addition, I was highly surprised and disappointed that there was no live stream for this event. I understand that it may be a long trip for a camera crew to come for the minimal amount of PPV viewers they may get, but there is a relatively large pool fan base who I'm sure would love to watch the matches (even though the majority was break and run) and not have to keep refreshing their computer screen to see the score of a match change. I did see a camera crew at the event, but I am assuming they were filming only for a local television station in Fujairah. At the beginning of the event, there were many locals coming to watch the matches but I am not positive they had any clue about pool. They would walk in front of the players' line of vision, take pictures with the flash, have their cellphone ringer on, and sometimes even pick up their cellphones. The organizers had caught on during the week.. But there are escorts at every entrance and it would do the event well to notify all the volunteers of the event what to control amongst the crowd.
All in all, the players should be thankful to the organizers of the event and the sponsors who made the prize fund (in comparison to last year) possible. It would do them well to voice their opinions to the organizers, in a respectful manner of course. Without such organizers and sponsors with passion for the sport, the event would not be possible. But hopefully, they will take the players' concerns about the tournament into consideration for next year.
Once a player has one the qualifying round, it was then a single elimination tournament to the final. The format for the single elimination round was then changed to winner breaks, race to 9. I've witnessed a lot of great play throughout this tournament, some players in fact breaking and running the whole set. But on the flip side, unfortunately, the opposing player did not even have a chance to make their debut for a fighting chance on the table.
After listening to some of the players' feedback about this tournament, it all came down to the break. Making a ball on the break along with big table pockets enabled some players to make a long break and run streak in many of the matches. This was the case in most of the matches, being that I rarely saw or heard of a match throughout the tournament that included any safety or tactical play. 112 entries including some of the most talented in the world, no player should have to sit in his chair throughout the entire match without even a chance to put a score on the board. For this level of play, it seems to me that either the format or the equipment did not seem fit.
In fact, it is surprising that a tournament described as "World Class" had no schedule for the week. Most of the players after playing their last match of the night had no clue when they would be playing the following day. I am guessing the matches scheduled for the day were posted on a bulletin in the venue lobby first thing in the morning or late evening the previous day. Actually, on a Sunday of this "World Class" tournament, some of the players were told there were to play Monday. As they show up for their match that day, they are told there was a typo in the schedule and their matches are actually scheduled for Tuesday. Surely you will never find this happening in any other world class sporting event.
In addition, I was highly surprised and disappointed that there was no live stream for this event. I understand that it may be a long trip for a camera crew to come for the minimal amount of PPV viewers they may get, but there is a relatively large pool fan base who I'm sure would love to watch the matches (even though the majority was break and run) and not have to keep refreshing their computer screen to see the score of a match change. I did see a camera crew at the event, but I am assuming they were filming only for a local television station in Fujairah. At the beginning of the event, there were many locals coming to watch the matches but I am not positive they had any clue about pool. They would walk in front of the players' line of vision, take pictures with the flash, have their cellphone ringer on, and sometimes even pick up their cellphones. The organizers had caught on during the week.. But there are escorts at every entrance and it would do the event well to notify all the volunteers of the event what to control amongst the crowd.
All in all, the players should be thankful to the organizers of the event and the sponsors who made the prize fund (in comparison to last year) possible. It would do them well to voice their opinions to the organizers, in a respectful manner of course. Without such organizers and sponsors with passion for the sport, the event would not be possible. But hopefully, they will take the players' concerns about the tournament into consideration for next year.
