World 8 Ball Championships - Ridiculousness

Roy Steffensen said:
You say off year. What do you mean, cause from what I can tell he cashed in world 8-ball, world 9-ball, world 10-ball, china open, all eurotours and all tourstops at great britain 9-ball tour. That's a lot of playing for a guy having a year off.

Don't get me wrong, I mean there should be a 5 year invite for past champs and would love to see Karl playing the world 8-ball, but when he is no longer defending champ and played all those events in 2011 but failed to get high enough on the ranking/meet the critieria to be chosen, why should he get a spot?
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Wait? So you're saying that a guy who wins the World title one year, then places one spot short of the final 16 on the following year, hasn't performed well enough to get an invite?

And remember this is 8 ball that were talking about. How well he did in other games during the year shouldn't even come into consideration. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

As for having an off year, yes. He had a kid and didn't have time to focus on pool like he normally would.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
... Don't get me wrong, I mean there should be a 5 year invite for past champs and would love to see Karl playing the world 8-ball, but when he is no longer defending champ and played all those events in 2011 but failed to get high enough on the ranking/meet the critieria to be chosen, why should he get a spot?
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On the other hand, he is probably free to enter if he wants through the on-site qualifiers. I think they usually have a dozen or so. Maybe Doug knows for this year.

On a related issue, I think most players at the World Championships are fully paid for by their national federations. If all past winners are invited, who should pay their expenses?
 
nathandumoulin said:
Wait? So you're saying that a guy who wins the World title one year, then places one spot short of the final 16 on the following year, hasn't performed well enough to get an invite?

And remember this is 8 ball that were talking about. How well he did in other games during the year shouldn't even come into consideration. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

As for having an off year, yes. He had a kid and didn't have time to focus on pool like he normally would.
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As long as there are no, and haven't been, a rule for inviting past champs, I don't see why they should make one now just cause Karl failed to qualify by the other routes.

I totally agree with you that it is wrong to qualify by playing rotation pool, but that's the way it is and have been for years now. The players know that. Again, I don't think they should change the rules just cause Karl failed to qualify.

Many people are having "off" years (meaning playing bad), and when they do, they miss events they need to play good to qualify to.

I'm happy for Karl that he got a kid, but that is not a reason to get a spot in a tournament if you are having an off year, meaning not playing good enough.
 
Bob Jewett said:
On the other hand, he is probably free to enter if he wants through the on-site qualifiers. I think they usually have a dozen or so. Maybe Doug knows for this year.
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Yes Bob I do know a little. There are eight spots up for grabs. But two tournaments are restricted to players from the host country (UAE) and another is limited to players who come under the banner of The West Asian Federation (Arabs only).

The other five spots are open to anyone so theoretically UAE players can play eight events and Arab players can play in six.
PM me if you want to play and I will send you the entry information (I don't have it at the moment)
 
Bob Jewett said:
On the other hand, he is probably free to enter if he wants through the on-site qualifiers. I think they usually have a dozen or so. Maybe Doug knows for this year.

On a related issue, I think most players at the World Championships are fully paid for by their national federations. If all past winners are invited, who should pay their expenses?
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Sounds like it might be an issue with his national federation then. Maybe he wasn't playing in enough tournaments to earn a sponsorship.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
As long as there are no, and haven't been, a rule for inviting past champs, I don't see why they should make one now just cause Karl failed to qualify by the other routes.
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What? Roy, come on. :confused:

The point of the thread isn't to change the rules for Karl. That's obviously not going to happen. The purpose is to discuss a better way of inviting players in future years, as clearly the existing method is heavily flawed.
 
nathandumoulin said:
What? Roy, come on. :confused:

The point of the thread isn't to change the rules for Karl. That's obviously not going to happen. The purpose is to discuss a better way of inviting players in future years, as clearly the existing method is heavily flawed.
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If that's the way you feel, and you want to do something about it, why not work from within. I think the WPA board always needs energetic young people. Write down what you feel are good regulations for entry to the WC8B and send it to them.

You may also want to contact the EPBF which I believe determines which players from Europe will be sent to the WCs.

In addition, if Karl wants to play you could sponsor him to go to the five qualifiers that will be held at the venue just prior to the competition. I'll put in $100.

Or, you could just continue to whine here.
 
Y'all relax! The final chapter of this book is yet to be written. I expect to see Karl in the field. Give the proper process some time to work.
 
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