WPC,is it the toughest tournament to win?

[recoveryjones]

I was just wondering which tourney that everyone thought was the toughest modern day tournament to win?


I think that the World Pool Championships are the toughest to win or at very least amongst the toughest. Here are my reasons why:

1. First of all qualifying for this tournament is very tough.Read the very tough criteria here(link below) for even getting into this tournament.
http://www.worldpoolchampionships.com/qualification_system.asp
This tournament isn't based on a large money entry,you must be good in your region to get in.Sure there are a few marginal players who get in because their are is rahter weak,however,in most cases you get in because you are good.....consistently...REALLY GOOD!

2.Once you are in you must survive the group stages which means winning in most cases 4 matches out of seven just to make it to the knockout stage.

3. Once you get to the knockout stage you must win EVERY single match thereafter to become world champion.There is no double knockout second chance factor(like most other tournaments) here of coming back on the one loss side.If you lose just one match, you are toast,goodnight ,asta la vista.
That makes every match, a pressure packed encounter.

You must go undeafeated against six opponents who are amongst the greatest players on the planet.Unlike most tournaments everyone is here for this one.The very greatest players from the Phillipines,Taiwan,Germany, The USA, the Netherlands etc etc are all here.



4. Other pressure factors are as follows:

- This is a nine day MARATHON that the eventual winner must endure and for most it takes place in a foriegn country that is very vocal for it's local players.

-This is one of the biggest prize payouts in pool with $75,000 going to the winner.

-To win this tournament you must win several long matches to 9,11 and then a grueling marathon to 17 in the finals.These longer races definitley reduce the fluke factor.

- Most of the latter matches that a champion will have to endure are played on the TV table in front of a large audience and a massive TV audience.A lot of players fold up like a cheap Walmart tent, under the TV lights.

-Finally:You are playing for the dream title that every pool player wants to be recognized as" The Champion of the World".The majority of pool players will tell you that this is THE tournament they'd rather win than any other.

In summary this is one pressure packed,grueling marathon against the greatest players on the planet. After the knockout stages, there is no easy match. Anyone can beat anyone and lose once and your out.

Since 1999 when the tournament went into the present modern day format, no-one has one back-to-back or repeated.This is one tough tournament to win.In my opinion, the toughest in all of modern day pool. RJ

 

[SplicedPoints]

I once heard a notable TV pool announcer said he thinks the US Open's the hardest tournament to win. I can't but disagree with that comment. US Open's probably the 2nd hardest because you won't find the majority of the Asian players in the tournament.

 

[cheemagun]

WPC is the hardest period. only the best of the best can get in. only the best will prevail. but i think for the 64 and on they should make it a race to 11 and the finals 17

 

[JustPlay]

I once heard a notable TV pool announcer said he thinks the US Open's the hardest tournament to win. I can't but disagree with that comment. US Open's probably the 2nd hardest because you won't find the majority of the Asian players in the tournament.

The US open used to be a very difficult tourny to win. In 2000 there were over 300 players and a $50,000 first place prize. Strickland won it (to no suprise). Just that amount of players signified a rise in mens pro pool and it was a race to 11. But today, the US open may just bring in less than half of that amount. In 2004 there were about a half dozen players that got knocked to the one-loss side of the brackets and just quit without even playing the rest of there matches (as reported on AZB), which I am sure helped alot of players advanced in the Tourny.

The WPC is by far the most difficult 9-ball tournament to win for all of the reasoned listed above. Strickland is the only American who has won the tournament in the last 10 years(+/-). The DCC is mixed bag, in that it has short races with buy backs.

When you really think about it, there are not alot of big tournaments in the US that are around to compare to the WPC.....

 

[Snapshot9]

Why ...

Why make Pool tournaments harder? They are hard enough to win.

Maybe, if they paid a LOT more money, you could make them harder, but until
then, I don't see a need to.

Consider the amount of games that have to be won overall to win a major
tournament, and compare to other sports. Consider also the final match
in any sport, and how many games have to be won to win the Championship, like the World Series, NBA Championship, Soccer, Tennis, or many sports. Even
single player sports like bowling or table tennis.

You will not determine who the BEST player in the world is from 1 tournament.
That is done over time and from many tournaments. There are any number
of pro players capable of winning a tournament on any given day, but can they do it over a year, 2 years, 5 years, 15 years?

 

[JustPlay]

Why make Pool tournaments harder? They are hard enough to win.

Maybe, if they paid a LOT more money, you could make them harder, but until
then, I don't see a need to.

Consider the amount of games that have to be won overall to win a major
tournament, and compare to other sports. Consider also the final match
in any sport, and how many games have to be won to win the Championship, like the World Series, NBA Championship, Soccer, Tennis, or many sports. Even
single player sports like bowling or table tennis.

You will not determine who the BEST player in the world is from 1 tournament.
That is done over time and from many tournaments. There are any number
of pro players capable of winning a tournament on any given day, but can they do it over a year, 2 years, 5 years, 15 years?

This is why pro pool will never see the masses get involved in it. The length of time to get at a pro level, only a handful of people are going to win a tournament (a pro tournament) and its usually the same people winning it.

Nobody is trying to make tournaments harder, they are just trying to determine which tournaments contain a tougher field inwhich a pro player or a real good player has a chance of winning. The WPC has stricker requirements. That is partly why the WPC is not held in the US any longer. More participating players from other parts of the world, better fan support, tv coverage and the event is better produced by the promoters....

 

[mjantti]

Yes.

 

[sjm]

This is beyond obvious. There is just one event on the global pool calendar that attracts nearly all of the world's elite players. It is called the WPC. Not only is it the hardest event to win today, but it's the hardest event to win in the history of the nineball era.

 

[sniper]

WPC is the hardest nineball tournament to win and anybody that thinks otherwise needs a CT scan. With the top Taiwanese, Filipino, Euroupean, and North American players the field is the toughest and most diverse out of all modern day tournaments. When players like Feijen and Engert aren't advancing past the group stages you know you got a pretty tough field.

 

[recoveryjones]

This is beyond obvious. There is just one event on the global pool calendar that attracts nearly all of the world's elite players. It is called the WPC. Not only is it the hardest event to win today, but it's the hardest event to win in the history of the nineball era.

....AMEN!!!