Advani Unhappy – Not Disheartened for Failing in World Billiards Championship

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Posted on 31st August 2010 by admin in Billiards

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Pankaj Advani is confident of retaining the crowns at the National Billiards and Snooker Championship commencing in Pune from Monday and he is not disheartened with the failed title defense in recent World billiards championship. He was critical of the timing schedule of the tournament.

Advani is currently the defending champion in both billiards and snooker formats. In the Nationals, he is geared up to negotiate. He said, “I am confident of retaining the national titles. Geet Sethi, Dhruv Sitwala and Ashok Shandilya will present a tough challenge in the championship but I am hopeful of delivering the best”.

However, he was not happy with the scheduling of the dates by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India and it has left him physically and mentally tired.

He said, “I’ll say that it’s not ideal to organize back-to-back tournaments. The schedule is a bit too long. You have 1 5 days of Nationals, before that you had t he World Championship. It’s not a good idea. It takes a toll on your body”.

Pankaj Advani and Geet Sethi both opened their campaigns with lop-sided victories at the Dr DY Patil National Billiards Championship, fresh from their performances at the World Billiards and Snooker Championship held here recently. It was organized by the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra at the P YC Hindu Gymkhana on Monday.

Easy straight-frame victories were secured by Devendra Joshi and Sourav Kothari. They started their national championship campaign on a winning note.

While Advani put out Amit Lath 3-0 (100-59, 101(84)-25, 101(101)-80) and Kothari defeated Pamin Shah 3-0 (101 (81)-34, 101(85)-54, 100 -31), in the league matches which are being played in a 100-up, Best of 5 for mat, Sethi thrashed D Raj Kumar 3-0 (102)-20, (102)-00, (102)-43.

Pool/Billiards: World Cup of Pool set for Manila

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Posted on 31st August 2010 by admin in Pool

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Filipino pool legends, Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, are renewing their celebrated partnership September 7-12 for the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool. This will be their third run for the crown. The tournament will take place at Robinson’s Place in midtown Manila.

“We hope to win it again, but it’s going to be difficult because there are many good players out there,” said Reyes, in Filipino, during the launch yesterday at the Solar Century Tower in Makati City.

“We’re expecting another exciting tournament just like last year,” said Solar Sport’s CEO, Wilson Cheng.

The Philippines has been awarded a second slot by Matchroom Sport, which owns the entire franchise. And with the Philippines being the host country, they are helping pave the way for another explosive pair, Dennis Orcollo and Roberto Gomez.

The Reyes-Bustamante team, online gaming favorite, will be opening its campaign on Sept. 7th by taking on Thailand’s Nitiway Kanjanasari and Surathep Poochalam at 6 p.m. Four years ago, Reyes-Bustamante topped the inaugural edition in Newport, Wales, as well as last year at the SM North Edsa.

Reyes has said they are not going to underestimate the Thais, considering they lost to the same team in the nine-ball doubles back in 2007 at the Thailand Southeast Asian Games. Reyes said of games, “we’re still embarrassed by that loss.”

Orcollo and Gomez, who replaced Ronnie Alcano, will debut on Sept. 8th against Croatia’s Carlo Dalmatin and Philipp Stojanovic. This tournament will take place at 6 p.m.

Between the serious participants that are expected to win the title includes Finland’s Mika “The Iceman” Immonen & Markus Java, Germany’s Ralf Soquet & Oliver Ortmann, Chinese Taipei’s Pin Yi & Chang Jung Lin, and the United States’ Rodney Morris & Johnny Archer.

The champions will take in an incredible $60,000 with the runner-ups claiming $30,000. The total cash prizes will be handed out after the six-day event.

World Billiards Championship set for India: Pool

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Posted on 19th August 2010 by admin in Pool

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From the August 20 to 28, the International Billiard and Snooker Federation’s much-awaited skill games, IBSF World Billiards Championship will be held.

From over fifteen different countries, the tournament will host players. This year’s event will be once again hosted by India. At the PYC Hindu Gymkhana Club in Pune, Maharashtra, the competition will be held.

Pune is the second largest city in the state of Maharashtra and it is the eight largest metropolitan area in India. Pune being the second largest city in the state of Maharashtra and it is a fast emerging center of IT and business, as well.

The site of the 2009 IBSF World Billiards Championship was Pune too. The PYC Hindu Gymkhana Club holds 12 match tables and 4 practice tables and it has the capacity to hold 200 spectators.

Last year, after defeating Geet Sethi and Devendra Joshi, India’s Pankaj Advani emerged as the champion.

According to Point Format rules and regulations, this event will be played. In the year 2000, Point Format is a recent form of billiards, which was implemented.

At the same time as the IBSF World Billiards Championship, the National Billiards and Snooker Championship will also begin in order to allow for younger talents to be exposed to each competition live.

Kim Rewrites history at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship

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Posted on 4th August 2010 by admin in Billiards

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Against all comers during the Women’s Professional Billiards Association (WPBA) U.S. Open 9-Ball this past weekend, Ga Young Kim successfully defended her title, ultimately fighting off Karen Corr in the finals. Riverwind Casino in Norman, OK hosted the four-day event and it featured a 64-player field.

Through the field until the end, both Kim and Corr went undefeated. Kim and Corr went undefeated; Corr had bested Dana Aft 9-3 and Nicole Keeney 9-5 to reach the final 16. In addition, Nicole Keeney 9-5 to reach the final 16, there she had a close match. The races were shortened to 7, with only eight players left. Kim Shaw was eliminated by Kim Shaw 7-5 and advanced to meet Vivian Villareal, whom she whitewashed 7-0.

Veronique Menard 9-2, Monica Webb 9-4 and Dawn Hopkins 9-5 were the victories that were included in the Kim’s journey. In the round of 16, she edged past Webb again after their hill-hill bout and went on to face Gerda “G-Force” Hofstatter, whom she defeated 7-3. Kim was put in the finals against “The Irish Invader”, a quick 7-2 drubbing of Julie Kelly.

With neither player giving up an inch, the final match went all the way to the hilt. Finally, Kim broke the last rack, she dug deep to pocket it, though she left herself tough on the 9 ball and claim her U.S. Open title for the second year in a row. Kim was in great form throughout the series.

Barry Hearn elected new Billiards/Snooker boss

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Posted on 5th June 2010 by admin in Billiards

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Barry Hearn was elected to take control of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) at a meeting Thursday in England.
As chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation, Hearn brought Darts into the mainstream and says he hopes to do the same with professional Billiards and Snooker.

He was elected by a vote of 35-29 by 64 of the world’s top players. He ran against John Davidson who is a former Olympic shooter who was backed by Stephen Hendry. Despite the backing of Davidson by Hendry, Davidson did not obtain the votes needed to gain control of the WPBSA.

Instead he was very humble with his congratulations wishes to Hearn. The newly elected pledged to make various changes in the sport such as higher prize rates. Not only did he promise this eye opener, but he also stated that if he fails he would resign and the players and stockholders will own 49% of World Snooker which he foresees to become an independent business.

The news of Hearn’s’ election is a breath of fresh air for the organization. Hearn is not a nobody in the sports area; he revitalized the darts now he wants to do the same for snooker.

As for Davidson, this was not his first run for this bidding. He ran for this bidding in 2002 and did not succeed. His proposal at the time would have given him 63% in the World Snooker and gave him power for a period of 15 years. Not to mention he also threw in a whopping 5M which is 500,000 more than what Hearn proposed. As we see the players were not going for it.

2010 – US Open 10-ball championship – Pool – Las Vegas

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Posted on 25th May 2010 by admin in Pool

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In Las Vegas, the Inaugural 2010 US Open 10-ball championship is underway. At the Riverwalk Hotel and Casino, the event is taking place. This event has drawn a lot of attention.

By the citizens of the United States, the event is most heavily attended, but has drawn the attention of people from Taiwan, Spain, the Philippines, Korea, England, and Canada just to name a few of the countries that are represented at the 2010 US Open 10-ball championship. As countries from all over the world strive to participate, this sort of international participation could drive the sport to success.

The field consists of one hundred and twenty eight players. To win the grand prize of twenty thousand dollars, each of these players is competing and the prize will be awarded to first place. Prizes range from five hundred dollars to twenty thousand dollars. This includes a one thousand dollar bonus to the top woman finisher and a five hundred dollar bonus to the second place woman finisher.

For months, this event has been anticipated and is regarded as a favorite event for internet betting. In order to fill the one hundred and twenty eight person field and to qualify for the event the CSI (CueSports International) held a series of nine qualifying events spread across the United States and Canada.

On the 17th of May, the event actually began and all results will be final as of the 22nd of May. At this time we will find out the Inaugural 2010 US Open 10-ball Championship winner.

John Higgins surrounded by Shame and Controversy

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Posted on 6th May 2010 by admin in Snooker & Pool

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The number one snooker player in the world is beloved Scotsman John Higgins. With the most recent being in 2009, he has won 3 world championships. He also has ranked in the top 16 snooker players in the world for 10 consecutive years. The alleged accusations that he accepted bribes for fixing snooker matches, however threatened to destroy his legacy forever.

A British Tabloid journal, News of the World, first broke the story. The reporters of the paper posed as businessmen who were interested in discussing future snooker events with Higgins and it was actually the paper’s undercover operation. In a hotel room in Kiev, Ukraine, the meeting took place. These businessmen allegedly offered money to the world champion to throw frames in upcoming matches, during this conversation. According the News of the World, Higgins, along with his manager Pat Mooney was filmed agreeing to throw four separate frames in four different upcoming matches for $398,000.

Any and all claims of bribery were denied by Higgins and Mooney. In fear of his physical safety, he only continued with the conversation According to bet online favorite star, Higgins. Higgins says he went along with the conversation in order to get out of the room without being harmed and thought the men were Russian mafia. He has vowed to clear his name.

World Professional Billboards Association pending a full investigation, suspended John Higgins from competing professionally in snooker on May 2, 2010.

Preview the U.S. Open 9-Ball Billiards Championships

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Posted on 27th April 2010 by admin in Billiards

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While it is not sure who will actually make it to the 9 Ball Championships this year, one this that is for sure is that it will be quite the tournament of talent. This year marks the 35th Annual U.S. Open. The dates of this event are October 17 through October 23, 2010 and will be held at the beautiful Chesapeake Conference Center, in Chesapeake Virginia. The betting online has already started for this grand event.

This U.S. Open is one of the longest running and most prestigious 9-Ball even in the world. The event only allows for 256 players and the entry fee for the players is $500.00. Added monies are $50,000 guaranteed, regardless of the number of players in the event. Barry pays all of the sanctioned fees associated and past champion entry fees.

For the first time in history, both men and women will be competing for the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship title. It’s amazing to think that this is the first time the women have had to try to win the U.S. Open 0-Ball Billiards Championship.

This will definitely be a historic year for the U.S. Open 9-Ball Billiards Championship as the women will be playing with heart and skill.

The fee has also been discounted to $400.00 dollars if players sign up in April and the fee lowering was instigated by Barry himself to help out players in these tough economic times. After April 30th, 2010 the fee will be $500.00 to enter this once in a lifetime event.

The highest Female finisher will receive $1,000 and most number of tracks run by a man will receive $1,000.

Everything About Billiard Balls

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Posted on 3rd January 2010 by admin in Uncategorized

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Billiard balls are available in a multitude of colors and these colors make them stand out beautifully against the green background of the pool table top. All other games that use a ball to play with, stick to one color. But in billiards you have a myriad of colors that are used. Some games are played with all the balls while others are played with a fixed number and color of balls. One such game is Carom, which uses three balls and this game is played without pockets. One of the three balls is red and the other two are either white or yellow. One of the yellow or white balls has a black dot on it. In Carom, the red ball is called the object ball and one white ball is used as the cue ball.

In the USA, pocket billiards is known as pool, so the billiard balls are called pool balls. Pool balls are the most eye catching sports utilities. Most billiard halls believe that the wide range of colors of the billiard balls adds to the enjoyment of the game. You name it and you will probably find a billiard ball in that color from yellow, burgundy, black, orange, purple, blue to red; they have them all. And if all the mono colors were not enough they also have them in double colors. The contrast they create when placed against a green back give the game an aesthetic value of sorts.

To a regular person, the color of the balls is the only difference between them, but a professional pool player will be quick to point out the various differences between different types of pool balls. To a novice player, most of these may not make sense in the beginning but a seasoned player will tell you that the weight of a pool ball is what separates it from the other pool balls. The weight of the pool ball is largely responsible for its performance. As you get better at your game you will realize the difference that the weight of the pool ball makes to your game.

Most pool balls also have a number on them. The balls used for Carom are not numbered but others are. The single colored balls are called solids while the double colored balls are called stripes. For example you may have a yellow ball with the number 1 written on it, the blue and white ball will be ten and a combination of green and white is number fourteen. The normal billiard balls used in most games are smaller than the ones used for Carom. There are also billiard balls available for training. These are marked with target rings that tell the new player exactly where he/ she needs to strike

When not in use, the balls are generally stored in the ball rack. In carom, since the game is played without pockets the balls stay on the table till the end of the game. But in pocket billiards the balls that fall into the pockets, pass through a trough into a collection area where they are held for further use. Today billiard balls are made out of Phenolin resin or polyester and acrylic. These materials make the billiard balls strong enough to sustain shots without chipping or cracking. But before the introduction of synthetic polymers, billiard balls were made out of clay or wood. The rich were known to use ivory balls, but they were a far cry from the durable and colorful billiard balls available today.