HomeAbout Billiards DigestContact UsArchiveAll About PoolEquipmentOur AdvertisersLinks
From the Publisher
By Mike Panozzo
Mike became editor of Billiards Digest in 1980 and liked it so much that he bought the company. He has served on the Billiard Congress of America board of directors and as president of the Billiard & Bowling Institute of America.


Archives
• September 2024
• August 2024
• July 2024
• June 2024
• May 2024
• April 2024
• March 2024
• February 2024
• January 2024
• December 2023
• November 2023
• October 2023
• September 2023
• August 2023
• July 2023
• June 2023
• May 2023
• April 2023
• March 2023
• February 2023
• January 2023
• December 2022
• November 2022
• October 2022
• September 2022
• August 2022
• July 2022
• June 2022
• May 2022
• April 2022
• March 2022
• February 2022
• January 2022
• December 2021
• November 2021
• October 2021
• September 2021
• August 2021
• July 2021
• June 2021
• May 2021
• April 2021
• March 2021
• February 2021
• January 2021
• December 2020
• November 2020
• October 2020
• September 2020
• August 2020
• July 2020
• June 2020
• May 2020
• April 2020
• March 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• October 2019
• September 2019
• August 2019
• July 2019
• June 2019
• May 2019
• April 2019
• March 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• December 2018
• November 2018
• October 2018
• September 2018
• August 2018
• July 2018
• June 2018
• May 2018
• April 2018
• March 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• November 2017
• October 2017
• September 2017
• August 2017
• July 2017
• June 2017
• May 2017
• April 2017
• March 2017
• February 2017
• January 2017
• December 2016
• November 2016
• October 2016
• September 2016
• August 2016
• July 2016
• June 2016
• May 2016
• Apr 2016
• Mar 2016
• Feb 2016
• Jan 2016
• Dec 2015
• Nov 2015
• Oct 2015
• Sept 2015
• August 2015
• July 2015
• June 2015
• May 2015
• April 2015
• March 2015
• February 2015
• January 2015
• October 2014
• August 2014
• May 2014
• March 2014
• February 2014
• September 2013
• June 2013
• May 2013
• April 2013
• March 2013
• February 2013
• January 2013
• December 2012
• November 2012
• October 2012
• September 2012
• August 2012
• July 2012
• June 2012
• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• July 2011
• June 2011
• May 2011
• April 2011
• March 2011
• February 2011
• January 2011
• December 2010
• November 2010
• October 2010
• September 2010
• August 2010
• July 2010
• June 2010
• May 2010
• April 2010
• March 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010
• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
 
October: Line in the Sand, Part II
October 2024

Professional pool’s version of “Chicken” is about to get real.

Or, at least, it seems that way.

The World Nineball Tour Hanoi Open is set for early October, and the World Pool Association (WPA) has classified the Matchroom-promoted 9-ball event as the first fully “unsanctioned” event of the year and has, once again, informed players that participation will come with consequences.

If you recall, the turf-protecting WPA issued a similar warning exactly one year ago, issuing a statement that gave pro players roughly five months to decide on which side of the WNT/WPA fence they chose to reside. The cutoff at that time was March 1, 2024, which coincided with the conclusion of the WPA-sanctioned World 10-Ball Championship in Las Vegas.

Subsequently, the WPA, hoping to continue negotiations with Matchroom to find an amicable alternative to forcing players to make a choice, effectively lifted that ban by opting to “sanction” Matchroom events through the year, including the U.K. Open, European Open and U.S. Open. Except, of course, the Hanoi Open. According to the WPA at the time, the sanctions (which Matchroom publicly dismissed) were in recognition of events that had been sanctioned the year before.

And, so, according to the WPA’s August statement issued to all players, any players that strike a ball in anger once the Hanoi Open begins will be suspended and forfeit their WPA license. (I had no idea players had licenses with the WPA! Are they like ID cards?) The punishment is banishment from WPA events for six months, after which they must submit a request for reinstatement and pay a $500 fine. (I was so hoping a confessional where players ask for forgiveness was part of the process. That would have been cool!)

But the war of words amped up in August, when a group of players loyal (or so it seemed) to the WNT shared a mostly scripted condemnation of the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports’ (ACBS) threat against players and promoters in Asian playing in or producing “non-sanctioned Billiard Sports events.” The ACBS has been the most active and intimidating of the WPA continental member federations, threatening everyone but maintenance staff for involvement in any event in Asia not stamped with the ACBS’ imprimatur. In fact, the ACBS has spent most of the past year trying to prevent the Hanoi Open from taking place and has issued bans against players all over Asia for various infractions. In retaliation for non-sanctioned events, in June the ACBS suspended a number of billiards and snooker players from international competitions — including the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and the World Three-Cushion Championship — for six months.

The association’s particularly vengeful stance on Vietnam is hardly surprising, seeing that, on the heels of last year’s wildly successful Matchroom/WNT Hanoi Open, Vietnam is suddenly the hottest market on the planet for pool. “If you’re going to run an event in Vietnam, damn it, it’s going to go through the WPA!” is the new WPA mantra.

Long story short, the statements released by WNT players in support of their Asian contemporaries, condemned the ACBS threats and each player vowed to not participate in a WPA-sanctioned event for the remainder of 2024 or until the player bans were lifted. Among the players were German superstar Josh Filler and Austria’s Albin Ouschan.

Imagine the reaction of those players, then, when both Filler and Ouschan showed up three weeks later at the WPA World 8-Ball Championship in New Zealand.

Not surprisingly, both players were summarily skewered on social media for not living up to their words and embarrassing their WNT contemporaries. Both players issued statements rationalizing their changes of heart for reasons ranging from financial hardships to contractual commitments. The social media roasting was especially harsh against Filler, whose brashness at the table has made him a player either loved or loathed. But in his somewhat remorseless response to social media’s reaction, Filler did say that, following the Hanoi Open, “if the WPA bans me afterwards, ok, that’s what it is then.”

The World 8-Ball Championship did offer a glimpse into a list of players that may well choose to avoid the Hanoi Open and stick with events approved by their own national federations until the issue is resolved. Included among the players skipping Hanoi will be the bulk of the Polish contingent (save for maverick Wiktor Zielinski), Greece’s Alex Kazakis and Estonia’s Denis Grabe, all currently ranked in the WNT top 100.

Those players opting to skip the Hanoi Open appear to be safe from losing status in the WNT, at least for the time being. That could change over time as more WNT events are skipped.

In the meantime, players and fans alike will anxiously await the doom and gloom that threatens to follow the completion of the Hanoi Open. Matchroom and the WPA appear to be at an impasse on finding a solution, both instead hellbent on seeing this game of chicken through to its conclusion, with the game’s top players forced to choose sides.

And just when you thought the game was about to break through!

MORE VIDEO...