What happened to the 2025 that we all anxiously awaited?
I vaguely recall a 12-month buildup to this year, the year that pro pool was going to get to the next level. The number of events promised to be massive, as did the payouts.
Of course, the elephant in the room was the brewing war between Matchroom and the World Pool Association, but surely a course of action would be determined by the start of the year. After all, once the WPA issued its statement enforcing bans on several hundred players, the line in the sand was drawn. The offending players knew they were no longer welcomed in WPA-sanctioned events. And the players who opted to follow WPA guidelines were well aware of the ramifications of entering World Nineball Tour events going forward.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was defined. Worst case, just play pool and stay out of each other’s lane.
Best case scenario? Get “Push” (Matchroom) and “Shove” (WPA) to sit down in a room and hash out a way to allow all players to play in whatever events they choose.
Instead, we’ve been welcomed by a tournament calendar that looks like someone forgot that January and February exist, and Facebook posts from players around the world wondering when they should bother contacting their travel agents.
Following a year in which the WNT calendar fell two events short of the previous year (with the absence of the World Cup of Pool and the Spanish Open), January finished with Matchroom announcing just a single scheduled Open, that being the U.K. Open, scheduled for May. At the time of printing, no other event had announced. Naturally, all players expect the U.S. Open and World Pool Championship to take place mid-year, but it’s mid-January and nothing is yet set in stone?
Meanwhile, the WPA calendar is equally barren, with the Predator Pro Billiard Series events in the last week of February being the first event of any significance. The following months are littered with Heyball and Euro Tour events.
So, what’s all the fuss?
As always, I remain hopeful. In fact, my hope is that the empty months and the tight-lipped positions of the game’s protagonists in pool’s daytime soap opera means they are secretly meeting and formulating a solution that will then allow the floodgates to be open.
And here’s why I’m hopeful. From the WNT’s standpoint, détente would allow Matchroom to exhale. That means they wouldn’t have to worry about players switching sides or having to grovel to their national federations. It would also allow Matchroom to deal with local organizers, venues and federations around the globe without concern over threats and bans.
For the WPA, an agreement would go a long way to cleaning up the association’s image in the pool community and would take a ton of player and federation-chasing off their plates. Which, in turn, would allow them to turn their focus more to the association’s new monster benefactor, Joy.
As for concerns with conflicting dates for various WPA events, I think the WPA’s ability to offer date protection has come and gone with or without WNT events.
Finally, I believe the sides will come together because the time has finally come for bans to be strictly enforced and players to have to make decisions that are going to impact the game for at least a year. Heading that next step off at the pass is the only thing that makes sense.
In the meantime, I’ll patiently wait for the days to pass before the sport decides to actually produce events in 2025.