World Open 8-Ball Championship Begins

World Open 8-Ball Championship BeginsTo the resounding sound of a unanimous break of billiards balls, the International Pool Tour’s World Open 8-Ball Championship commenced this morning. Half of the 200-player field is present today to attempt to advance to Tuesday’s action and build up their shares of the unprecedented $3 million dollar prize fund.As in the North American Open, the World Open consists of one morning round, three afternoon rounds, and one evening round. Players today will have one round off, but on Tuesday, the entire field will be playing, and there will be no breaks afforded the players.Discuss the IPT World Open 8-Ball ChampionshipVisit the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship Image GalleryThe first match of the 10 a.m. rounds to finish was Spain’s David Alcaide, who skunked Wayne Catledge 8-0. Alcaide qualified for the IPT at their last qualification event, held in Veert, The Netherlands, at House of Billiards. Second to finish, Steve Moore, who qualified for this event by virtue of a tremendous performance in Rome, Italy. Moore earned $10,000 at the IPT’s North American Open 8-Ball Championship and has a real shot to make it onto the tour if he does well at this event. He had a great match against Jim Raney, defeating him 8-1.
“I played very well that match … I broke well and made balls on the break. I was happy with my play and just hope I keep it up. I was confident, I was practicing a lot. It’s all about my game and not anyone else’s.”On the third rack Raney scratched on the break thanks to a miscue and didn’t contact the rack, giving the break to Moore. “That helped a little,” confirmed Moore. “Any time you can break when you’re not supposed to is helpful. He made a few mistakes, but it really didn’t matter - I broke and ran like five racks, I think. I’m sure he could have played better, but fortunately he didn’t.”Mike Davis played well in his first-round match against John Wims, besting him 8-2. “I only scratched on the break once, and I made balls almost every time. That was what killed me last tournament. I don’t break good from the box, but I think I got the hang of it finally. I’m just breaking medium speed and making sure I hit the one real solid. Before I was trying to kill them, and I never contacted the one solid, so I still wasn’t making a lot of balls on the break, but the cue ball was traveling everywhere.”It seems that many players, discovering problems with their break at the last event, have dedicated time and energy to improving their chances. And with the new sliding payout scale, every little thing helps. After finishing his match with Tammy Jones, John “Mr. 400” Schmidt commented, “I just played Tammy Jones and I beat her eight-five, and she had me five-four. I didn’t play good at the beginning, I hooked myself a couple times and scratched on a couple breaks, and it was kind of a close match. I made a few pretty good runouts at the end, thank goodness. I actually had to bank a ball before the eight to get on the hill, so that was a crucial game.”What does he think of this venue compared to The Venetian? “This is better,” he stated firmly. “The tournament room’s better, the scorecards are better, the payout’s more. I wish we just had every event right here. Or right in Chicago. This is perfect.”Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam was present for the morning rounds but doesn’t play until Monday. “I'm hurting real bad,” he stated. “I rolled over and heard a loud pop and went numb. I don’t even play today - I came down to get a massage.” Round 1 GROUP 1T. HohmannS. MooreL. JonesW. KiamcoJ. RaneyGROUP 2M. ManaloC. WilliamsS. TownsendT. KennedyR. GonzalezGROUP 3D. OrcolloN. VarnerG. AtwellM. MasseyJ. BroadhurstGROUP 4E. ReyesL. HeuwagenG. HofstatterO. BulunmazM. LeBronGROUP 5R. SouquetD. HarrimanD. BasavichE. DominguezR. KellerGROUP 6E. StalevC. MellingD. AlcoberroD. WestM. CerneroGROUP 7M. ChamatM. JuvaD. JungoK. FisherB. FriendGROUP 8D. PeachM. LohtanderS. JonesM. EberleJ. KutcherGROUP 9D. MatlockJ. SchmidtJ. KaplanJ. FuscoT. JonesGROUP 10D. AppletonP. PotierM. SchmidtA. MurphyO. AmineGROUP 11R. AlcanoS. EllerbyW. CatledgeD. AlcaideM. KennistonGROUP 12F. BustamanteR. HyblerJ. WimsM. DavisW. CraneGROUP 13A. PagulayanK. BeckerJ. KucharoC. BryantF. AlvarezGROUP 14R. DiksC. MorrisG. WatsonD. ReljicL. CarterGROUP 15G. OwenJ. YoungerA. HopkinsT. RoblesG. MathewsGROUP 16C. WuJ. MeltonC. JoynerH. ChuJ. WhiteGROUP 17L. NevelJ. WetchI. MajidS. Van BoeningT. GohGROUP 18Q. HannR. LuatJ. JonesJ. ParicaE. LauranceGROUP 19A. LiningJ. WaldenP. HarrisonS. SantlM. ManabuGROUP 20R. MartinezB. HunterM. ZimmermanK. CorrA. FrankenGROUP 21C. DeuelM. SigelH. VickeryA. WheelerH. ThornfeldtGROUP 22D. AdkinsO. OrtmannK. McCreadyL. SchwartzL. TraversGROUP 23I. PutnikT. EngertT. ChohanT. DragoZ. JakuljGROUP 24M. HillF. HernandezJ. BeckleyF. KazuoG. LeonardoGROUP 25N. FeijenT. HoaJ. CalderonA. CarvajalL. ChenmanGROUP 26E. StricklandJ. OuschanT. StormR. AcostaP. FuscoGROUP 27M. ImmonenT. FrankB. NunanR. WisemanJ. MiniciGROUP 28J. KirkwoodM. MarquezJ. MaciasV. FacquetM. WebbGROUP 29N. Van den BergB. GroceD. PascasiW. IncardonaM. GulyassyGROUP 30S. TotT. OkumuraB. JahnkeD. Di LibertoE. KellyGROUP 31A. LelyG. TakamiR. EckertP. BrienzaM. SakaiGROUP 32S. SambajonH. TakenakaL. GayB. GollonB. DaviesGROUP 33R. HundalG. BreedloveK. DavenportS. TourangeauA. CzetliGROUP 34R. MorrisL. SalvasR. MckennaL. ButeraT. EdeyGROUP 35Y. BeaufilsT. GarrahanA. FisherH. HsiaJ. Di ToroGROUP 36S. PutnamD. BroxsonS. DaultonP. HoltzB. SalehGROUP 37R. GallegoS. ButeraF. PetroniT. JudetR. MartinGROUP 38J. ArcherN. RayboneC. BartramA. ToshikawaJ. RobertsGROUP 39K. BoyesJ. ShawE. MontalR. DodsonC. ColensoGROUP 40D. HatchG. SchaarA. KlasovicJ. MillerI. RunnelsVisit the IPT for the latest news on their North American Open 8-Ball Championship.

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