IPT Day One

IPT Day One

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IPT Day One

Day one of the IPT King of the Hill tournament was a major success. Players and tour members were in awe at the magnitude of the production and the size of the set and tournament area. Most players polled admitted that they have never seen anything like this anywhere in their careers. The main arena is a very dramatic and dazzling set that features VIP seating that is as close to the table as possible! The main tournament room is filled with first class decorations and graphics that remind those at the event of the golden era of pocket billiards.

Players showed up in shirts and ties and female players dressed accordingly. When IPT players show up to play their matches, they are clearly "different"
looking than the typical spectator and this stand out as the professionals they are.

Play kicked off at 10am with 30 players competing all day to try and make the 15 player cut for the second day of competition. In the afternoon, Johnny Damon (Boston Red Sox) stopped by the tournament to check out some matches and knock some balls around with Mike Sigel, the current King of the Hill.

By clicking here, you can read the perspective of the sports writer who is here on site following some of the stories from the tournament. Currently there are about eight entries on this writer's blog from the King of the Hill event.

Several interesting rules were implemented for the first time in billiard history! One such rule that really drew some interest from the players and spectators allows each player to bring a "corner person" to the match. As long as players and corner persons weren't being disruptive, they were allowed to talk to each other about the match. Many players took advantage of this new rule and it was well received among players. Another new concept was the golf-like score card that was required to be filled out by every player. This score card allows the IPT to track statistics such as who broke, how many break-and-run-outs occurred and how many eight balls were made on the break. Finally, players who won games were given the option to break the next game or to force the opponent to break.

As a result of five rounds of play and no lack of drama and serious competition, the round robin bracket winners are in! Click here to view the complete score sheets from day one if you would like to see match-by-match statistics. The following players advanced and are listed in their groupings for Day Two action. Each player will play each of the other players in their respective groups:

Mika Immonen
Corey Deuel
Gabe Owen
Raj Hundal
Charlie Williams.

Marlon Manalo
Shawn Putnam
John Schmidt
Johnny Archer
Thorsten Hohmann

Francisco Bustamante
Karen Corr
Nick Van den Berg
Niels Feijen
Tony Robles

These 15 players who have advanced will now battle it out on Thursday. They will be divided up into three groups of five players each. The top two finishers in each group will then be placed into the Hall of Fame round on Friday. Click here to follow Day Two scores which will be updated throughout the day.

Play will start at 10am (eastern) and match scores will be updated throughout the day. Please check back soon for the latest updates and information.

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