Ten Players Qualify for Billiards IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship

Ten Players Qualify for Billiards IPT World Open 8-Ball ChampionshipThe first week of August saw five qualification events across the world happen the weekend of August 4-6. Ten winners earned their spots by defeating the top pros in the sport and will meet the 150 IPT members in Reno, NV, to vie for a record-breaking $3,000,000 in prize money.IPT discussion forumIPT North American image galleryAt Paradise Pool and Billiards in Corpus Cristi, TX, James Walden went unscathed through the winners’ bracket to match up with 2005 Derby City Classic 9-ball banks division champ David Matlock, defeating him 10-3. From there, Matlock was sent to the one-loss side to see Rafael Martinez in the second final match. Martinez had the distinction of remaining undefeated in the IPT’s North American Open 8-Ball Championship until Wednesday’s last round, in which he was bested by Steve Moore of Duluth, GA. Matlock again came up short, as Martinez took the match 10-6.
Former Player of the Year Thomas Engert and Joern Kaplan came out the winners at the Billiard Café Skyline in Lampertheim, German. Female whirlwind Jasmin Ouschan, recently the winner of the EnjoyPool.com 9-Ball Championships, came in second at this event, but with her tenacity and talent, she is sure to win one soon. She met Kaplan in the winners’-side final match but suffered a 10-2 loss and was sent to the west side of the chart. There she faced Engert, a former International Challenge of Champions winner, who won their match 10-6 to earn his ticket to Reno.The Broadway Pool Club in Shanghai, China, hosted another qualification event for five players. Kazuo Furuta ended up the winner of the first final match, triumphing over Hung Ming Chu 10-7. Chu went to the second final match to meet Wei Liu and came out the winner of their double-hill match.Former World Pool Masters champion Tony “The Tornado” Drago and Imran Majid won the UK’s qualification event, held at Paradise Pool and Billiards in London. Drago scooted past Mark Grey in their hill-hill final match to take the first spot. Once in the second final, Grey had to face off against Majid, who suffered a first-round loss to Ben Davies 10-4 and fought all the way through the one-loss side. Still going strong under the steam of momentum, Majid handed Grey a 10-5 loss.A large field of 28 showed up at Jillians Cleveland Flats in Cleveland, OH, sparkling with stars such as Santos Sambajon Jr., Jeff Beckley, Ronnie Wiseman, Steve Moore, and Scott Frost. But Jason Kirkwood showed no troubles reaching the first final, notching wins over Keith Bennett, Antonio Lining, Wiseman, and Shin Park to reach Marco Marquez of Chicago. After fighting his way through an equally difficult bracket, Marquez couldn’t hold up against Kirkwood, who won their match 10-3. Hiroshi Takenaka lost his first-round match against Beckley and came back through the west side of the chart, defeating players such as Frost, Moore, Wiseman, and James Baraks to reach Marquez in the second finals. There he handled Marquez easily, winning their match 10-4.Visit Inside POOL Magazine for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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