IPT World Open 8 Ball Championships in Reno/Nevada

The International Pool Tour, short IPT, is the world leading pool tour for professional pocket billiards. It is the largest and prestigious pool tour in the history of billiards with world champions, legends, hall of fames and the best women players. With a total of US$ 3,000.000.- on the line with the lion’s share of US$500.000.- going to the winner, the IPT’s World Open 8-Ball Reno Championship is ready to be the greatest tournament in the world.  For the organizers it was also very important to show the people that pool billiard is a sport and not just a game. Very impressive was the event arena with 60 tables in perfect conditions. There was also a players lounge with sofas, flat screens, buffet and masseuses. With lots of cameras and hundreds of spot lights the final arena was the heart of this event.

We played in a Round Robin System by a race to 8 and winners break. My first group consisted of the former world champion Earl “the Pearl” Strickland, the former European champion Tom Storm, Hall of fame member Pete Fusco and the Pan America Champion Roland Acosta. I won my first match against Fusco with 8:5 and continued by winning 8:4 to Acosta. In my third match I had to play Tom Storm but because of using a phenolic tip he got disqualified. In the last match I faced the “Entertainer” Earl Strickland. He is known for his extrovert attitude on the table, so I prepared myself for this match. I don´t care who is sitting on the chair when I am on the table. I am trying to focuse on my game, on the table and the balls and then everything else disappears. I had a good start and took a 6:4 lead. But a bad position on the 8 in the 11th game costs me a very important point. I lost my stroke a little bit and so two missed balls followed. Strickland took the chances and won with 8:6. I was disappointed because I had the match in my hand and I didn´t make that many mistakes but it was at the wrong time.

In Round 2 I was again in a very though group with world champion of 2004 Alex Pagulayan (CAN), Mosconi Cup Member Tony Robles (USA), Majid Imran (GBR), Vincent Facquet (FRA) and Frank Hernandez (USA).

In the first match I had to play Tony Robles. I put a lot pressure on him and took a rapid 3:0 lead. It was a very good match and was constantly going back and forward. At the score of 7:7 I broke but couldn´t make a ball on the break. It was very difficult to make a ball on these tables because of the slow cloth and tight pockets. Anyway he run out and won with 8:7. I won my next match against Hernandez with 8:7 before I had to face Alex “the lion” Pagulayan. My rhythm  was gone and I couldn´t  find into the match. I was trailing all the time and in the end I lost 8:4. My game was not really good but I knew I could have won more than just 4 games against Pagulayan. My next opponent was Vincent Facquet. I felt great on the table and made very good use of my opportunities. A hefty 6:2 lead gave me more confidence and put him more under pressure. I pulled through and won with 8:6. My last match was against the number 4 in the euro tour ranking Majid Imran. We both struggled a little bit but it was enough for an 8:5 victory.

Now I had 3 matches out of 5 and normally you are through. But 3 other players had also 3 victories and in this situation they apply  the game winning percentage of all days. So I was on the fourth place in the group because of a few percentages. I was a bit angry but it was a great experience to play at the IPT and hopefully I have more luck next time.

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                                                                                                            World Open 8 Ball Champion

                                                                                                                        Efren Reyes (PHI)