Legends and Champions Pool Tour is heading East

The Legends and Champions Pool Tour will be heading toward the East Coast in March announced Mark Cantrill (AKA T-Wheels). This leg of the tour will be a little different than usual, Earl Strickland is working in Japan for most of March and so I have had to find another Legend and Champion to join Johnny (The Scorpion) Archer. The answer was easy, 8 time World Champion, the only player to win back to back US Open titles, Has won a World title in almost every discipline including Straight Pool, 1 Pocket, Banks, 8-Ball and 9-ball, He is a member of the Hall of Fame (The Kentucky Colonel), Nick Varner. We are very happy and excited to have Nick join us on our travels and believe he will be a great addition to The Legends and Champions Pool Tour.

Nick Varner is well known for his teaching ability and his ability to make exhibitions a fun experience for all spectators, so with his credentials and experience along with Johnny Archer’s credentials and talents this leg of the tour will be a treat for all pool and billiards enthusiasts..
The Pool Schools will keep the same pricing and format. 12 Students max per class in 2 groups of 6 and each group will spend 2 hours with Johnny Archer and 2 hours with Nick Varner. The fee for the amazing opportunity is only $200.00 per person.

Each stop will be hosting an exhibition with both Archer and Varner that will include trick shots, stroke shots stories, a mini challenge match between Archer and a local House Pro, local Champion or maybe Archer Vs Varner. There will also be opportunities for spectators to play on either team Archer or Team Varner in a rack of scotch doubles (8 drawings). Obviously at the end of the night Johnny and Nick will be available to sign cues & memorabilia and take pictures with the spectators.

Below is the schedule for March, if you would like to sign up for a pool school or simply have questions please feel free to contact Mark Cantrill at cantrillmark@yahoo.com or by phone at 480-612-7732.

Mon March 9th = Exhibition-8..00pm at KB Billiards -Baltimore, MD (Elkridge)
Tuesday March 10th = Pool School -11.00am to 3.00pm at KB Billiards (Elkridge)
Thursday March 12th = Pool School -11.00am to 3.00pm at Side Pockets - Laurel, MD
Friday March 13th = Exhibition -8.00pm at The Playing Field - Richmond, VA
Saturday March 14th = Pool School - 11.00am to 3.00pm at The Playing Field - Richmond, VA
Sunday March 15th = Pool School - 11.00am to 3.00pm at Rockaway Billiards - Rockaway, NJ
Sunday March 15th = Exhibition - 8.00pm at Rockaway Billiards - Rockaway, NJ
Tuesday March 17th = Pool School - 11.00am to 3.00pm at Down east Billiards - Ellsworth, ME
Tuesday March 17th = Exhibition - 7.30pm at Down east Billiards - Ellsworth, Me

Stickland and Jones fill out Team USA

Matchroom Sport can announce that the final two spots on the American side for the forthcoming PartyCasino.com Mosconi Cup will be filled by South Carolina’s Earl Strickland and Jeremy Jones (Texas).

Both players line up in an American team that is hoping to win the Mosconi Cup outright for the first time since 2005. Taking place at the Hilton Hotel, Portomaso, St Julians, Malta from December 11 – 14, the event features two five-man teams playing a series of singles and doubles matches over four days.

Strickland, 47, is playing in his 13th consecutive Mosconi Cup, a record for the event, and has won a fantastic 37 points from 56 matches. ‘The Pearl’ insists that he will be back to his imperious best come December, having put the health issues that dogged him a few years ago very much behind him.

“I’m not just a pool player, I’m an athlete,” said an ebullient Strickland.

“I’m running four miles every morning and doing 500 sit ups a day and I’m practicing seven to eight hours a day.

“I’m a more intelligent player than most of these guys, I’m working hard and I think I’m close to being back to my very best.

“The Mosconi Cup is my kind of tournament and I’m looking forward to doing my best for the USA in Malta.”

Despite his well-documented bust-ups at the Mosconi Cup, Strickland’s record in the event is the best of the 61 players who have participated in the competition in its 14 year history.

Joining Strickland, Archer, Van Boening and Morris will be Jeremy Jones, who at 36 will be making his seventh Mosconi Cup appearance. ‘Double J’ sports an impressive 16 wins from 28 starts and made his debut back in 1999 when the USA won 12-7 at the York Hall in London.

Jones has enjoyed a revival this year with a third place finish at the Predator International 10 Ball Championship back in May. Then in June, he followed that up with a long-awaited victory in the Generationpool.com Open in Charlotte.

These results and others were enough to propel the likable Texan up to fourth in the BCA Points List and secure his Mosconi Cup spot.

Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn said, “In all the sports that I have promoted over the years, aside from the boxer Chris Eubank, there has been no other sportsman who has got the public going more than Earl Strickland.

“Some love him, plenty hate him but he is one of the greatest players to have ever held a cue stick and when it comes to entertainment, he has few rivals.

“The Mosconi Cup has always been Earl’s playground – he won MVP honours in Las Vegas in 2005 – and when he’s on form, the Europeans will know all about it.

“Jeremy Jones has a great record in the event and it is gratifying to see him play his way back into contention. He completes a very strong looking American side and I am expecting a fierce battle in December.”

This year will see the 15th running of pool’s answer to the Ryder Cup and the current score stands at 10 ½ - 3 ½ to the Americans.

The official sponsors of the 2008 Mosconi Cup are PartyCasino.com, Brunswick Tables, Simonis Cloth, Super Aramith Pro Balls and Predator Cues.

A range of superb value hotel and ticket packages are available from the Official Mosconi Cup Travel Agents www.alleventsmalta.com

The Peral on Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour

Viking National Championship Underway

The Viking Cue National Championship is underway with 110 players at Palace Billiards in Villa Park, IL.

Round one is underway with one major upset as Larry Nevel dropped his opening round match to Eric Lundgren. Top seeds Ronnie Wiseman, John Schmidt, Niels Feijen and Shawn Putnam all advanced relatively untested.

Troy Frank and Shannon Daulton advanced with first round byes, while defending champion Earl Strickland had yet to play this match at the time of this report.

Legends and Champions Pool Tour Texas Bound

Today, Mark Cantrill (AKA T-Wheels) announced the next leg of the Legends and Champions Pool Tour.  “We have had great successes in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon and Washington so far. So due to popular demand we will be taking the Pool School and exhibition tour to the Lone Star State in September, said Cantrill.

Both Johnny, Earl are as excited as ever to come to Texas. “We know there is a great pool and billiards community in Texas and we really want to be a part of it” said Strickland.

The pool schools will be limited to a maximum of 12 students per class, these 12 students will be divided into two groups of six. Each group of six will spend 2 hours with Johnny (The Scorpion) Archer and 2 hours with Earl (The Peal) Strickland. This format gives the students of all levels the one on one instruction they deserve from each of the pros. The fee for this four hour school is only $200.00 per person. If you would like to attend any of the pool schools in your area please contact Mark Cantrill at cantrillmark@yahoo.com please be sure to add your direct phone or cell number for confirmation and the location of the school you wish to attend.

There will also be Exhibitions in the evening performed by both Johnny and Earl in most locations, our exhibitions consists of Trick shots ( not the ones you see on TV), a stroke shot exhibition (something you just have to see to appreciate) fun stories from the road, a chance for spectators to pair up with either Johnny or Earl in a Scotch Doubles Challenge match (usually 8 drawings) , a race to 6 against a local house pro or champion and of course pictures and autographs with the pros to end the night. Please  look out for more information on these exhibitions.

Archer vs Strickland in IPT challenge match

The International Pool Tour presents a live challenge match between two of the greatest pocket billiards in the history of the sport. On December 19th, 2007, Johnny Archer will face Earl Strickland in an 8-Ball race to 15, streaming live on the internet absolutely free for all viewers. Archer has numerous World Championship Titles to his name along with Player of the Year honors; he was even chosen as the Player of the Decade for the 1990s.

Strickland has also had an impressive career including multiple World Championship Titles as well as the most U.S. Open victories of any player ever. Strickland is also a recent inductee of the Hall of Fame. Both players continue to compete at the highest professional levels. Fans often debate about who is the better player, and now these two titans of the sport will battle it out, live, at www.internationalpooltour.com, absolutely free for the viewer!

Professional commentary will include Mike Sigel and Grady Mathews. Sigel is one of the most accomplished players in the history of the sport and is a member of the Hall of Fame. Mathews has had a successful and diverse career in the billiards world. He is a champion player, a promoter of some of the finest events in the industry, a room owner, and a popular analyst/commentator.

Earl Strickland Rebounds from 5 Down

Earl Strickland put on a dazzling display of pool as he won nine racks back-to-back to salvage his 2007 World Pool Championship hopes at the expense of China's Li He-wen. Strickland had earlier rolled over against Malaysia's Alan Tan, 9-2, in his opening game but followed that up with a lackluster 9-6 win over Germany's Kay Reike. With the two wins to qualify and two defeats to leave the competition, Strickland, a three time winner of this event, faced Li He-wen, the studious looking Chinese who won a bronze medal at last year's tournament.

At 5-0 down in the race to nine match, 'the Pearl' looked dead and buried as he battled with his demons on the main TV table. He hit a gear though and returned to the imperious form that has seen him win countless titles in an illustrious career. Strickland ran five racks from the break as he controlled the table and restricted Li to occasional safety escapes.

The win saw Strickland secure a last 64 berth where he will face impressive Vietnamese shooter Luong Chi Dung of Vietnam. Other big names through on day three of the first round include Ralf Souquet who survived a scare as he lost his opener to local veteran Leonardo Andam before scoring wins over Bernard Tey Choon Kiat of Singapore and Canada's Ronnie Wiseman to make it through.

Fellow German former World Champion Thorsten Hohmann capped a disappointing season with an early exit in Manila as he lost twice to depart the competition. He lost successive matches against sensational 18 year-old Taiwanese Ko Pin-yi and then seasoned Canadian / Filipino Edwin Montal.

There was double joy for Pinoy hopes Marlon Manalo and Jeff De Luna as they both battled their way through to the last 64 stages of the 2007 Philippines World Pool Championship with two wins from two matches. With four more groups playing double elimination qualifying games today at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, a further 16 players will secure spots in round two while the other 16 will depart the competition.

Manalo, of Mandaluyong City, Manila looked to be in total control as he led Li He-wen of China 8-3 but a missed ball in the 12th game let Li, a semi-finalist here last year, back to the table. Li, who earlier this year was a World Cup of Pool winner, proceeded to run out the racks as he slowly silenced the pro-Manalo crowd. With the score at 7-8, Li ran slightly out of position and attempted a risky pot on the 3 ball as he was forced to hit down on the cue ball to swerve it.

He missed and left it sitting nicely for Manalo, who cleared the table to secure victory. Li eventually went out at the hands of Earl Strickland. On Table 2, Jeff 'Bata' De Luna, who reached the last 16 of this competition in 2006 on his WPC debut, looked like he has the game to go even better this year as he gave Fu Che-wei of Chinese Taipei, something of a drubbing.

Fu, who was a bronze medalist at this tournament last year, found himself 8-0 down in no time at all, and although he mounted a comeback, the gulf was too wide to bridge as he lost 9-3. De Luna can now look forward a mouth-watering last 64 match-up with fellow Filipino star Lee Van Corteza.

There were two tremendous performances from the Australian duo of Louis Condo and James Delahunty as both advanced with a brace of victories against high class opposition. Condo, the 32 year-old from Melbourne, is playing in his sixth World Championship so he has plenty of experience at this level and he drew on it as he defeated highly rated Englishman Imran Majid 9-5 to advance to the winners� side of the bracket.

In his next match he went even better as he recorded a comfortable 9-4 victory over 2005 World Pool Championship runner-up Kuo Po-cheng of Chinese Tapei. Countryman James Delahunty, making his debut in the competition, looked good in beating 2006 Mosconi Cup player Mike Davis of the USA 9-5 and then defeated seasoned pro Ronnie Wiseman of Canada in a 9-8 thriller. Delahunty, 24, from Adelaide can now look forward to a day off before he resumes the competition in the last 64 straight knock-out.

Groups Announced For IPT World Open Championships

The International Pool Tour announces the official player groupings for the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship. The tournament starts Sunday, September 3, 2006 at 10am in Reno, Nevada at the Grand Sierra Resort.

This historic event boasts the biggest prize fund in the history of the sport. $3,000,000 is the total prize purse, and the winner of the tournament will win an historic $500,000!

Here are the official groupings:

Group 26:

Strickland, Earl
Ouschan, Jasmin
Storm, Tom
Acosta, Roland
Fusco, Pete

Who's Hot and who's not? Knock-out draw

As Cardiff recorded the highest temperatures in the United Kingdom, several stars of the blue baize were wilting in the heat on Judgement Day.

Former world champion Nick Varner was one of several American casualties. The Hall of Fame inductee threw away a 4-1 lead over Antonio Lining and with it went his chances of qualifying for the Last 64. He'll be joined on the plane home to America by Charlie Williams, who never showed in Group 5.

Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland left it to the last minute to scrape through their groups. Archer started his campaign with three losses but came with a late run on the rails and Strickland, the defending champion, needed just one win out of three matches on the final day, but lost the first two, putting himself under pressure to win the last, which he did.

The Filipino players will be well represented in the knock out draw. Efren Reyes leads the way with a perfect record of seven wins, with 35 racks won and only 18 lost. Reyes' record is only better by Canada's Alex Pagulayan who lost only 14 racks. Marlon Manalo, better known as a snooker star also notched seven straight wins, for the loss of 21 racks and the fourth player with a perfect record was Ralf Souquet, who also lost 21 racks.

QUALFIERS: DRAW

Group 1: Ying-Chief Chen, Jorge Llanos, Earl Strickland, Mark Williams

Group 2: Francisco Bustamente, Thomas Engert, Evgeny Stalev, Raymond Cruz

Group 3: Ralf Souquet, Max Eberle, Fabio Petroni, Alex Lely

Group 4: Efren Reyes, Sin-Young Park, Roxton Chapman, John Horsfall

Group 5: Marlon Manalo, Mika Immonen, Haruyoshi Hinokiyama, Pascal Budo

Group 6: Akikumo Toshikawa, Ching-Shun Yang, Teddy Garrahan, Mukesh Rehani

Group 7: Hui-Kai Hsia, Rico Diks, Sten Jarledal, Johnny Archer

Group 8: Satoshi Kawabata, Niels Feijen, Steve Knight, Ernesto Dominguez

Group 9: Steve Davis, Ramil Gallego, Warren Kiamco, Tony Drago

Group 10: Lee Vann Corteza, Cory Deuel, Young-Hwa Jeong, Kevin Smith

Group 11: Alex Pagulayan, Tommy Donlon, Danny Harriman, Shintao Sugaya

Group 12: Hiroshi Takenaka, Che-Wei Fu, Oliver Ortmann, Niclas Bergendorff