2024 World 8 Ball Championship (2-8 Sep), New Zealand , Winner $75K (2024)

it doesn't move along too fast.. they played only one round today?

anyway looks like alex drew wu kun lin.

i heard toastie and darren had complained about the 30 second shot clock for 8-ball. that's a bit surprising because those two surely are the pattern experts in the field and it always seemed to me that (in their prime), once they surveyed the layout they get on pretty quick. also, what i've watched from darren here, is that he loses racks because of his break not because of the play.

i can get why the 10 second beep is annoying though, but that's another matter.

MattPoland said:

Here’s how I detailed it out to some folks on Reddit recently.

So the question is what happens next. Does the other continental members continue to support the autonomy of the ACBS? Do they kick them out and bring in a new member like the APF? Do they overrule the ACBS? Do they enforce worldwide bans? And keep in mind some continental members are not in support of what’s happening, e.g. the BCA because the policy of the US government is to not directly provide financial support to sports (Olympic-affiliated or not) so it’s an easy choice. But other continental members do have that luxury and that is at stake.

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Appreciate the well expressed summary of the brouhaha.

I still question the take that the WPA can do much at all about ACBS bans. Not that I have much understanding of the legal structure, but I imagine it is the WPA that answers to the federations (ACBS), not the other way around.

garczar said:

I tried watching some. Boring is the word that comes to mind. Watching pros play 8b is not good to sweat imo. Watching the women play it is almost painful.

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I find watching 8-ball not so enjoyable even though I grew up with 8-ball and never played 9-ball until well into adulthood.

As for the women, I do like watching the very top players perform. They are quite good. Problem is there is a big talent gap after the top 8 or so players ...

skogstokig said:

i heard toastie and darren had complained about the 30 second shot clock for 8-ball. that's a bit surprising because those two surely are the pattern experts in the field and it always seemed to me that (in their prime), once they surveyed the layout they get on pretty quick. also, what i've watched from darren here, is that he loses racks because of his break not because of the play.

i can get why the 10 second beep is annoying though, but that's another matter.

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I thought most pros wanted more time for 8ball. Maybe 45 seconds to 1 minute. I think most here would agree that 8ball is easier to all pros but finding the optimal pattern, breaking out problem balls, and then having to possibly alter the pattern does take some time. It's not like 9ball or 10ball where that set optimal pattern is there for all to see.

LHP5 said:

I thought most pros wanted more time for 8ball. Maybe 45 seconds to 1 minute. I think most here would agree that 8ball is easier to all pros but finding the optimal pattern, breaking out problem balls, and then having to possibly alter the pattern does take some time. It's not like 9ball or 10ball where that set optimal pattern is there for all to see.

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after the break they get 50 seconds or something. if they take their extension too that's 1 minute 20 sec. plenty of time.

wei wei got a yellow card
ref pulled it from his pocket
she lost one game in a race to 4
(best 2 of 3) for smoking on her break

against siming chen she never
seemed to recover and lost

skogstokig said:

after the break they get 50 seconds or something. if they take their extension too that's 1 minute 20 sec. plenty of time.

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Exactly. Giving the pros more time to plan the best pattern and run out even more would make the game less enjoyable to watch for me.

Giving the players less time to make decisions means more mistakes and better viewing imo.

The game will never get bigger if matches go on too long. Time pressure is a given in almost all major sports. Players will get used to it, especially the younger ones.

markjames said:

wei wei got a yellow card
ref pulled it from his pocket
she lost one game in a race to 4
(best 2 of 3) for smoking on her break

against siming chen she never
seemed to recover and lost

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that's not allowed?

looking at the bracket it looks like siming is going through the field like a hot knife through butter.

jbart65 said:

Exactly. Giving the pros more time to plan the best pattern and run out even more would make the game less enjoyable to watch for me.

Giving the players less time to make decisions means more mistakes and better viewing imo.

The game will never get bigger if matches go on too long. Time pressure is a given in almost all major sports. Players will get used to it, especially the younger ones.

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Yeah I'm on the fence with this. For growing the game and reaching a larger viewership, maybe? Would you as a player want less time though? It's an odd spot as a pool player who is watching as I would want to see the best pattern and out. Maybe I'll learn something. How many non-pool players will watch an event like this? Watching pool is inherently kind of boring. Unless you know what is going on is it actually enjoyable?

People are overcomplicating it. The only variable here that matters is the table below.

Some people don't have the luxury of being able to afford standing in solidarity.
If I was a top player but not near the top of that list, I likely wouldn't boycott a dang thing.
$500k added World Bumper Pool sponsored by Human Trafficking Inc.? Sign me up.

However, I also wouldn't say I was going to boycott, then renege once everyone else (including my two biggest competitors) held to their boycott.
Killer Filler is a scab.

sneakynito said:

Killer Filler is a scab.

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One could say instead people are oversimplifying the matter.

The fact is, the players put hardly any serious thought into what they were doing. They have no organization. They have no leader. They have no formal members. They don't pay dues. They don't have a strike fund. They probably even didn't hire a lawyer to help them sort thru what they were about to do and develop a coherent, you know, strategy.

Put simply, they ignored basically every rule of collective bargaining or collective action.

The player do need to be more united, but they also need to be more thoughtful about it.

Calling Filler a scab, what's more, actually helps the WPA/ACBS. I am sure the ban proponents love to see the player dissension and fan blowback.

Enough of that, and Filler and other top pros won't even join further efforts at collective action.

I am not saying Filler deserves to be immune from criticism.

But let's get real: This was a quarter-baked effort at a boycott. I am going to mostly give him a pass for now and hope the players do a better job of showing a more united front. That's going to take time, and it might not succeed. It's not as if any of the top pros wants to take on the job of union organizer.

Badpenguin said:

Appreciate the well expressed summary of the brouhaha.

I still question the take that the WPA can do much at all about ACBS bans. Not that I have much understanding of the legal structure, but I imagine it is the WPA that answers to the federations (ACBS), not the other way around.

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It's a lot like a homeowners association. Each continental federation has a vote. There's an annual assembly. A board of directors is elected and administer the operations and policies of the organization. The board can call special assemblies for extraordinary circ*mstances. It seems any resolutions within the structure of the WPA constitution can be approved at an assembly with a simple 50% majority. Special resolution that alter the constitution can be approved at an assembly with a super 75% majority. And the board can vote within itself with a 50% majority on the manner of administering the resolutions of the assembly.

So yeah, removing the ACBS or overriding its authority likely takes 6 of the 7 members to affirm. But it's not that hard to game that a little. Don't want the ACBS banning players for playing in unsanctioned events? You probably can have those events "treated as sanctioned" with a simple majority vote and now the ACBS no longer has the authority to ban players for participating in them. I'm sure there's all kinds of little tricks that can be done to guide the situation.

I just tuned in for the first time and saw the women playing 9 ball. The 9 went in dead on the break, and then both players complained to the ref to improve the rack. 5 minutes later of two refs massaging the cloth and the rack, the 9 almost went straight in again.

Last week was the Joss event, with other issues relating to the triangle. Players requesting re-racking over and over.

Both events are a good reminder the triangle rack should be dead and buried. It almost is in competitive play, thankfully.

Edit: I just rewound and skimmed through, 6 of 8 breaks thus far the 9 flew right towards the corner, going in once.

The Lion endures

Men's Last 16 (Race to 10)
On paper, Albin favorite in bottom half. Top half tougher Filler and 3x800 Chang Jung Lin, Alex, Wu Kun Lin plus couple of oldie 8ball masters Appleton, Thorsten

markjames said:

wei wei got a yellow card
ref pulled it from his pocket
she lost one game in a race to 4
(best 2 of 3) for smoking on her break

against siming chen she never
seemed to recover and lost

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Silly smoking rule in their rule book https://probilliardseries.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/New-Zealand-2024-Protocol_Rev1.pdf , don't think MR or other events have it
More blunders with these EPBF refs again like in Feb Las Vegas Open this year
They missed that Biado foul on that beautiful kick.
Foul called on Seo Seoa when there was none. Didn't allow appeal when rule book allow it.

(Around 5hr 52min)

skogstokig said:

looking at the bracket it looks like siming is going through the field like a hot knife through butter.

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With Rita Chou and Han Yu out, Siming and her nemesis Liu Sha Sha should be favorites though Liu is back playing after long break.

Bizarre that the Women World event this year changed to few short sets instead of 1 long set. All their other World men and junior events are one set.

jbart65 said:

Exactly. Giving the pros more time to plan the best pattern and run out even more would make the game less enjoyable to watch for me.

Giving the players less time to make decisions means more mistakes and better viewing imo.

The game will never get bigger if matches go on too long. Time pressure is a given in almost all major sports. Players will get used to it, especially the younger ones.

Click to expand...

Maybe that is why Ultimate Pool is becoming popular