Deno J. Andrews
Tour Director,
International Pool Tour
www.internationalpooltour.com
21 July 2006
Breaking News
The Chinese Government has rejected a travel visa for Liu Wei, so he has officially withdrawn from the IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship. Wei was the winner of the qualification event held in Shanghai, China, just several weeks ago. Details about his VISA rejection are sketchy, but some points that were articulated from the Chinese Government stated that he has no significant ties to China in terms of wealth or marriage. Through his representative in China, Wei expressed sadness and disappointment in not being able to compete for China in this prestigious event.
Click on "Read More..." for the details.
Wei's replacement is Lee Heuwagen, who was the second alternate on the waitlist to play in the North American Open. Heuwagen played in multiple IPT qualification tournaments. He was the second of only two players to place third in two North American Open qualifiers, a performance statistic that landed him in the number two spot on the alternate list. Heuwagen was called yesterday and told the news that he would be competing in the North American Open. He was very excited to hear the news, though he did state that he was disappointed for Liu Wei's unfortunate circumstance.
The IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship starts Sunday morning, July 23, 2006. Match times are 10am, 12:30pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, and 8pm (Pacific) daily. Up to the minute results, pictures, stories, and other information will be available on line at www.internationalpooltour.com. Web coverage for this $2,000,000 event will be unprecedented in the world of billiards. The winner of this event will receive an historic $350,000 first prize! Don't miss any of the action.
| Group 1 Alex LELY Lou BUTERA Jackie BROADHURST Jon KUCHARO Jason KIRKWOOD | Group 15 Dennis ORCOLLO Kelly FISHER Gary ABOOD Wayne CATLEDGE John KUTCHER | Group 28 Imran MAJID Ralph ECKERT Thomas KENNEDY Aaron CZETLI Howard VICKERY |
| Group 2 Neils FEIJEN Karen CORR Ray MARTIN Lee HEUWAGEN** Greg HOGUE | Group 16 Ivaca PUTNIK Jimmy WHITE Quinten HANN David ALCAIDE Ronato ALCANO | Group 29 Lee CHENMAN Adam WHEELER Gerry WATSON Shawn PUTNAM Marco MARQUEZ |
| Group 3 Tuan Kiat GOH Keith BENNETT Sarah ELLERBY Eric HJORLEIFSON David MATLOCK | Group 17 Bernie FRIEND Larry SCHWARTZ George SANSOUCI Johnny ARCHER Denver BARGER | Group 30 Michael CERNERO Johl YOUNGER Brian GROCE Jose PARICA Rafael MARTINEZ |
| Group 4 Alex PAGULAYAN Mike MASSEY Tammy JONES Goran MLADENOVIC Corey HARPER | Group 18 Pete FUSCO Ike RUNNELS Shannon DAULTON Corey DEUEL Ronnie WISEMAN | Group 31 Neil RAYBONE David RELJIC Rafael GONZALEZ Rodney MORRIS Tomoki MEKARI |
| Group 5 Austin MURPHY Danny BASAVICH Ewa LAURANCE Sam MONDAY Anthony GINN | Group 19 Robert MCKENNA John WIMS Shane VAN BOENING Thorsten HOHMANN Michael VIDAS | Group 32 Tyler EDEY Paul POTIER Kim DAVENPORT Jason MILLER Steve MOORE |
| Group 6 Mike GULYASSY Earl STRICKLAND Miyuki SAKAI Chris ORME Teddy GARRAHAN | Group 20 Jim RANEY Charles BRYANT Oliver ORTMANN Mika IMMONEN Gandy VALLE | Group 33 Yannick BEAUFILS Wade CRANE Fabio PETRONI Max EBERLE Larry NEVEL |
| Group 7 Raj HUNDAL Dallas WEST Monica WEBB Ismael PAEZ Scott FROST | Group 21 Mike LEBRON Vincent FACQUET Dennis HATCH Ronnie O’SULLIVAN Sandor TOT | Group 34 Darren APPLETON Allen HOPKINS Patrick HOLTZ Mike DAVIS Takeshi OKUMURA |
| Group 8 William INCARDONA Nick VARNER Helena THORNFELDT Jonathan PENEGAR Rico DIKS | Group 22 Leonardo GUNNAR Tom STORM Daryl PEACH John SCHMIDT Konihiko TAKAHASHI | Group 35 Ryan KELLER Edwin MONTAL Markus JUVA Markus CHAMAT Arturo RIVERA |
| Group 9 Gabe OWEN Efren REYES Mary KENNISTON James WALDEN Luis CONDO | Group 23 Colin COLENSO Jimmy FUSCO George BREEDLOVE Ralf SOUQUET Mark TADEMY | Group 36 John DITORO Carl MORRIS Bernd JAHNKE Jeremy JONES Robb SAEZ |
| Group 10 Francisco BUSTAMANTE Ed KELLY Gerda HOFSTATTER Jim WEAST Andreas KOUKIADAKIS | Group 24 Jianbo FU Paul BRIENZA Laurant TRAVERS Jerry CALDERON Sal BUTERA | Group 37 Lance SALAZAR Danny DILIBERTO Bobby HUNTER Tony CHOHAN Troy FRANK |
| Group 11 Mike SIGEL Philip HARRISON James ROBERTS David BROXSON Linda CARTER | Group 25 Warren KIAMCO Brian SALEH Michael ZIMMERMAN Keith MCCREADY Cliff JOYNER | Group 38 Ouahbi AMINE Alejandro CARVAJAL Mick HILL Charlie WILLIAMS Santos SAMBAJON |
| Group 12 Joe MINICI Dee ADKINS Marlon MANALO Robin DODSON Richard BROUMPTON | Group 26 Aaron FRANKEN Sammy JONES Evgeny STALEV Tony ROBLES Antonio LINING | Group 39 Roland ACOSTA Chris BARTRAM Frank ALVAREZ Luc SALVAS Michael SCHMIDT |
| Group 13 Zlatko JAKULJ Loree Jon JONES John MACIAS Ernesto DOMINGUEZ Karl BOYES | Group 27 Stephan SANTL Vilmos FOLDES Rodolfo LUAT Jimmy WETCH Mori MANABU | Group 40 Stan TOURANGEAU Leil GAY Scotty TOWNSEND Nick VAN DEN BERG Tony CROSBY |
| Group 14 Grady MATHEWS Andreja KLASOVIC Marko LOHTANDER Allison FISHER Jeff ABERNATHY | . | . |
**Lee HEUWAGEN replaces Wei LIU