9-Ball
Topic: Future of 9 ball seriously

Just sat wondering what the future holds for 9 ball,seems to be a lot of events being pulled or struggling to take place.sarajevo open the latest one which was very successful last year,us open took a lot of stick this year n a lot of players have lost trust imo with the delaying off payments,world 9 ball ??,world 10 ball a mess,prize funds dropping each year there played,surely players can only take so much before they chalk F on it

Be interesting to hear a few players views on it,all young lads trying to break through,is it worth it,maybe so but I see a lot of bad points with it all,next year will after be successful n comps run on time otherwise players will have had enough

Some of the English boys might be on blackball tour sooner than they thought

Views on it


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Mr Dockerty to you boys

Good point Eric pal. I've thought same, especially with Rileys shutting more clubs, I can't help but think it's only a matter of time before they're all shut (hope I'm wrong though). There's loads of independent snooker clubs in this country, but only an handful of "American" pool clubs. We're lucky up north with Vegas Bar and Barnsley reopening. Mickey's is supposed to be a good club in Cambridge, but I've not had chance to go, I've also heard that the Hurricane clubs down south are good, maybe they'll branch out??? But with no places to practise, there'll be little or no future, at least in the UK, which is a shame because GB9 is a great tour, as is BWPPA.


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Matt Lester
www.matthew-lester.com

A question I ask myself a lot Doc, and honestly, I don't know... I can't speak for other players in my situation but, I know that I play/practice as much for the enjoyment of the game, as to be the best in the world - which I think is important.

I hope it holds a bright future... There would be nothing I would love more than to be able to travel around doing what the guys do, playing the game we all love. Hopefully the tournament issues aren't going to become a more regular occurrence than they already are, and that when the worlds economy firmly finds its feet, so does the pool world...

Games like bonus ball coming along and getting new fans/players involved in the cuesports industry can only be a good thing, can't it?

One of the main issues that I see is the lack of respect for the game (By people that don't play it), because of the size of the pockets. People see big bags and people twitching balls in, and something just doesnt add up.

I personally believe the game needs to become slightly harder (to someone whos just watching) for it to get the respect it deserves before people consider it a proper sport. The Diamond tables are making the game slightly harder, with the tighter bags which I think can only be a plus.

Once the game is respected by the general public, I think there will be more scope to get TV events... Games like golf/snooker etc are good to watch because you appreciate how good they are and how easy they make the game look, even to the untrained eye.

Just have to wait and see what happens, but in a nutshell, make the game harder = more respect from the geernal public = more players wanting to play and watch.

Easy said, but not so easily done

As someone relatively new to the world of cue sports (I started in May), I found it relatively easy to find an (English) 8-ball team to join (at no cost), and a few small low fee (£5 or less) weekly tournaments to enter.

However for 9-Ball there are no teams (that I could find) and most of the tournaments seem to have entry fees that are a lot higher (often £20 or more). The level of fees could put off a lot of beginners and stifle growth of 9-Ball

Also, there are so many games to choose! English Pool is English Pool, Snooker is Snooker, but on a 9 foot American table, there are so many games to choose from. This overcomplicates things sometimes (I think), introducing new concepts is a great idea (such as the bonus ball league), but wouldn't it be better to introduce the team concept to existing games such as 8/9/10 ball, rather than creating yet another one?

Also the world championships coming back to Cardiff, being broadcast live on Sky Sports would surely do wonders for the game here (or in Europe as a whole?).

Also...a British Open, with televised later stages would rock!

It'd be great for the game in the UK yes, but sadly I don't think it'll happen unless Matchroom get back involved and I can't see that.


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Matt Lester
www.matthew-lester.com

My mate watched last years mosconi and thought the pockets were generous, and there was a lot of shots going in from big bounces on the rail, anyone know what the pocket sizes were, but pressure wise, there is nothing like it, lets hope GBA can get the ball rolling in the uk, but just like BWPPA we are players not officials, maybe they need a professional administrator but that costs which is always the issue.

On 2012-12-05 11:28 , The_Lunn Wrote:

Couldn't agree more with this, when people are used to watching snooker especially.