Pro9 - Europe's No.1 Pool Player Resource

International Pool Tour
Deno J. Andrews
Tour Director,
International Pool Tour
www.internationalpooltour.com
IPT NA Open Statistics
TV Coverage starts at 20.30 London time - tonight on Eurosport

23 July 2006

INSIDE THE PLAYER�S MEETING

The International Pool Tour�s first major event is poised to begin at the Venetian in fabulous Las Vegas. Two hundred of the most talented pocket billiards players worldwide arrived at the beautiful Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, NV today to attend the official players meeting. The men, dressed in suits and ties, and the women in their best, took their first look at the grand scale of this historic tournament. Players will compete for their share of over $2,000,000 which is the highest prize purse in the history of billiards. By playing in the North American Open, each player is guaranteed at least $2,000. The winner will take home an unprecedented $350,000!

Click on "Read More..." for the details.

Tour Director Deno Andrews is conspicuously missing from this event, as he and his wife are expecting their second child imminently. He was at the airport about to board his plane, which was two hours delayed, when his wife called to inform him that he should probably turn back. Deno said by phone that �I knew for the last ten years that I would run the largest tournament in the history of the game, but I guess I will have to wait for the World Open! As far as the North American Open, the tournament is in good hands with my assistant, Lindsay Erazo.� Lindsay Erazo, the Assistant Tour Director, has stepped up and will assume Andrews� duties throughout this event, with Charles Ursitti assisting.

Kevin Trudeau, the founder of the IPT, addressed the players at a meeting Saturday afternoon, in which he covered a wide range of topics, including reiterating that every 2007 tour member is guaranteed to earn $100,000. After the meeting, the tournament room was opened to the players, and every one of the 60 Diamond tables was taken in a matter of minutes. Many players stood in awe of the beautiful tournament arena. IPT Player Aaron Czetli said that �this is the greatest thing I have ever seen in pool, or anything for that matter.� 1995 World Champion Gerda Hofstatter stated �the tournament room is so beautiful, and I can�t wait to play my matches on Monday.� Half of the field will have matches on Sunday, while the other half will wait until Monday to play. At the end of Monday�s rounds, 80 players will be eliminated. There is no room for mistakes at the first major IPT tournament.

The tournament format is brutal! The round-robin format requires players to play all day. On certain days, players must play four matches, and on other days they must play five. That means that every player will be playing for at least eight to ten hours daily as they advance through the brackets. Corey Deuel was asked about this demanding format to which he replied �you have to be in good physical shape or else you have no chance.� Two players have dropped out of the North American Open due to the physical demands of the tournament.

Tournament conditions are some of the toughest in the history of the sport. The Diamond IPT tables are manufactured to provide the tightest pockets in professional pool. At the widest part of the corner pockets, the opening is no bigger than 4 �� which is much tighter than other professional events. The cloth is IPT Tournament Cloth, which is a custom slow-nap cloth made by Gorina, experts in textiles for over 100 years. The balls are a brand new custom designed ball made specifically for the IPT by SALUC, the Belgian ball company. Of course, to play in a tournament of this magnitude, the racks must be perfect every time, so the IPT uses the new Sardo M-5000 Tight Rack. IPT Tournament Chalk is also on the tables helping players to reduce the chances of miscuing. To learn more about official IPT equipment, please visit www.internationalpooltour.com.

DON�T MISS A THING!

The players aren�t the only ones with good shots. The IPT�s professional photographers bring you all the action at the online photo gallery. The IPT is providing unprecedented live on-line coverage of this event at www.internationalpooltour.com. There you will be able to follow the action by viewing up to the minute match scores, reading stories from the tournament floor and player interviews, follow player and tournament statistics. The coverage is ongoing during the event and promises to be the most in depth coverage of any billiards event ever. Of course, if you have access to Eurosport, you can catch daily live broadcasts in Prime Time.

IPT North American Open Prize Money Breakdown
Total Prize Fund	$2,050,000
1st Place	$350,000
2nd Place	$99,000
3rd Place	$80,000
4th Place	$65,000
5th Place	$50,000
6th Place	$40,000
7th - 18th Place	$30,000 each
19th - 36th Place	$17,000 each
37th - 60th Place	$10,000 each
61st - 120th Place	$5,000 each
121st - 200th Place	$2,000 each
All prize money is regardless of number of players

North American Open 8-Ball Championship Groupings
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 Jeff BECKLEY*** 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	.	.

* Keith BENNETT replaces Jim REMPE
** Lee HEUWAGEN replaces Wei LIU
*** Jeff BECKLEY replaces Pete FUSCO

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