9-Ball
Topic: Quick GB9 question

Apologies if this has been asked before (I think I may have asked! Sorry Lee!).

On the GB9 website, it says the top 104 in the main rankings will secure their place on the tour.

Now it's unlikely, but what would happen if a pro who finished top in the pro division ended up in the bottom 24 of the main division? Would he still have to qualify for 2009?

Also, if a challenge player ended up right at the bottom of the challenge divison but scraped in the top 104 would they secure their place on for 2009?

Seems that the pro has achieved a lot more on the GB9 tour than the challenge player yet could lose his place.

not that i'm lee but yes thats the basic jist of it. I would imagine that any pro who falls into the bottom 24 players would have to qualify for their place again. I would think that, in the very unlikely event of this happening, either the 9th placed challenge division player would qualify for the pro division or the 25th placed pro player would have there place saved, in exchange for the player who would have to re-qualify.

I am assuming that the chances of this happening are very, very small though. Is anybody in the pro in the bottom 24 on the main at the moment, out of interest?

Yeah, the chances of it happening are very small but you never know what might happen!
I think the seeding will protect the top 32 players anyway. Unless a load of challenge players caused a few upsets!

PS All the pro's are far from the bottom 24!

i cant see it happening to be honest. It would be very strange if it did.

Thing is there is that chance that some challenge players cause some upsets, i mean, you have the likes of Bradley Parker, Thomas Ainsworth-Smith and Tony Burton who on there day, could scalp some of the pro's

I think it unlikely that a top 32 pro player would finish in the bottom 24 of main rankings as the seeding should protect this. However, it is a possibility that a Challenge player could be in the Top 8 of their rankings and finish in the bottom 24 of main.

Given that there is only 6 events to play if you get unlucky draws in the Pro this could happen.
Imagine a player who gets to the last 8 of each challenge event and possibly wins one, but in the Main event gets a Top 32 pro in event one, then is unlucky enough to get another in event 2. He then plays awful in event three. So now with 3 events gone he is in bottom 24 and the pressure is on for event 4. Given that there are a handful of Pros that will play in the first round of Croydon it is a possibility that this may happen.

I would be disappointed if i was relegated for finishing in bottom 24 of main but finished in Top 8 of Challenge. An interesting one I think.

I thought of this scenario when I was at Solihull. I agree that it is unlikely, but it is possible. Maybe a rule change should be suggested for next season.

Well here's my opinion on the matter and I'll find out soon enough if the other GB9 committee members share it

I don't believe there is any need for a rule change. We call it 'the main event' and 'the official UK ranking' for good reason. This is a seeded event with a 12 month rolling ranking system, which is designed to produce an accurate ranking over a period of time so I would be very surprised if the rankings do not become a true reflection of performance once players have played in all 6 events. I think we all know this is a pro tour with a very high standard and all of us need to prepare well for these events and perform at our best if we are to get the ranking position we believe we deserve. It won't just happen, it has to be earned and it will take 4 or 5 events before we start to see the rankings really take shape.

The Challenge and Pro division events are important because, for many of us, we'll see this as our best chance of getting in the prize money during the weekend. Of course these are also really enjoyable events because you get to pit yourself against players closer to your own ability, but we have to remember it's not the main event. In the main event all 128 players have an equal chance to shine and this is the only way of determining your official UK ranking and ultimately it's your official UK ranking that should determine your right to participate on the tour next season.

Well, that sounds about right Lee.

Out of interest, how many guys weren't able to get on any tour this year?

also as said before, the chance of somebody finishing in the bottom 24 who is in the pro's is very slim, not because of the seeding, but because they are quality players that deserve to be there.

The seeding runs seperatly for all three events, so if, for instance, Phil Burford won the pro event at Solihull and lost in his first round of the main event, he would still have to play from the very begining of the main event, and his finish in the pro division would have no bearing on that.

Anyway i'm pretty sure a rule change is not needed, it keeps that door open of the possability of a pro player being relegated (again i say it is more than likely not ever going to happen)

when is the draw,

gb9 warm up maybe ??

I think I read somewhere that it will be published on the 23rd March (but don't quote me on that!)

The draw will indeed be done at the GB9 warm up on 23 March. This means it will go on the website 23 March or possibly 24 March if the warm up tournament finishes late.