UK 8 Ball
Topic: IPT North American Open

Hi folks

Well, the draw has been made for the opening 40 groups in the IPT's North American Open, taking place at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Remember, the top 3 from each group qualify to the next phase.

Here are the groups (that I can find) involving UK/Irish players.

Group 2
Neils FEIJEN
Karen CORR
Ray MARTIN
Wei LIU
Greg HOGUE

Group 3
Tuan Kiat GOH
Jim REMPE
Sarah ELLERBY
Eric HJORLEIFSON
David MATLOCK

Group 5
Austin MURPHY
Danny BASAVICH
Ewa LAURANCE
Sam MONDAY
Anthony GINN

Group 7
Raj HUNDAL
Dallas WEST
Monica WEBB
Ismael PAEZ
Scott FROST

Group 11
Mike SIGEL
Philip HARRISON
James ROBERTS
David BROXSON
Linda CARTER

Group 12
Joe MINICI
Dee ADKINS
Marlon MANALO
Robin DODSON
Richard BROUMPTON

Group 13
Zlatko JAKULJ
Loree Jon JONES
John MACIAS
Ernesto DOMINGUEZ
Karl BOYES

Group 14
Grady MATHEWS
Andreja KLASOVIC
Marko LOHTANDER
Allison FISHER
Jeff ABERNATHY

Group 15
Dennis ORCOLLO
Kelly FISHER
Gary ABOOD
Wayne CATLEDGE
John KUTCHER

Group 16
Ivaca PUTNIK
Jimmy WHITE
Quinten HANN
David ALCAIDE
Ronato ALCANO

Group 19
Robert MCKENNA
John WIMS
Shane VAN BOENING
Thorsten HOHMANN
Michael VIDAS

Group 21
Mike LEBRON
Vincent FACQUET
Dennis HATCH
Ronnie O’SULLIVAN
Sandor TOT

Group 22
Leonardo GUNNAR
Tom STORM
Daryl PEACH
John SCHMIDT
Konihiko TAKAHASHI

Group 25
Warren KIAMCO
Brian SALEH
Michael ZIMMERMAN
Keith MCCREADY
Cliff JOYNER

Group 28
Imran MAJID
Ralph ECKERT
Thomas KENNEDY
Aaron CZETLI
Howard VICKERY

Group 29
Lee CHENMAN
Adam WHEELER
Gerry WATSON
Shawn PUTNAM
Marco MARQUEZ

Group 34
Darren APPLETON
Allen HOPKINS
Patrick HOLTZ
Mike DAVIS
Takeshi OKUMURA

Group 36
John DITORO
Carl MORRIS
Bernd JAHNKE
Jeremy JONES
Robb SAEZ

Group 38
Ouahbi AMINE
Alejandro CARVAJAL
Mick HILL
Charlie WILLIAMS
Santos SAMBAJON

Chances are that I've missed one or 2, but you've got the majority of them here. For more details, as well as details of all 40 groups, go to the International Pool Tour website.

Roll on Eurosport with the live coverage!

Best wishes

thecardman

good luck to pat holtz

Quinten and Jimmy in same group!

Groups that stand out for me are 16, 22 and 34.

Official Player Groupings Announced

The IPT is proud to announce the player groupings for the IPT "North American Open 8-Ball Championship." The methodology for determining the groups was complex. All of the Hall of Fame members were placed in separate groups; female players were placed into separate groups; all of the players who qualified through the qualification tournament system were placed into separate groups (since there are 50 qualifiers and 40 groups, some groups have two qualified players); finally, a number of the top players, historically, were placed into separate groups. All of the placed players were placed randomly into their respective groups.

Once the tournament starts, there is a predetermined format that dictates which players advance to which brackets in future rounds. The official tournament format will be announced shortly and will include the bracket population flow chart. Please refer to the IPT Web Site for Official Rules and tournament formats.

If you can't make it to the North American Open in person, you can follow the action on line at www.internationalpooltour.com.

Deno J. Andrews
Tour Director,
International Pool Tour
www.internationalpooltour.com

International Pool Tour News and Updates:

The first five tournaments of the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship Qualification System get underway starting this Friday July 14, 2006. Entry to the first weekend events will be cut off some time on Thursday, July 13.

Entry fees must be paid in advanced. Absolutely no entry fees will be accepted at the door regardless of the number of players. Players who entered the early rounds of the North American Open qualification system were rewarded because of the typically low turnout of players in the first round, so don't miss your chance! Click here to see full results of those qualification tournaments.

The top two players in each qualification tournament will win a spot in the World Open. Players who place 3rd-6th in each qualification tournament will win a free entry into another qualification tournament. Over $3 million dollars in prize money will be given away at the World Open. First place in the World Open is an unprecedented $500,000! Interestingly, last place pays $5000...even if you don't make a single ball! Also, any non-IPT Tour member who places in the top six in the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship will earn automatic invitations to play in the 2006 IPT Players Championship and IPT Masters Championship, which are Tour Member-only events. For the complete payout schedules, click here.

Also keep in mind that this is the IPT "World Open 8-Ball Championship," and the fact that many more qualification tournaments will be held outside the U.S. This first week of qualification tournaments are being played in the U.S. If you plan to attend a qualifier in the U.S., after this weekend, there will not be that many opportunities. Click here to visit the qualifier schedule for the qualification tournaments.

Don't miss this opportunity to play in the biggest and most prestigious tournament in the history of the game! You can register on line at www.internationalpooltour.com or by calling the IPT at (847) 439-3438 during business hours (CST). But remember, if you want to play this weekend, you need to register as soon as possible.

There are two entry fee levels for qualification tournaments. A full entry fee is $1500. All winnings earned at this entry fee level will count towards the top 100 Money List which wins you a 2007 IPT Player's Card. All 2007 IPT players are guaranteed $100,000! For more information on how this is earned, click here. The second entry fee level is $750. If you enter a qualifying tournament at the $750 entry fee level and come in first or second, you still are entered into the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship. However, you will only receive 50% of any prize money you win. Your prize money will not count towards the money list. This qualifying system is designed to allow players from all over the world to enter tournaments without huge travel expenses and costs. It is also designed to weed out players who know that they have no chance in the tournaments.

Deno J. Andrews
Tour Director,
International Pool Tour
www.internationalpooltour.com

Have to agree with buckster_uk, groups 16, 22, 34 are by far the hardest, there are a few real "soft" groups too, but thats how the draw came out and we have to get on with the job at hand!

Im really looking forward to the challenge.


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Go for it Dazzler. Do some damage. Remember there's no reason why you can't progress but it will be tough. Good luck and to all the UK lads including Jimmy White!!

Good luck to all Brits competing in this event. I have to say Jimmy White has got a really tough group and Ronnie will be playing two of Europes best in his group. Should be a great tournament!