Steinway Billiards Hosts 73rd World Tournament of 14.1 in New York City

Apr 15, 2013

Chicago, Illinois -  Steinway Billiards has been selected as the official location of the 73rd World Tournament of 14.1 ! The championship will take place in New York City on August 19th-24th,2013. Dragon Promotions, in cooperation with Dr.Michael Fedak, will once again produce the greatest straight pool championship in the world in its eighth consecutive year since its 2006 resurrection. Through additional support from such sponsors such as Championship Cloth, Aramith Balls and Master Chalk, the absolute best pool players from around the world will arrive on the birth country of 14.1 once more to attend this prestigious event, and vie for the coveted title of greatest straight pool player in the world.

 
"Steinway Billiards is extremely honored to be chosen as the host of the 73rd World Tournament. Steinway, and actually the entire city of New York, is thrilled and cant wait to host this beautiful, exciting event!", said Manny Stamatakis, one of the co-owners of Steinway Billiards. The legendary poolroom was established in 1990 and has thrived the past 23 years. Steinway has 25 full size 9ft tables, a full bar, famous food from it's full service restaurant, and has free parking for up to 60 cars. Steinway Billiards is co-owned by George Nikolakakos and Anna Nikolakakos.
"We had many poolrooms and hotels contact us to host the World Tournament. We are extremely pleased at the growth of this event and the brand. But we never saw so many people and experts that we trust go to bat to have us produce the event, like we experienced with Steinway. From promoter Tony Robles, journalist Geoff Conway, and NYCGrind's Jerry Tarantola plus many more, they all raved about the establishment and the passion of the management. Even our sponsors love the location such as Mike Serra, Chairman of the BCA and VP of Championship Cloth, who posted on Facebook how much he liked Steinway when he visited it last week, and he intends to fly out to attend the event once more. So we are looking forward to being there this year and hosting the greatest 14.1 players in the world", said Charlie Williams, producer of the World Tournament and Founder of Dragon Promotions.




 

The World Tournament is the oldest tournament in history that still exists today. Invented by Jerome Keough and shortly after recognized as the official game of billiards. The first World 14.1 Tournament was held in 1912 and won by Edward Ralph. In its history due to war and economics, the World Championships had 29 tournaments that did not take place including a 15 year gap between 1990-2005 until Dragon Promotions revived the game and the World Tournament in 2006. Since that time, 14.1 has seen a resurgence that it has not experienced in decades with the World Tournament inspiring new players, spin-off tournaments, and leagues to help secure straight pool for new generations to come.


  Dr. Michael Fedak   


The end of summer event will also mark the 101 year birthday of the World Tournament which has created new 14.1 icons such as Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, Oliver Ortmann, Stephan Cohen of France, Niels Feijen of Netherlands and the first American in over 20 years to hold the title, John Schmidt of the United States. 
 
"I visited numerous locations on my trip to New York City and New Jersey last month. I was pleasantly surprised at Steinway Billiards. And they have been extremely compliant and easy to work with. We have a great feeling about this year's World Tournament", said Cindy Lee CEO of Dragon Promotions. The experienced Mrs.Lee has handled the logistics of organizing the World Tournament from locations at the Hilton Hotel, the Hyatt Hotel, and all it's other locations during the better part of a decade. The demand to host the World Tournament has grown each year.

One of the few self standing poolroom buildings in the world, Steinway Billiards has plenty of space, tables, good food, and ample free parking
 
The format for the event will be the same as the past six years. 64 players divided into 8 groups of 8 players in a round robin format playing races to 100. The top 32 players will advance to a double elimination tournament races to 150. The top 16 players will then advance to a single elimination race to 200 points.
Steinway will also be the host of the 3rd Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame Banquet. Past inductees included Ray Martin, Jerome Keough, Danny Diliberto, and Jack Colavita.










                                                                       
 
The  World Tournament Champion will also have his name inscribed on the 14.1 Champion's Cup alongside the names of previous winners such as Hohmann, Ortmann, Mosconi, Feijen, Mizerak, Lassiter, Cohen, Martin and John Schmidt.   



Vendor spaces and sponsorship packages are available, and for more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978.  Full event info will later be on www.worldstraightpool.com and www.dragonpromotions.com

Dragon Promotions is one of the leading producers of billiard programming in the world today.  In a span of over 12 years, Dragon Promotions has produced 200 international events airing on networks in USA, Korea, and Europe such as ESPN, ABS-CBN, ESPN Star Asia, MBC ESPN, XTM, XPORTS, and Euro Sport. Events include The World Tournament of 14.1, The International 10-Ball Championship, King & Queen of Carom, Empress Cup, Pro Pool Schools, DP Pro Classic, Women's Trickshot Challenge, World Junior 10-Ball Championships, The World Mixed Doubles and many more. Dragon has expanded to other sports such as football and manages some of the world's best pool players including Johnny Archer, Allison Fisher, Mika Immonen, Shanelle Loraine, Rodney Morris, Charlie Williams, Mike Davis, and Erica Park. Watch their anniversary video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZrvwijI8fg   and visit www.dragonpromotions.com