Women's International Pool Championship Comes to America
Nov 3, 2014
New York City, New York- Pool fans hang onto your hats. The ladies are back! Dragon Promotions is bringing big time, world class women's pool back to the United States with the 6th Annual Women's International Pool Championship ! The event takes place December 16-21, 2014 featuring 64 elite women from around the world and hosted by Steinway Billiards Cafe in New York City, the epicenter of American culture. The event is sanctioned by the WPBA and will be filmed by AZBTV.
The event formerly known as the Women's World 10-Ball, was created by Charlie Williams, Executive Producer for Dragon Promotions back in 2009. It has seen the rise of women's pool in Asia and Europe. First time World Champions were made there such as Jasmin Ouschan (Austria), Kelly Fisher (England), Rubilen Amit (Philippines), and made Korea's Ga Young Kim a 3 times World Champion. The championship has been produced in the Philippines for the past 5 years, so bringing the championship to the USA is a major move.
A mixture of East & West have had successes at the Women's International Pool Championship making household names of players such as Jasmin Ouschan & Rubilen Amit
"At that time in pool about a decade ago, no one had ever thought of doing a major 10-Ball event for women. Many thought that it would be too long or difficult for the ladies. But we started out doing televised international 10-Ball ladies events in South Korea, and then we saw that the women had the potential to play the game at a good level and pace for TV, as well as for fans. And the ladies loved it, so when we discontinued doing 9-Ball pro events for the men, we did the same for the ladies. So the Women's World 10-Ball was born from that, and now has transformed into the Women's International Pool Championship. Even as a professional player and coach of the game of pool, I have been impressed by the women's improvements every year and they now play a high standard in 10-Ball. That's why we have elected to do a proper format which encompasses a lengthy round robin and now even longer races in the final stage. Most of the professionals considered our title the toughest and most prestigious to win before, and with the new evolving of the format it's going to be even more so", explained Williams.
Women's International Pool Championship format will be even more challenging than previous years. It begins with 8 women round robin with every player playing a guaranteed 7 matches. The field is cut in half and then moves onto the knockout rounds in a race to 10. The quarter-finals goes to a race to 11, and then the semi-finals race to 13. The Pool Championship Finals will be a race to 17. The eventual tournament winner will have played 12 world class opponents.
The Women's International Pool Championship is the most sought after title in women's billiards
" While there has been several men's pro events in New York City the past few years, there has not been a major women's pro event there in well over a decade. So Dragon Promotions is really excited to bring this to the American fan base. The Women's International Pool Championship may very well feature the strongest international field of women players ever on US soil, so this is going to be a nice boost to help the USA pool industry and economy. It's going to be thrilling for not just the fans and media, but also for the foreign players coming over for their first time", said Cindy Lee, CEO of Dragon Promotions.
"The WPBA is excited to partner with Dragon Promotions in an effort to provide a unique opportunity for WPBA players to compete against their international counterparts on American soil. We anticipate the thrill that accompanies the Women's International Pool Championship competition and look forward to collaborating with Dragon Promotions on future events", said Kim White-Newsome, President of the Women's Pro Billiard Association.