Promoting Pool but at What Cost?: Handicap vs No Handicap Debate

Graphic taken from https://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-no-professionals-allowed/

By: Markus Noé

Last weekend Shooters Snooker & Sports Club in Scarborough Ontario held an open no handicap tournament. These types of tournaments have been lacking in all of Ontario not just the Greater Toronto Area (G.T.A). Handicap tournaments as a whole have been gaining in popularity over the past decade in North America, but at what cost?

I credit this popularity because these handicap systems present the illusion that everyone has a chance to win. However this thought process comes with some major pitfalls. For example if Erik Hjorleifson, John Morra, or Mario Morra are playing on one of the various tours in the G.T.A, these three have a talent level that is above any field that can be can be assembled in the area. Thus they are the favourites to win any event they play and if participants are being honest with themselves they should feel that this is perfectly reasonable. Because these three players are perfect examples of people who have dedicated their lives to mastering the sport of pool, therefore their talent and motivation have earned them this edge in play.

By the end of the season there are people who like to look back and see how many tournaments "The Big Three" have won. Lets say that number is around 60% of the tournaments, based on the handicap philosophy this would not seem right. In this thought process ideally if there were 10 tournaments there should be at least 7/8 different winners, so what happens from here? Keeping inline with the handicap mantra there needs to be an adjustment. In the G.T.A what has happened if "The Big Three" have to race to 11 they introduce something called an 11 minus.

This is another method to try and take the edge away. Meaning if you are an 11 minus when you play a 6 they race to 5 or if you play a 7 they race to 6. You can imagine when they play higher ranked players whether they are 8,9,10 how difficult this could be. That being said these three are elite professionals. With their knowledge of the rack, ability to keep calm under pressure and the intimidation factor they bring to the table they still find a way to win the majority of the time.
Thus the next step is you see countless of tournament posters with the fine print that reads "No Pro's."

It is not just the Pro's being left out now you will also see a lot of tournaments where no one over "8" permitted. So there has been an outcry of late for traditional tournaments with straight up races. Going back to last weekend, 36 players ended up showing up with most of them being between the 5-7 level. There was a big gap of players in the 8-10 range who are not only the better players in the area but the ones who were a part of the outcry for these types of tournaments.

Now 36 players showed up for a non handicap tournament less then a month after 115 play a 7 and under tournament at the same location. So when push comes to shove the players who wanted this most did not show up. Of course it is summer and people don't play as much but it still does not account for the low turn out of the higher skilled players.  This fact begins to make me ponder the will of amateur players. As a group, is our ego and pride so fragile that we cannot even enter a tournament anymore where we are not some sort of favourite, or with the illusion of being a favourite? Is this what handicap tournaments have done to the sport, where pool room owners and tournament organizers have to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Combined with this, these top players have to deal with insulting statements like, "I am just here to donate," or "they are here to rob us." Not only insulting to people who have dedicated their lives to the sport but how much more short sided could these statements be. Especially in the format that was just presented at Shooters which had staggered entry fee's for the different levels. The value in this is to compete against high level competition without a spot to see what you got, and toughen you up and see what needs to be worked on.

Living in Cornwall, Ontario an hour outside of Montreal I play most of my pool in Quebec each season. In the Quebec Federation there are only 2-3 Handicap tournaments a season and they are mostly frowned upon. They have the luxury of having enough players to fill division for players ranked "C" through to Professional without the need for handicaps. In fact many of the Quebec players are against Handicaps as a whole. I have noticed the benefit in just the last two years alone playing the most tournaments I have ever played. As a "A" ranked player this year I secured wins over a Semi-Pro and some other higher ranked players straight up. My game and my confidence has benefited greatly from these tests and am on my way to consistently playing at a higher level.

If I would compare this system to that of the ABO handicap system in the Ottawa/Gatineau region, which I have played on and off for 5 years. It is easy to notice that many of those players who solely play these handicap events have not improved at all since I began to play. This has nothing to do in my opinion with talent level but however with these players not needing to improve. Because they have had moderate success with many mid-level cashes and the occasional tournament win. However all the while not earning enough points to be bumped up to the next level.

The result of this is we are not developing players and thus not progressing the sport we all love. Now I wont argue the fact that handicap tournaments have their place, especially for weekend enthusiasts. However we cannot let it get to the point where we are heading now. Which is we are excluding our pro's from the majority of the tournaments and handicapping them in ways where their opponents might not even have to play well to win. We need to be embracing our talented players rather then turning our backs on them, and in a sense berating them for their high level play rather then celebrating it.

Finally I would like to make the point, if Tiger Woods came strolling into our local Golf Club, and decided to play the weekend tournament. Would everyone be saying to themselves "I am not playing because I don't have chance." I think not, people would be lining up to play because they have a chance to play with one of the best players in the world and see how he handles himself ,how he hits the ball, what his approach to the game is. It is the responsibility of all players and enthusiasts alike to treat our sport in the same way, because if we don't no one will.

Currently we have two Canadian players ranked well within the top 20 in the world, John Morra and Jason Klatt. They have done this with zero government support, minimal sponsorship and at time when the sport is recovering from the lowest point ever seen. A truly commendable accomplishment and a testament to their will and determination. I can guarantee you they got to this level by competing in hundreds of tournaments in which they where far from the favourite. I fear if we continue on this path we are just a few years away from a talent drain in our Canadian Pool community, which could be devastating to the future of competitive pool in Canada.



                               

Deuel Reignites Rack Your Own Debate at the Carom Room Spring Classic

By: Markus Noé

This past weekend the Carom Room Spring Classic $2000 bar-box 8 ball tournament in Beloit Wisconsin was played. This was a star studded field with the likes of Dennis Orcollo, Shane VanBoening, Darren Appleton, Jason Klatt, John Morra all in attendance. In the end it was Sky Woodward who double dipped Shane VanBoeining in this true double elimination final. 

 The "Prince of Pool" Corey Deuel was also in this field. He is a multiple Mosconi Cup team member and former U.S Open Champion. On top of many people suggesting that he could be the best bar-box player in the world, he is also one of the most knowledgeable players when it comes to racking and breaking the balls. In fact he is so adept with his racking and breaking techniques that he has become a controversial figure in pool.

 Sardo Tight Rack

When I first got into the "pool scene" in the mid to late 2000's, I remember the outrage from fans and fellow pro's for his mastery of the Sardo Tight Rack. This was a new rack on the market at the time that tightened the balls in an almost machine like fashion to provide a "perfect rack". The reason why this was a "perfect rack" is because the balls were tapped into place upon instruction from the Sardo company. This is called training the cloth, the rack helped in arranging the balls into the divots. After some  time with this new rack he was able to figure out a way to consistently pot the wing ball and to have a reasonable opening shot by soft breaking the balls. With his world class ability these racks were almost too easy as his run-outs were abnormally high even compared to other pro's.

For certain purists they believe there should not be this type of consistency with the rack, and that running out carbon copy patterns over and over again does not demonstrate much skill. To others the game is simply about winning the most racks and if you are doing that by breaking and running more racks than the others based on superior knowledge, then all the more power too you. 

 Deuel's Experimental Break

This past weekend Deuel once again caused a stir with his racking and breaking techniques. In a match early on in the tournament, Deuel was up against Canada's #1 player John Morra. Check out the video below to see what he was doing. 

      Video courtesy of Pool Action TV

As you can see this was not a traditional break by any means. Deuel clips the last ball in what looks to me like a straight-pool break. He does so intentionally to make the 5 ball cross corner. Right away any pool player can tell that this will be a challenging rack to run-out as he does not break out the 8 ball at all. However if you look closely Deuel has patterned racked the balls in such a way that by hitting it at the speed he did only the solid balls came out of the pack, with the exception of two striped balls. This allows Deuel to have complete control of the rack. Because at this point if he misses, Morra's stripes are all clustered together with the 8 ball directly in the center of the pack making for a very tough out.  

Another top ranked Canadian player who was also there, Jason Klatt had this to say when asked about the Deuel break. "Well if he broke like that vs. me I would like it cause he needs to come with some Houdini outs.  And I like the slow grinding games personally.  He just did it to change the pace of the match and mentally breakdown his opponents.  I love that stuff."  

On the other hand there are those who feel like this is nothing more than a gimmick that cheapens the game. After the match with Morra, Deuel took to Facebook and stated to his followers that he just won a tight match against Morra 15-13. It would be an understatement to say Morra was bothered by this, as he took to Facebook and criticized Deuel's methods. This debate ended as all good arguments between world class players should, which was by Morra challenging Deuel to a high stakes money match. 

I also reached out to the "Prince of Pool" to inform him of this story and wanted to know his thoughts to the question I had. Which was how he feels about the divide in opinion his techniques has caused. Some peg him as a genius and some think these types of tactics diminishes the game. Deuel had this to say, "Can't hurt the sport...it's the worst I've seen...I like to try new things maybe this will spice it up a bit. Shane has been winning last few years but still no money in the game... and his break is very flashy and exciting...but the run outs are too easy...and rotation games are self explanatory ...1 then 2 then 3 ...viewers that don't know what 'English' is get bored to death.

It appeared to me that Deuel who is a veteran on tour, is more concerned about the current state of the game. This is a guy who has seen the sport come down to a historic low in America, and I get the feeling that he thinks his tactics are far from the biggest concern facing the sport today. Personally I am divided on the whole issue, so I am curious to what you the readers have to say. 

Feel free to join us on the Cue Sport Nation Facebook page to get in on the discussion. Finally it should be noted that Deuel was forced to abandon this method. I was informed by Ray Hansen at  Pool Action Tv that this tournament was played under the Billiard Congress of America Rules (B.C.A). The ruling was this was not a "random rack" which is a requirement by the B.C.A, thus he was no longer able to use it.  

Will the Canadian Championships be a Success This Year ?

2014 Canadian 10 Ball Champion Erik Hjorleifson with Rob Sakell

By: Markus Noé

Here in Eastern Ontario we are getting our first wave of spring-like weather. The melting snow signifies that the Canadian Championships are just around the corner. It kicks off March 31st with the Open 8 Ball division and concludes April 4. During this week the 8, 9, 10 ball Men's Champions will be crowned as well as the 9, 10 ball Women's Champions.

Over the past year as the "Straight-Pool" blog gained in popularity and grew into Cue Sport Nation, I have had the opportunity to talk to many of Canada's top players. With less than a decade of competitive experience under my belt I still consider myself a rookie of sorts on the on-goings of the Canadian Billiard & Snooker Association(C.B.S.A) or cue sports in general in Canada. It did surprise me however that every single top player I had a chance to speak with did have a horror story to share about our Canadian Championships. Complaints include amateurish streams, and not enough added money which results in players getting gouged in entry fees. Overall payouts being next to nothing, poor organization and communication with provinces outside of New Brunswick and Ontario resulting in no qualifiers being held, little to no room for spectators and the list goes on. 

 To sum it up quickly for a lot of players, their relationship with the C.B.S.A has been comparable to being stuck in in a loveless marriage and not being able to afford the divorce. The C.B.S.A is the only association in Canada permitted to give out World Championship spots, and for our top professional players who live solely off their pool winnings they are forced to compete. Otherwise they risk the expense money to travel to Qatar to play in very tough qualifiers just for a chance to make the final group. Thus the 5 spots the C.B.S.A have are coveted, and in all fairness might be the only reason it has survived the last decade. In defense of the C.B.S.A , top players who I have talked to do praise their efficiency when it comes to securing these spots but admit they could do more overall. 

 This recent track record has been less admirable and has resulted in dwindling participation. Last year the turn out was so bad that I felt the need to express my thoughts in an articled I headlined "Is Pocket Billiards Dead In Canada".  A few months later I wrote another one "Why Will Canada not be at the World Team Championships". To the credit of the C.B.S.A one of their executives reached out and shared his willingness to put in the effort into improving our national association and working with media such as myself to grow the game as a whole. 

Over the past few months I have been sent and posted "new sponsorship" press releases from the C.B.S.A. They have obtained sponsors such as O.B Cues, Diamond Tables, Aramith Balls, Chalk Cube, and Kamui-Tips to mention a few. The location for this years Championships will be the Delta Meadowvale hotel in Mississauga, ON, a great venue by all accounts. For streaming, I did recently hear that one of my favourite production companies Billard Québec offered its services for as little as $1000 plus accommodations, a true bargain price for the quality Guy Simard brings to the table for 6 days of uninterrupted coverage. 

Leading into this years events I am concerned that the entry fee is $325 for each division. Meaning that for players wanting to compete in all three they would be in for $975 and that is if you're from the G.T.A. For players who need to travel this can easily be a $2000 week. Also I have not heard of one C.B.S.A backed qualifier once again this year. However as pool players and fans have been accustomed to, we all must approach it as a clean slate. Already this year promises to be an improvement from years past and because of this there is interest from players who have not competed in the Canadians in years. This past weekend I had a chance to talk with one of our Canadian legends Luc "The Machine Gun" Salvas and he appears to be reinvigorated. He has been playing in all the Pro events in Québec and has hinted at participating in this years Canadian Championships and perhaps Turning Stone later this year

In conclusion I invite everyone to watch the stream this year if they cannot make it to Mississauga and like it or hate it be vocal on your thoughts of this years Canadian Championships. Because pool is not dead in Canada and whether the Canadian Championships is considered a success or not this year it is important to at least keep the conversation going. Remember the intention of this website - whether you are a pro, amateur or spectator, we are all one as a nation and are all responsible to improve the sport we love.

Visit our website at www.cuesportnation.com 

Sportsmanship to a Fault

By: Markus Noé

Yesterday I jumped in the car and drove just over an hour to take part in a "A" class tournament at Le Skratch Laval. After blowing a 6-1 lead in my first round match to lose 8-6 I battled for five matches on the losers side to finish in 5th. During my third match of the day something happened on the table next to me that stuck with me the rest of the tournament.

For privacy sake I will leave the names out as it is really not the point of this article. A habit of mine is to watch what is going on on other tables in between my turn because it just eases the torture a bit for me. I happened to glance over to the left of me at a key time in the match, as what happened next to me determined the end result.

There was only two balls left with the 9 on the spot and the 7 ball underneath and close enough that I would call the ref because a cut into the corner looked impossible without fouling. The option the shooter chose looked to be to play the 7 ball ball to the end rail safe and come back to center table. Keep in mind the opponent never chose to get up and get a ref despite having ample time to do so.

The safety which I mentioned before was attempted and of course the 9 ball moved but as I was watching I saw the cue ball clearly hit the 7 first. Now what I think added to the confusion was that the 7 ball ended up drifting quite a bit as is notoriously the case at this pool hall, and happened to barely make its way into the pocket.

As soon as the 7 ball dropped the opponent jumped out of his chair and suggested that what just occurred was a foul. I must say that what happened next is something I never saw before in a competitive match. After about 5 minutes of discussion the shooter was quilted into giving up ball in hand on the 9 ball, without getting the tournament director involved. The worst part of this for me was that I could tell that the shooter did not think they fouled but in an attempt to be gracious and avoid a scene conceded the game.

As a competitive player myself I have several issues with what went on here. First the ref was not called so any close call automatically goes to the shooter with no questions asked. Second the player who thought it was a foul should have had the etiquette to not say anything at all as he is a veteran of this circuit and is well aware of the rules, meaning he did not have a leg to stand on argument wise. But this was a "move" as he tried to play on the timid nature of his opponent.

As much as I hate the idea of someone making a move like this because one way or another it has an affect mentally on the rest of the match, if you want to have success as a competitive player you have to be more cut throat and have the confidence to defend your shot in this scenario. Giving up the rack might be considered the "nice thing" to do but in reality it was a mistake.

It was almost predictable what happened the rest of the match as mentally the player who committed the "non foul" was broken. The frustration was evident as after the incident it was a blow out with the one player barely able to pocket a ball, and I believe only won one more game the entire set. To add insult to injury this was a losers side match.

No one wants a good shot or a win to be taken away because they are called a cheater or lucky and so on. However the lesson here is yes you want to show sportsmanship and etiquette as overall we all know this is lacking in our sport. But by no means do you want these good qualities to work against you as it did in this particular match. It could be argued here that what the player sitting down did was in poor taste, but at the end of the day "this is war" as the great Earl Strickland has said, and some people will do whatever they can to win.  It is important for all players to have the confidence and mental toughness to fight through these situations.

 Yes it might feel good to avoid an argument and rise above the situation, but that missed opportunity will weigh on you mentally the entire set and magnify any bad rolls you get and any good rolls your opponent gets the rest of the match. It is hard enough to win matches and tournaments so do yourself a favour and don't get swindled into giving anything away.

W.P.A Lifts Sanctions on "Womens International Pool Championships"

By: Markus Noé

Azbillards released a bombshell article last week by Jerry Forsyth siting the World Pool Associations anger with Dragon Promotions. The issue was that they were promoting the upcoming "Women's International Pool Championship" as a continuation of the former World 10 ball Championship held in the Philippines. As I received the same promotional package as everyone else I can say that W.P.A had a legitimate concern here. The result was the W.P.A stated that anyone attending this tournament will be stripped of all their ranking points and be forced to qualify for each event in 2015.

To begin it is important to outline that the W.P.A is the governing body for pool, meaning they are the only ones who can sanction a World Championship.  This sanctioning is not given out lightly and it shouldn't be because a World Championship should be held to a high standard. The main stipulation is having an adequate prize fund which Dragon Promotions was unable to obtain to gain the sanctioning. The W.P.A outlines their policy on this subject, for those interested, on their website.

For Ian Anderson President of the W.P.A, as he expressed in his American Billiard Radio Interview
it is not fair that other World Championships are held to a higher standard. For example the World Men's 9 ball this year paid out $30,000 for first place with a prize pool of over $200,000. The Women's World 9 Ball Championships has a prize fund of $150,000 with no entry fee required.

       Here is what Dragon Promotions wanted to call a World Championship:

•  Total advertised Prize Fund of $44,000

•  Entry fee of $540, meaning most qualifiers were only able to send 1 player

•  $14,000 First Prize slightly less then half of other World Championships

•  Also it was not clear whether or not it was a guaranteed prize fund or was it dependent on a full field.

To add to the frustration for Anderson is that he has been in conversations for months with Dragon Promotions. He even strongly suggested them changing their name to an American Championships of sorts. However it was made clear in the follow up interview the next day with Dragon Promotions representative Cindy Lee, they were hell bent on advertising this as a World Championship. She might have been aloof about it, but it was made crystal clear when she constantly repeated the marketing advantages of calling it a World Championship.

In all fairness the W.P.A could and should be criticized, however in this particular circumstance they are not at fault. Dragon Promotions had every opportunity to avoid the drama of last week, however they continued to snub the W.P.A. To me the real issue is obvious, Dragon Promotions does not respect the W.P.A and feel they do not have to obey their rules.

An example of this was during the interview with Cindy Lee, Mike Howerton made it clear that the W.P.A was extending yet another olive branch. Anderson was willing to change his previous ruling as long as Dragon Promotions revamped their promotion of this tournament.  Howerton outlined this and made it painfully obvious the solution. And when  asked if they were willing to submit to the W.P.A for the sake of their own event Lee arrogantly replied,"anything could happen"

To me this demonstrates the very low regard they hold the W.P.A. Furthermore it took them until yesterday to have a public announcement stating that have met the requirements and now the sanctioning against them will be lifted. Considering that they were on the defensive with zero bargaining leverage and with players needing to make decisions on whether or not they participate, this was handled with little consideration.

Let's not forget Dragon Promotions is not a non-profit, and this is not a charity event they are hosting. They wanted to falsely promote a World Championship not unlike what they do with the World 14.1, and make a bigger profit while showing disregard to the integrity of what a World Championship is.

For a company with a public imagine who is dependent on the support of the players it would have been wiser to not blame the W.P.A. Rather to take responsibility for what they did and apologize for it and move on. However their choice was to promote a watered down World Championship for their own personal gain and defend this right up until the W.P.A had to make a ruling. Simply put, if you want the prestige of hosting a World Championship - meet the requirements.

 

World 10 Ball Qualifier of Sorts Held in Laval

By: Markus Noé

Once again, as has often been the case since the debut of the Billard Feminin tour, attention has been diverted from its players to its promoter. Edwidge Cavanna, player/director of the Billard Feminin tour which is a WPBA sanctioned tour, held a qualifier for Dragon Promotions upcoming Women's International Pool Championship on November 15.

Cavanna's own tour has been riddled with controversy since its inception because of her inability to work with others. At the inaugural tournament at Le Skratch Brossard I witnessed one of these "episodes" which as become a norm. It was with the owner of Billiard Québec Guy Simard, who came in support and to set up a free live stream.

There was a point in the tournament where Simard and Cavanna began to have words. What I understood from the discussion as my french is not great, is that Cavanna was attempting to dictate to Simard who would be on his stream, in a hostile manner. Simard who was obviously insulted, packed up immediately after the completion of the next match and left.

Cavanna's reaction to this was to denounce the entire Billard Québec production publicly on Facebook.  The main complaint from Cavanna was with the commentating on the stream as she found some if it insulting. However with this being an amateur event, some of the players barely play at a C level making some of the matches very difficult to commentate. Regardless of this the bridge was burned and Cavanna instantly lost one of the most valuable resources in the Québec pool scene when it comes to promoting and streaming events.


Since then she has had a personal conflict with Hanna Kwon, the winner of the of the first two tournaments as well as several arguments with players and pool room owners. Kwon was the run away points leader on this tour which meant she was essentially denied a chance to compete for a pro tour card which this tour offers to its points leader. She was banned, along with anyone who argued her point or had any kind of disagreement with Cavanna. When asked for a comment Cavanna wished not to many one and only sited the tours code of conduct which was only made available shortly before the ban was handed down.

Last week, days before the qualifier was to be held, it was announced that anyone who was "not in good standing" with the Billiard Feminin tour was ineligible to play. This had me scratching my head in amazement as surely an amateur tour which averages 12 players an event is not comparable and should have no impact on a World Qualifier. It was this thinking that got me to send an email to Dragon Promotions detailing many of the same issues I have spoken about here, along with the following question:

"Does Dragon Promotion give full licence to the directors of their Qualifiers to openly pick and choose who can play these events? Even if the reason may be strictly personal and perhaps petty? "

After a few days I received an email from Dragon Promotions which completely neglected my previous email. Instead they chose to simply send me their promo packages of upcoming qualifiers with no reference to the issues I had brought up. Despite this I posted the press releases on our website and waited for the completion of the qualifier to respond.

In the end 8 people came to Billard des Pros to partake in the qualifier, which took place in a round robin format. Meaning everyone would play one another and the player with the most games won would win their spot at the World International Pool Championships. This event of course was not completed without instance, as in one match involving Cathy Verret a very controversial call was made by Cavanna.

It was made clear before this event that if the 10 ball is obviously going to be made in a particular pocket, calling it was unnecessary. In this particular case it has been made aware to me that the ball was well within a foot of the pocket meaning no bank shot or other option was available. Thus Verret casually went up and potted the 10 ball, immediately after her opponent asked her if she called that pocket. Cavanna's ruling, despite what was previously discussed, was that she had to call the pocket regardless and that it was her opponents shot with ball in hand on the game ball.

In frustration Verret reached into the pocket to concede the game, when she did so she was then informed that this action was forbidden and cost her an additional game. In the end she finished two racks behind the leader Natalie Chabot who won the qualifier. Taking nothing away from Chabot, who is one of the most dedicated and respectful players I have seen, Verret feels robbed and rightfully so.

I felt that it was not to much to ask that Dragon Promotions dictate to Cavanna that she has no right to ban anyone interested in participating based on personal issues, or "standing" on her tour. Their lack of interest into this issue says a few things to me. That they were unwilling to go out on a limb as they have no previous background information on Cavanna or the ongoings of her tour. It also tells me that perhaps there was a fear that if approached her, maybe she would choose not to hold a qualifier at all; not only losing one player but the money as well.

Luckily for Hanna Kwon and others who would not have been allowed to compete there is one more qualifier that has been added. This will be in Toronto at "Shooters" a six hour drive for those who were not allowed to participate from Montreal.

In conclusion even though this World International Pool Championships is not a World Pool Association (WPA) sanctioned event, Dragon promotions is promoting this as a World Championship in the same way they promote the 14.1 World Tournament. I have been a fan of theirs because as more and more events are being taken away on the international level, they are attempting to replace them. However if they want the recognition for hosting world class events there needs to be policy in place for these types of situations. Because as always, it is these types of incidents which get the discussion going on the subject that "pool is dead." When it is clearly not as tens of millions of people play throughout the world. It has been my opinion for sometime now that pool is far from dead, however its continued and prolonged mismanagement cripples its image and jades the players, resulting in poor participation.



*1 Nathalie Chabot 40

*2 Cathy Verret 38

*3 Corrine Johnson 36

*4 Rita Fortin 34

*5 Venus Belanger 32

*6 Christiane Boulay 30

*7 Marie-France Blanchette 25

*8 Stephanie Thompson 14

Thoughts on the Canadian Women Tour and Results

By: Markus Noé

Le Spot Billiards & Lounge in Scarborough, Ontario, on October 18th played host the the second stop of the newly formed Canadian Women Tour. This tour takes place in the G.T.A (Greater Toronto Area) and is one of only two known Women's tours in the country.

Unfortunately both tours have decided to not let pro's play and cater solely to amateurs. I have always found this type of thinking counter-intuitive especially for a tour that is looking for sponsorship in order to have added money. Names like Naomi Williams and Brittany Bryant, who are from the G.T.A and are well known commodities in the Canadian pool scene, would surely bring interest to the stream which the C.W.T already has in place. From there the pool halls who are gracious enough to host these events can get the exposure they deserve as well as the players who participate.

To many the state of the game is so fragile that there is a belief that by having high caliber players in the field, would result in many amateurs or beginner players to drop out. My knee jerk reaction to this has always been to let them drop out because this not big picture thinking. In reality excluding 4-5 top players in any tournament does nothing but guarantee that the next group of 4-5 top players will dominate. In the case of the of C.W.T you can refer to the most recent top five on their latest tour stop, as there is a talent gap between them and the rest of the field. This will mostly likely result in these top 5 dominating these positions in rotating order the rest of the season.

Another angle to look at is players like Hanna Kwon, Marina Linguerri and Kayla Rolonson are top young Canadian talent. I cannot speak to the others because I am not as familiar with them. Sticking with the three mentioned, I like many am aware of their talent and their goals to be playing at a professional level. In the current state of this tour, in a few short years as they begin to realize their own goals they too will have nowhere to play. This is a major flaw not just for the C.W.T but for pool in Canada, as currently there is nothing to strive for as a competitive female player.

If the organizers of this tour want to solely cater towards amateurs and league players who play only for fun,  then perhaps renaming it something other than the Canadian Women's Tour would be appropriate. Regardless of how this tour progresses Cue Sport Nation will be happy to help promote this tour for free and any tour, as well as the pool halls in which they are played to our vastly expanding audience.


1st place Marina Linguerri, Ottawa, ON $200 + trophy

2nd place Kayla Jones, London, ON $100 + trophy

3rd place Maureen Van de Ven, London, ON $40

4th place Kayla Rolonson, London, ON

5th/6th place Hanna Kwon, Etobicoke, ON
Sylvia Hadaway, Guelph, ON

7th/8th place Marcie Dunbar, Scarborough, ON
Suzanne Peters, Stoney Creek, ON