The British Professional Pool Players Association (BPPPA) has announced today the cancellation of the 2007 U.K. 9 Ball Championships.
The tournament originally scheduled to be held at the magnificent City of Manchester Stadium (home to Manchester City F.C. and built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games) would have been the largest and most spectacular event of 9 Ball ever held in this country.
Speaking on behalf of the BPPPA, the Federation President Mr Ted Bristow said earlier today “ We are extremely disappointed that we have been forced to cancel the event. Through our contacts at Manchester City F.C. we identified a potential sponsor for the event earlier last year and preparations and planning have been going very smoothly with a small team working very hard on this project. However, we encountered problems when our potential sponsors were unwilling to sign contractual agreements until nearer the time and more recently, only a few weeks ago we were advised that their company had restructured their financial budget for 2007 and could no longer be considered as being the Title Sponsor for the event. As soon as we learned of this decision we contacted many companies in an effort to secure a last minute Title Sponsor and unfortunately we had little interest or response for varying reasons”.
Mr Bristow continued: “ Although this is a huge blow to our sport and has cost the Association a considerable amount of money in preparations we will not lie down and we will continue our attempt to secure a Title Sponsor in order to reschedule the event for later in the year or early next year. This will be a major disappointment to our Members and players worldwide who would have participated in this tournament. We are very aware of this and can assure them that we will do our utmost to secure sponsors so this event can be rescheduled. I see this as a temporary setback and still believe as many others do that 9 Ball if presented and produced more spectacularly than we have seen in the past is a sleeping giant and can be a huge asset for future potential sponsors. We have all seen the interest and excitement recently with darts and poker and as pool players are becoming athletes in their own right, with a little fortitude together with a new and modified format in production, it is only a matter of time before the American disciplines of pool become a more recognised sport with the general population”.
The British Professional Pool Players Association is the world recognised governing body for Great Britain for the American disciplines of pool, which includes 9 Ball and is a member of the World-Pool Billiards Association through the Continental Federation of the European Pocket Billiard Federation.
