A two-time event winner on last season’s inaugural Supreme Pool Series, reigning BI World Champion Scott Gillespie begins his Liberty Games Open campaign against Clint I’Anson in an opening round blockbuster on Friday. 

 

Held at the Players Pool and Snooker Lounge near Stoke-on-Trent, the competition is the curtain raiser to this year’s prestigious five-event Supreme Pool Series that brings together top, multi-disciplined English 8-Ball players from across the world. Entries from the UK, Europe, Africa and even Australia will have their eyes on the title and a lucrative £5,000 top prize payday come Sunday evening. 

 

Scotland’s Gillespie made history in 2018 when he claimed the first ever SPS event. He will be hoping to repeat his success of making a fast start to a new term this weekend, although he faces the unenviable task of multiple major tournament winner I'Anson first up in a preliminary round tie.

 

Pre-tournament favourite Phil Harrison also secured a double of SPS titles last year – winning the back-to-back Strachan Open and Supreme Masters during the summer months. One of several current or former world title holders on display this year, Harrison looks set to cross cues with 2017 IPA World Champion Craig Marsh in the first round proper. 

 

Number 1 ranked player Liam Dunster, who claimed last season’s concluding Grand Final and walked off with a record-breaking cheque of £51,000, will start the defence of his pole position against the rapid Darren McVicar. 

 

There are currently thirteen preliminary round matches that will kick off the action with Chris Melling versus rising star Callum Singleton being the opening main arena match. Other high-profile fixtures during the first sessions include Adam Davis v Jon McAllister, Shane Thompson v Jack Whelan and recently crowned IPA World Champion Marc Farnsworth v Arfan Dad. 

 

Former professional snooker player and 2010 Shanghai Masters finalist Jamie Burnett has signed up to the series, and he too is on duty early doors when up against another promising youngster in Kian Monaghan. An entrant who has made an even bigger commitment is Australia’s Jake McCartney, whose thirst for premier level pool will be quenched in this unique, pressure environment. McCartney plays Scott Crawley Friday lunchtime. 

 

Just some of the superstar names waiting in the first round are Tom Cousins, Gareth Hibbott, Shaun Chipperfield and Ronan McCarthy.

 

Following the success of their introduction at the Grand Final last December, the series makes a full transition to Supreme Rules throughout this year. Format-wise, the 2019 Liberty Games Open features an initial double-elimination qualifying portion where eight will emerge undefeated, whilst another eight will come through the ‘Losers’ Side’ to join them. From the last 16 onwards the tournament becomes straight knockout. 

 

You can catch free, live action of the 2019 Liberty Games Open courtesy of Beard Productions on YouTube across all three days. Starting Friday at 12.30GMT, four tables from each session will be streamed simultaneously.  

 

For news stories and updates from the Supreme Pool Series, please visit playerspoolevents.com or the official Players Pool Events Facebook page here.

 

Tournament sponsor Liberty Games' website is here.

After last year's unparalleled success, the groundbreaking Supreme Pool Series will make its eagerly awaited return for a second installment in 2019. The big money, five-event concept will once again bring together top exponents of the English 8-Ball Pool world all under one roof at the renowned Players Pool and Snooker Lounge near Stoke-on-Trent.

 

Mirroring the inaugural edition, the season opens in Spring and leads up to a Grand Final event towards the end of the year. After listening to constructive feedback from the players, though, tweaks have been made to the programme elsewhere. 

 

The 2018 calendar featured a share of both World Rules and Blackball events – representative of the unique cross-code palette of entries that was on display. However, due to the popularity of the new Supreme Rules that were showcased in the final event, a decision was made to adopt them throughout the whole of the upcoming campaign.

 

Another mission objective of the series was to reward the players with improved prize money; this was exhibited when Liam Dunster walked off with a record £51,000 winners' cheque at the end of the year – the largest amount ever awarded in the sport’s tournament history. Whilst lucrative sums are still available to the champions of each event this time around, total prize money has been spread out further down in 2019 with around the top third in each tournament guaranteed to cash. 

 

The Supreme Pool Series has received global acclaim with viewers from both sides of the world tuning into the online Beard Productions live stream coverage. Overseas demand for the series cannot be understated, so much so, that an exciting additional event has been agreed for the start of October – the four-day Morocco Masters that is scheduled to take place in Tangier. 

 

 

Who’s involved? 

Once again, all three reigning world champions of the sport have signed up to the series – Marc Farnsworth (IPA World Champion), Mick Hill (WEPF World Champion) and Scott Gillespie (BI World Champion), who claimed two SPS titles last year. 

 

A plethora of former world champions from different rulesets adds to the embarrassment of riches on display including Phil Harrison – back-to-back winner on the circuit in 2018 – and the ultra-consistent Dunster, who finished the series as the number one ranked player. Countless other major title winners, professionals and internationals will feature too. 

 

Chris Melling and Karl Boyes – multi-time Mosconi Cup champions in the past and former world champions in various disciplines themselves – will both also return to their smaller table roots. 

 

A trademark of the Supreme Pool Series is international participation. Typically strong representation from the UK will be challenged by a cosmopolitan contingent of hopefuls coming from Ireland, Malta, Morroco and even as far afield as Australia. 

 

Event 1 – The Liberty Games Open – takes place next week between the 5th-7th April. 

 

 

For further information on the series, please visit the official website www.playerspoolevents.com

 

Tournament sponsor Liberty Games' website is here.