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Will Britain Ever Produce a 9 Ball World Champion?
Will the start of the WPC only two days away the question is already being asked. Can the UK ever produce a 9 Ball World Champion?
Although for some time the UK has had many talented players none of them have ever really stepped forward and put the UK on the 9 ball map. What I mean by this is winning titles on the world stage. Steve Knight did it in the 90's with his win in the World Pool Masters and you would have thought that this would have brought in more sponsorship and media awareness for the game, but it did not have that effect. Other than Steve Knight the only other player to win a tournament of note is Lee Chenman when this year he won the Weert Open in the Netherlands. But taking nothing away from him in what was a fantastic result, this tournament was not world class, it is just a club tournament with some world names thrown in.
What does the UK need to create a world champion? Many people already agree that we make the best cueists in the world but the majority of them play snooker as it is far more lucrative. So the first thing is more sponsorship and therefore bigger prize funds. With sexy looking prize money you will then attract better players which in turn means that the standard in this country will escalate.
The next thing is support from the professional body, the BPPPA have done a wonderful job in promoting the game in the 2 years that they have been the governing body, but in my opinion enough is not being done to encourage players to take that next step. A professional sporting body should have a referee programme, it should also have a youth policy and a collection of National coaches that work with the players that have been identified as the best. These players should take part in training camps to focus them for an assault on the world stage. Why not have a national cue sports academy? With this in place the UK would then produce no end of talent that can compete on the world stage. I am not trying to take
anything away from Daryl Peach or Imran Majid who have done a stellar job overseas, it is just that they haven't quite gone that stage further and won a Eurotour or other international event.
The next thing is to get it on terrestrial TV. Tournaments should be made to look glamorous and allowed to filter into a mass market, this is the only way of making it grow. Players like I have mentioned above should be turned into stars to enable a new crop of youngters to participate in the game and become a future champion.
Players should be given help with expenses from the professional bodies to help fund a trip to the World Championships. Why make a player struggle to make the trip or even pull out because they cannot fund the trip themselves? As a nation we should be proud of these players and support them to reach their own goals, these players only further enhance and promote the game of 9-ball. Surely this is a good advertisement for the UK?
In order to succeed the UK needs one ranking list, it should be an elite list of around 48 players with promotion and relegation between the elite and the next level. This will increase standards as players will not want to lose a place in the elite and on the other hand players in the lower level will be striving to reach the elite. With a small investment from sponsors this is possible. The elite group should have entry fees of £50 with around £1000 coming from sponsors. This would make prize funds around £3400. The lower level should have reduced entry fees of around £25 and all entry fees should be paid out with no added money.
I really feel thatthe UK has the talent to win a world title but it needs the support of players, sponsors, fans and most importantly the professional bodies.
About the Author
P. Williams has been involved in the cue sports industry for around 6 years first as a player and now as his living. Visit href="http://www.americanpool-network.co.uk"
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