Matchroom’s World Nineball Tour expands further with launch of WNT The Qualifiers which will offer development pathways to the grassroots of pool.
World Nineball Tour – The Qualifiers – will see an official series of global qualifiers for all Matchroom Open events on the WNT schedule underlining Matchroom’s commitment to a Tour for everyone starting with the UK Open, broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Spots for the signature Matchroom multi-table open events are the hottest tickets in town with UK, Spanish, European and US Open 2023 events already sold out. The formulation of the qualifiers will see local promoters offered spots to the biggest events offering up a pathway of both entry fee and expenses to participate against the World’s best players in the US Open, UK Open, European Open, Spanish Open and Asian Open Pool Championships.
The official UK-based qualifier arm will be run by Total 9-Ball, the UK’s largest amateur Nineball tour and Imran Majid, professional WNT player; with the first qualifier taking place on May 6-7 at Brooklyn’s Sports Bar in Redhill, Surrey, UK.
This last chance saloon will offer two spots for the sold out UK Open May 30, the first spot will be decided through a 64 player Qualifier with a second spot up for grabs through the ‘Turbo 9-Ball Shootout’. Entry will be to both events and will be open to amateurs players only ensuring a fair platform of pathway. The dynamic turbo 9-ball shootout sees a one rack shoot out tournament take place.
For £100, players will have the chance to enter both qualifiers on May 6th and 7th, with a prize fund on offer as well as the entry spot.
Entries for the qualifier will be open from Thursday, 20 April @ 3pm UK time via the Matchroom Pool website.
Over the coming weeks and months, amateur players can expect to hear more about the expansion of official World Nineball Tour qualifier tournaments as part of Matchroom’s commitment to the grassroots of the sport. Sign up to hear more from us here.
Imran Majid said: “At the moment, the UK does not have many options when it comes to Nineball – this will be amazing for the development of the amateur game in the country, and I can’t believe we’re only a couple of weeks away from the first qualifier. It’s an amazing chance for amateur players to be able to mix it with the best. We’re looking forwards to following up from the UK Open with further qualifiers to Matchroom Open events globally. It really is a great opportunity for players to kickstart their journey on the World Nineball Tour.”
Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer said: “We have been determined to open the door to develop the grassroots of Nineball both in the UK and globally with official qualifiers offering up the opportunity to do just that. It has been a pleasure to launch our official UK arm with our first partners being Total 9-Ball and Imran Majid who I am confident will run the events to a great standard and will be the first of many across the world.”
“The idea of an amateur in the UK qualifying to the main event is a time to witness a truly open Tour giving players the opportunity to have a dream but also set a goal. Who doesn’t love an underdog story? The qualifiers is a huge development of the World Nineball Tour, there are a long list of players out there in the UK with immense talent but do not have the expenses to travel the tour, well – here is your window of opportunity.”
Matchroom 世界九號球巡迴賽資格賽向業餘球員敞開大門
Matchroom 推出世界九號球巡迴賽資格賽 (World Nineball Tour Qualifiers)，此舉將使世界九號球巡迴賽進一步擴展，並將為基層撞球提供發展途徑。
在賽事日程表上所有由 Matchroom 官方自主舉辦的系列賽事均納入其中，世界範疇內的所有業餘球員均可報名參加資格賽，此舉將從六月份的英國公開賽開始實行，賽事並將透過天空體育直播。
而資格賽的舉辦也將使主辦方獲得相應賽事的參賽名額，使獲得參賽資格的基層業餘球員們有機會參加美國公開賽、英國公開賽、歐洲公開賽、西班牙公開賽和亞洲公開賽撞球錦標賽之大舞台，並與世界頂尖選手們同場競技。
英國公開賽的資格賽將由職業選手 Imran Majid 所運營的英國最大業餘九號球巡迴賽承辦，並訂於 5月6-7日在英國薩里郡雷德希爾的布魯克林運動酒吧 (Brooklyn’s Sports Bar) 舉行。此資格賽將提供兩個參加英國公開賽，第一個名額將由64名參賽選手競逐，第二個名額將透過 “Turbo 9-Ball Shootout” 來爭奪最後一個參賽名額。而在未來 Matchroom 也有更多關於擴張世界九號球巡迴賽至基層撞球的消息將會發布。
Matchroom Multi Sport 首席執行官 Emily Frazer: “我們決定打開這扇門，在英國與全球範疇內的基層發展九號球，而官方賽事的資格賽提供了這樣的機會。很高興與我們的第一個合作夥伴 Total 9-Ball 和 Imran Majid 一同推出我們在英國的官方分支機構，我相信他們將以最高標準來舉辦比賽，並成為我們在世界上眾多合作夥伴中的第一員。
英國業餘選手經由通過資格賽已獲得主賽是參賽資格的想法是以見證了世界九號球巡迴賽的真正開放予每一個人，其不僅讓球員有機會能實現夢想的同時也進而去設定目標。資格賽是世界九號球巡迴賽的一個里程碑，英國有許多極具天賦的球員們，然而他們沒有足夠的經費去參賽賽事，而這就是你們的機會之窗。”