GUINNESS 9 BALL TOUR 2007 - SHANGHAI

Formerly the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the Guinness 9-Ball Tour has been made bigger and better for players and fans alike with the new partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and Guinness. Total prizemoney has doubled to US$320,000 (from US$160,000 for last year’s Tour) and the Tour will feature a Grand Final in Bali for the Top 10 players. Winners of each leg will win US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will walk away with US$36,000. With six stops, this is the biggest Tour since its inception in 2003.

The six-city Guinness 9-Ball Tour begins in Jakarta on April 20, 2007, and will attract Asia’s top cuemasters competing for the region’s biggest purses. Asian Professional Billiards Union-sanctioned players from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Thailand, India, China and Taiwan – all countries with strong following of the sport – will be taking part.

The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship. The top ten finishers in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour Order of Merit will automatically qualify for pool’s most prestigious event, this year’s edition slated for Manila in November.

Mr Harvey Davis, Senior Director, ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group said: “We are proud to welcome Guinness on board as our partner to grow the sport of 9-Ball pool. The 100% increase in prizemoney for the Guinness 9-Ball Tour and the inauguration of the Grand Final in Bali signals our intent to make this the finest Tour of its type anywhere in the world, befitting of our brands ESPN and STAR Sports, and of Guinness, our partner.

“Our Tour has not only been the showcase of Asian talents, it has been the incubator of world champions. The two most recent WPA World 9-Ball Pool Champions – Wu Chia Ching of Chinese Taipei and Ronnie Alcano of the Philippines – are both regulars on our Asian 9-Ball Tour and will certainly attest to gaining invaluable match experience from our Tour. We look forward to welcoming them as well as other world class cuemasters to the Guinness 9-Ball Tour to continue delivering excitement and world-class competition to our viewers across Asia.”

Mr David Gates, Category Director, White Spirits, Liqueurs & Beer, Diageo Asia Pacific, said: “We are delighted to become title sponsor of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour and hope that through our partnership with ESPN STAR Sports and the Asian Pocket Billiard Union, we can really contribute to the growth of the sport in the region. Guinness is about Greatness – our long heritage, the consistent quality of our beer and the drinking experience – and we feel we share this Greatness with Asia’s top pool players. Pool is about accuracy and consistency, and players need to be precise and consistent, just as we are when we make every pint of Guinness. We are looking forward to bringing the sport to our consumers and will be organising some exciting events and promotions throughout the tour.”

Commented Mr Chuan Tsun-Che, President, Asian Pocket Billiard Union: “ESPN STAR Sports has been instrumental in growing the sport of pool in Asia since 2003 and we are especially pleased to see the see Asia’s showcase Tour grow with the entry of Guinness. Hopefully, we will see more emerging talents with these additional incentives.”

Echoing the sentiment, Prof. W Y Chin, President, Malaysian Snooker & Billiards Federation, said: “We are proud to play our part in the success of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour and look forward to the welcoming the best players Asia has to offer when the Tour visits Malaysia in June.”

Reigning WPA World 9-Ball Champion Ronato (Ronnie) Alcano, who was present at the Guinness 9-Ball Tour launch, said: “Asian talents are making waves in the global pool arena and the game has become more competitive. The Guinness 9-Ball Tour is a perfect platform for Asian players to showcase our talents and I hope to enjoy another successful year.”

The Guinness 9-Ball Tour 2007 cues off in Jakarta in April; followed by Kaohsiung in May, Kuala Lumpur in June, Singapore in July, Shanghai in August and culminates in Bali in September.

Broadcast of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour will be LIVE and exclusive on STAR Sports with 15 hours devoted to each leg of the Tour. Each leg will be held over three days, with the field of 24 players divided into eight groups which will play a single round robin format. The eight group winners will advance to the quarter-finals where the knockout format will apply as the players play through to the final. For the Grand Final, the ten players will be divided into two groups of five who will play a single round robin format. The top two players will then advance to the semi-finals. Group and quarter-final matches will be a race to 9 racks, while semi-finals and final will race to 11. Further information can be obtained at www.guinness9balltour.com