World Straight Pool Championship Qualifiers

Qualifiers for the 2008 World Straight Pool Championship will be held in 6 different stops in the United States and the Netherlands between July 12 and August 2, 2008. The straight pool (14.1) qualifiers are conducted by Dragon Promotions and Dr. Michael Fedak of NYC.

The 2008 Predator World Straight Pool Championship will take place between August 25th and 30th at the Hilton East Brunswick in New Jersey. Sponsored by Dr.Michael Fedak, Joel Schapiro, The Predator Group, and Simonis Cloth, the event is expected to draw a greater number of entrants than previous years.

The qualifiers will take place in various locations around the States including Arizona, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey as well as in a pool room in Weert, the Netherlands. Every qualifying tournament offers free entry to the main event of the 2008 World Straight Pool Championship scheduled to August 25-30. The winners of the qualifiers will be competing against the world's leading straight pool players at the round robin stage.

Straight Pool

According to the Wikipedia, straight pool used to be the most popular pool game in the US until faster games such as 8ball and 9ball took its place. R.A. Dyer, who documents the history of billiards in the USA, suggests that the Vietnam War, the rise of network TV and even Willie Mosconi, the legendary straight pool player nicknamed "Mr. Pocket Billiards" among others, can all take the blame for the demise of straight pool.

In short, as a spectators' game, straight pool is far less attractive than 9ball or even 8ball. The Vietnam War is responsible for drafting potential pool players as well as for the general atmosphere that disregarded such recreations. But how can one of the best straight pool players in history kill its own expertise?

According to Mike Shamos, another celebrated billiards historian, Willie Mosconi "…was almost unstoppable at the game… Mosconi's retirement hit the sport hard… But what occurred in the 1950s, with Mosconi's retirement, is that he left the game and the remaining straight pool tournaments lacked Mosconi in the field."