Gentleman, as we approach our 38th annual, I have decided for the 14 active players out of our 23 champions, that those who play in the U.S. Open 9-ball Championships this year and in 2014, we Will Pay for your entry fee at the 40th annual in 2015.
I would love to see all of our active past champions playing as well as our loyal fans and it would put a special mark in any heart and no one would be happier than myself.
This year especially we have a lot to prove. Shannon and I are going to put on the best U.S. Open this year at the Marriott in Chesapeake, Va, (formerly the Holiday Inn) where we held the event from 1991-1995, some of our greatest years. In 1991, Buddy Hall defeated Dennis Hatch 9-8 with Buddy running out after Dennis broke the final rack without pocketing any balls. In 1992, Tommy “Praise the Lord” Kennedy defeated our number one player, Johnny Archer 9-1 and in 1993, the mighty Earl Strickland won his third of five titles defeating Tony Ellin after being down 8-6 and won 11-8. In 1994, the greatest player in pools' history, Efren “Bata” Reyes, defeated Mr. Nick Varner 9-6 to win his first major title in America, and in 1995, Mr. Reed Pierce, a great bar table champion, went through the field to defeat Efren Reyes 9-6.
A lot of great history has been achieved inside this beautiful 7,200 sq ft ballroom where we will be returning to October 13-19 this year.
Our floor plan is going to be “the nuts” having 9 tables including the AccuStats arena and seats for 600. Another ballroom will hold 3 additional tables and by simply adding one more day session, 10am, noon, 2pm , and 4pm, we will get the job done. We will also have six 10-12ft projection screens to display matches for everyone to see. There will not be a single bad seat in the house.
We would love to fill up the field again as our plan is to add $60,000.00 with 225 players and with a full field of 256 players we will be adding $75,000.00, a Tier Two WPA ranking event, who will be sanctioning the event again this year. We would like to thank both Mr. Ian Anderson, President of the WPA, and Mr. Skip Nemelek, America's WPA Representative.
We will also be paying homage to the BCA and the ABP. We are excited to be working will all associations for this years event and it certainly is something that our industry needs. We would love to see more unification years to come, not only with the U.S. Open 9-ball championships, but other events as well.
Most importantly, players will be paid within full two hours after elimination. We are going to have a wonderful time at this years 38th annual U.S. Open 9-ball championships and we invite you to join us!
