The World Professional Billiard League’s fifth week of action will feature four teams from the North Division and three teams from the South Division. All matches are played at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The week’s first match, Thursday June 27th, can be seen live for free at www.wpbltv.com.
Thursday features a re-match of the Chicago Rockets facing off against division rivals the Pittsburgh Poison. The Rockets only winning match this season came last Sunday against the Poison 11-7 based largely off of their individual games. Chicago needs to play strong in order to move up past Pittsburgh in their division. The Poison are 1.4 average match points ahead of the Rockets in the North. Neither team has a player amongst the top ten; while the highest ranked player on either team is Adam Smith, who is in 15th.
Daryl Peach, the 2007 WPA World Nine Ball Champion will see his first action in the WPBL as he substitutes for Poison member Sylver Ochoa. Pittsburgh will play two matches this weekend, then not have another for nearly a month. The Poison have played more matches than any other team this season (7), and will follow Thursday’s match with another against the Miami Cruise on Saturday. The team does not compete again until July 28th.
Friday’s match will showcase the Minnesota Outlaws taking on the Las Vegas Dice. The Outlaws who are tied with the New York Pride for fourth, sit slightly in front of the Dice who are in sixth in the overall standings. Minnesota has won all three matches this season, although are tied for second place with New York in the North Division. The Las Vegas members have recorded a perfect game this season in team play; however, the Outlaws Hohmann is the highest ranked individual player on either team in 10th place with a player rating of 54.0.
The Miami Cruise who have yet to win a match this season, will play twice this weekend. Corey Deuel’s Cruise will take on the Pittsburgh Poison Saturday and the Los Angeles Wave on Sunday. Miami has struggled during their three prior matches, and as a result sit in 12th place in the league.
Second in the overall standings as well as in the South Division, the Los Angeles Wave has started the season with both consistent team and individual play. Winning both of the matches they have played this season, the Wave have their eye on league and division leaders the Phoenix Fire. Both Louis Ulrich (6th) and Ernesto Dominguez (9th) rank among the league’s top ten players in the individual standings, while the team’s captain Oscar Dominguez is ranked 13th.
The Philadelphia Aces play one match against division adversary the Minnesota Outlaws on Sunday. Philadelphia finds themselves in seventh place overall and right behind Minnesota in their division. Aces captain Darren Appleton is the highest rated individual player in the league with a 76.8 player rating, 4.4 points ahead of the second ranked player Tommy Kennedy of the Phoenix Fire. A strong win in this match-up by either team, could determine the division leader at weeks end.
All matches will be broadcast to a live studio audience at the WPBL Arena and at WPBLtv.com. For a complete listing of this weekend’s schedule, standings, merchandise and more visit the WPBL website. Please continue to follow the WPBL for additional updates:
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WPBL Week 5 Schedule
Thursday, June 27th: Pittsburgh vs. Chicago 6 pm PST*
Friday, June 28th: Minnesota vs. Las Vegas 6 pm PST
Saturday, June 29th: Miami vs. Pittsburgh 12 pm PST
Los Angeles vs. Las Vegas 4 pm PST
Sunday, June 30th: Miami vs. Los Angeles 12 pm PST
Minnesota vs. Philadelphia 4 pm PST
