Las Vegas-November 29th marks the launch of the World Professional Billiard League (WPBL) with twelve teams competing out of Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston.
The WPBL boasts a star-studded roster of professional billiards hall of famers and world champions, Johnny Archer is serving as WPBL Player Director and is also competing for Atlanta. The opening game of the season will feature Atlanta and Archer taking on a strong New York team captained by one of the biggest names in billiards history: Earl Strickland.
"I'm excited to compete for New York in the WPBL opening season," said Earl Strickland, billiards hall of famer and five-time US Open and WPA World nine-ball champion. "Bonus Ball's a great game, and I think the fans are really going to like watching all of these big names compete at such a high level. It's gonna be fun."
The WPBL was designed to bring the excitement of other live sports to the world of billiards. Each and every match features live play-by-play announcers, a live audience and the WPBL is the world's first Bonus Ball league.
Bonus Ball, a unique combination of snooker, nine ball and straight pool, is the culmination of over 20 years of research, development and testing by WPBL President Larry Chiborak.
It's a challenging, exciting game that borrows from all the major billiards disciplines," explains Chiborak. "We've developed Bonus Ball with input from some of the world's best players- the result is a highly strategic, fast-paced game that is not only challenging to play, but incredibly exciting to watch."
To get a feel for Bonus Ball and to see some real live WPBL action, the WPBL is launching three free videos: Doubles Battle....Archer vs Klatt....Nations Collide. Visit wpbl.tv to watch these great matches!!
The WPBL regular season kicks off November 29th, 2012 and runs until May 12th, 2013. The playoffs start May 16th, 2013 and the championship finals will be played June 9th, 2013. All WPBL matches are played in Las Vegas, Nevada at the newly constructed WPBL arena.
WPBL matches will be available worldwide via online pay-per-view purchased on a weekly basis throughout the season.
WPBL Team Rosters for the 2012-13 inaugural season
Southern Division
ATLANTA SCORPIONS: Johnny Archer – Dennis Hatch – Shannon Daulton
MIAMI CRUISE: Corey Deuel – Hunter Lombardo – Jose Parica
LAS VEGAS DICE: Oscar Dominguez – Ernesto Dominguez – Louis Ulrich
LOS ANGELES WAVE: John Schmidt – Charlie Williams – Mike Davis
PHOENIX FLAMES: Scott Frost – Tommy Kennedy – Manny Chau
HOUSTON HUSTLERS: Jeremy Jones – Chip Compton – Justin Hall
Northern Division
TORONTO BLUE SHARKS: Jason Klatt – John Morra – Erik Hjorleifson
PHILADELPHIA ACES: Darren Appleton – Stevie Moore – Brandon Shuff
BOSTON YOUNG GUNS: Mike Dechaine – Thorsten Hohmann – Jesse Engel
CHICAGO ROCKETS: Rodney Morris – Raj Hundal – Mika Immonen
PITTSBURGH PROWLERS: Shawn Putnam – Adam Smith – Sylver Ochoa
NEW YORK: Earl Strickland – Larry Nevel – Warren Kiamco
For more information and / or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Larry Chiborak
World Professional Billiards League (WPBL)
President & CEO
204-793-0778
larry@wpbl.tv
