I am writing this letter in order to express my thoughts about this year's U.S. Open, now that everything has returned to normal; as much as it can. My beautiful, smart and talented daughter, Shannon and I were both able to experience the best U.S. Open since the 25th Anniversary in 2000! The way that the world is going today, it was unbelievable to have a full field of 256 players. Words cannot express how this made me and my daughter feel. We truly enjoyed the parade of champions, a 5 years tradition, in which all champions received a gold vest to commemorate their accomplishment.
We are already planning future events, in hopes that we can make each event better, as pool is our passion and we want to see it continue to grow. The Master's 9-Ball Tournament runs from March 1st – 5th 2011 and the U.S. Open 9-ball Championships takes place October 16th – 22nd 2011. We will be including the ladies into all of the tournaments from this point forward, competing side by side with the men. The hall of fame banquet is moving to Wednesday night during the U.S. Open, and will continue to take place at our host hotel, the beautiful Marriott. We are pleased to announce that the A.P.A. will be conducting a regional event Thursday-Sunday twice a year in conjunction with both the Masters and the U.S. Open. During the U.S. Open the A.P.A. event will take place in the Marriott's 7,000 square foot ballroom and conveniently in the Chesapeake Conference Center during the Masters in their 5,000 square foot ballroom.
We cannot thank our sponsors enough as they are very gracious and continue to inspire us and we appreciate their continued belief in us over the years as well as their excitement for this game that we all love. Over the past few weeks, I have read all of your post on AZBilliards and appreciate the fact that over 90% of them are positive, and also appreciate the negative criticism as it allows us to analyze some of our decisions and ensure that we are doing everything to the best of our ability. I have learned that I should not post anything unless I can back it up fully and from this day forward, I will not get ahead of myself. So, again thank you all. I agree with many of you in regards to slow play at the 2010 U.S. Open, this will not be tolerated in the future. The Masters format will be a race to nine, double eliminations, and the final four players will have to win by two games with a race to eleven. As you, can see, we will continue to grow, with the help of your support; our loyal fans, players, vendors and sponsors, because without you we would not be here today. Thank you all for your dedication and we hope to see you at the Masters 9-Ball Tournament.
Barry Behrman Shannon Behrman Paschall
Founder and Promoter Co-Promoter
U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships
Masters 9-Ball Tournament Masters 9-Ball Tournament
