Phoenix's Tommy Kennedy and Manny Chau
The World Professional Billiard League’s sixth week of match play begins Friday July 5th as the league took Independence Day off. In honor of the holiday, the WPBL will offer all of their matches free this weekend and can be viewed at www.WPBLtv.com. Six teams will compete at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, NV, including five teams from the South Division and one from the North Division.
The WPBL starts off the 4th of July weekend with a bang (pardon the pun), as the hottest team in the league gets back into action Friday after a couple weeks off. The Phoenix Fire who are currently 1st in the league, have won four straight matches since falling in the season opener, and have averaged 13 points per match during that span. Friday, the Fire try to stay hot when they face the Toronto Blue Sharks who are the only team from the North Division competing this weekend.
Phoenix has had solid play from all three players ranking amongst the league's top seven in individual standings. Tommy Kennedy leads the field with a 72.4 player rating, while Johnny Archer of the Atlanta Scorpions sits closely in second with a 72.2. Phoenix now leads the South by nearly two points per match over the Los Angeles Wave. The Fire will also be in action in the last match Saturday night taking on division rivals the Houston Hustlers.
The Toronto Blue Sharks fell out of first place in the North as they had the week off, allowing the Minnesota Outlaws to slip in front of them by three tenths of a point. The loss to the Outlaws was their only in three matches. The Blue Sharks averaged 12.5 points per match in their two wins.
Saturday's action gets underway at noon with a match-up between the teams occupying the last two spots in the South Division. The Miami Cruise were much improved last weekend, picking up their first match wins of the season over the Pittsburgh Poison and the Wave. The Cruise moved a point and a half ahead of the Atlanta Scorpions in the league standings, and this meeting could alter either team’s position in their division.
Los Angeles will try to bounce back after two losses last weekend which were their first and second of the season. The Wave take on the Blue Sharks in the second match-up of the day Saturday. In the overall standings, Toronto is currently in 3rd with 9.7 average match points, while LA is in 5th with 8.0 average match points. One of the Wave’s losses last week came at the hands of the Cruise who won handily 12-4. LA will try and avenge this loss as they take on Miami again Sunday.
Wrapping up the weekend, Atlanta takes on Houston on Sunday afternoon. The Hustlers are looking to improve in the standings as their 7.4 match points puts the team in 8th place overall and 4th in their division. Individually, Justin Hall is the highest ranked member of the team in 10th with a 53.4 player rating.
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:
Web: http://wpbltv.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wpbltvcom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WPBLtv
WPBL Week #6 broadcasting free:
Friday July 5th: Phoenix vs. Toronto 6 pm PST
Saturday July 6th: Miami vs. Atlanta 12 pm PST
Toronto vs. Los Angeles 3:30 pm PST
Houston vs. Phoenix 7 pm PST
Sun., July 7th: Los Angeles vs. Miami 12 pm PST
Houston vs. Atlanta 4 pm PST
