The Predator Pro Billiard Series has confirmed the first eight players to receive invitations to the new $100,000 Women’s Showdown event, which will take place February 27 through March 1, 2024 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, as part of the CueSports International Expo.
The top eight players on the WPA Women World Ranking following the Predator WPA World 10-Ball Women’s Championship earn automatic invitations to the brand new event, an extension of the Predator Pro Billiard Series’ commitment to Women’s pool.
Chou Chieh-Yu, the reigning WPA World 9-Ball Women’s Champion, and Chezka Centeno, who won the World 10-Ball Women’s title in Austria last month, lead the invites.
Brits Kelly Fisher and Allison Fisher, Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva and Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan make-up four invites for European players. As world no.7, Australia’s Bean (Meng-Hsia) Hung is also invited, and joining the two World Champions from Asia is Chen Chia Hua (Chinese Taipei).
Chou has enjoyed a brilliant 2023, starting with the World 9-Ball Women’s title in January, where she won $30,000. She collected $17,000 for winning the Wisconsin Women’s Open in May, was a finalist at the Michigan Open and also reached the quarter-finals in the Las Vegas Open. She placed fifth in the World Women’s 10-Ball Championship last month to take her earnings from Pro Billiard Series events to over $65,000 so far this year.
The size of the prize fund for the PBS Women’s Showdown means that collecting the trophy next March would earn her $35,000, more than any previous check.
However, the field is set to be one of the greatest assembled in Women’s pool, with eight PBS invites to join those who are ranked in the WPA top eight.
The Women’s Showdown will begin with a round-robin group stage. Each group will include two seeded players from the WPA top eight and two invited players. The best two players from each group qualify for single elimination.
As world No.1, Chou will be seeded first. That might make her group one to be avoided if you were a fellow competitor, but the level of players seeded for the tournament means that every match will provide a tough examination.
World Games Gold medalist Kelly Fisher, five-times a PBS title holder, will be seeded second. Her fellow Brit Allison Fisher’s incredible consistency in reaching the final stages of tournaments over the last year has earned her the world No. 3 rank.
Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva continues to climb the rankings and will be seeded 4th in the PBS Women’s Showdown, and ‘Amber’ Chen’s run to the semi-finals of the China Open helped her rise to 5th on the WPA Ranking.
Such is the wealth of women’s tournaments now on the calendar that World 10-Ball Women’s Champion Chezka Centeno only climbed to no. 6 after she lifted the title last month. She is followed in the ranking by Bean Hung of Australia. Completing the top 8, and edging World No.9 Wei Tzu Chien by just 75 points, is Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan.
All eight players will receive official invites from the Predator Pro Billiard Series, who will then invite eight more players. All 16 players will earn prize money from the event in Vegas. Fans can watch the action with two live two streaming tables on the new Pro Billiard TV YouTube Channel.
For more information visit www.probilliardseries.com and follow @ProBilliardSeries on social media.
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