Pool Is The Sport Of The Moment – But Who Will Win The IPA World Championships
The Americans are coming
Not a lot of people know just how fast blackball pool is growing stateside, but we have the evidence here with BCA Hall Of Famers Mike Massey and Tom Rossman along with US Blackball President Steve Lillis all heading over the Pond for their first visit to the IPA World Championships. They certainly got the bug for the ruleset in Morocco where they competed in the Seniors and the Masters, and are looking forward to taking a big step forward here as they get to grips with a new discipline, which they are enthusiastically promoting in America to their many fans.
Massey and Rossman are World Champions in their own rights as Artistic Pool players while Lillis was a highly ranked 9-ball player for decades, and it will be interest to see how they adapt to the smaller pockets here. Sponsored by the likes of Gospel Trick Shot Ministries Inc, McDermott, and Meucci Cues, they have been persuaded to give us a little exhibition on the last day, which is something worth watching out for. We are all looking forward to welcoming them to Coventry and will be watching how they get on with great interest – their enthusiasm for Blackball is contagious, and the IPA look forward to working with them whenever possible over the months and years ahead.
On to the likelier winners, and despite a fantastic supporting cast of Seniors, Masters, Mixed Doubles, and Doubles, the Open and the Ladies highlight the week, and below is my idea of the contenders for those two “main events”.Preview YouTube video Live Pool | Round One & Two | Day Session | IPA World Championships 2023
