Former WPBSA Chairman, Mark Wildman attended a meeting in March following up on their pledge for closer co-operation with the IBSF, with the IBSF in Thailand. He was accompanied by WBA Chairman, Peter Gilchrist, and the topic on the agenda was the forthcoming IBSF Billiards Championship.
To assist with this promotion, Peter Gilchrist has joined the IBSF Billiards Committee which is chaired by Oceania representative, Rex Swain. The meeting also included Sindhu Pulsirivong who is the driving force behind the growth of billiards and snooker in Thailand. In a controversial move, the committee agreed to stage the Championship using a format of multi-game 50-up matches, which were hoped to increase the interest of television companies and "attract snooker players" to the competition. The following information has so far been released from official sources:
The event will be called the WPBSA/IBSF World Billiards Championship and it will be held in Bangkok between Saturday 30th September to Saturday 7th October 2000.
The field will be limited to 64 players who will be divided into 8 groups for round-robin play. The format of these groups will be the best of 7, 50-up, with 4 players qualifying for the knock-out stages. The following matches will be increased to the best of 15 games, concluding with a final which will be best of 21 over two sessions.
The Championship will be open to all players who are members of the WPBSA and the nominations of all National Associations affiliated to the IBSF. Places have been already been provisionally allocated to various nations with the largest number (25) being assigned to WPBSA entries, followed by India (10) and Australia (4). England have been allocated two places, although it seems unlikely at this stage that the EABA will forward any nominations.
Prize money will be paid down to the last 32 from a prize pool of at least £22,000. A prize will also be given for the highest break as well as the most 50 breaks, with a "major prize" offered for a 59 break.
In addition to the above, we have been informed that for this competition, the normal rules of billiards will apply (ie no baulk-line crossing, 15 hazard limit). This will be the only World Championship billiards event to be staged by either the WPBSA or IBSF next season.
Only the prize money has so far been definitely committed. Additional costs associated with staging the event, estimated at a further £25,000 have still to be put in place.
The IBSF have announced that there is a possibility that another event will be held during the year, which will be played on a time-limit basis, similar to previous IBSF Championships. This is currently being investigated, but if it takes place, it would be open to all players in line with current IBSF policy.