Cyprus, here we come !!

The EBA are delighted to announce that the 2019 Nations Cup of Pool will be held on the beautiful island of Cyprus in the Nissi Beach area of Ayai Napa. The event will be for both 'A' & 'B' Teams

Playing days are -
Sunday 10th November to Saturday 16th November 2019

More details in due course

2018 World Championship Wheelchair Event

Current Champion Fred Dinsmore

** Please note new playing dates **

Playing dates for the Wheelchair Event at the 2018 Blackball International World Championships in Bridlington are as follows -

Thursday 22nd November - Sunday 25th November

PAST WINNERS

2018 - ?
2016 - Fred Dinsmore (Ireland)
2014 - Phil Hendrickson (Wales)
2012 - Phil Hendrickson (Wales)

Title winners at Brid 2018

MENS 'A' TEAM - Scotland 
MENS 'B' TEAM - Ireland 'B'
MENS INDIVIDUAL - Ryan Fleming (Scotland)

LADIES 'A' TEAM - Northern Ireland
LADIES 'B' TEAM - England 'B'
LADIES INDIVIDUAL - Emma Cunningham (Northern Ireland)

SENIORS 'A' TEAM - Scotland
SENIORS 'B' TEAM - Scotland 'B'
SENIORS INDIVIDUAL - Sebastien Ramier (France)

MASTERS 'A' TEAM - Scotland
MASTERS 'B' TEAM - Scotland 'B'
MASTERS INDIVIDUAL - Dave Kelly (Ireland)

LD 'A' TEAM - Scotland 
LD 'B' TEAM - Northern Ireland 'B'
LD INDIVIDUAL - Alan Reynolds Jr (Scotland)
LD DOUBLES - Liam Walker & Johnny Adams (Scotland)

UNDER 23 'A' TEAM - Scotland
UNDER 23 'B' TEAM - England 'B'
UNDER 23 INDIVIDUAL - Jordan Evetts (England)
UNDER 23 DOUBLES - Kieron Fay & Jordon Synott (Ireland)

UNDER 18 'A' TEAM - France
UNDER 18 'B' TEAM - England 'B'
UNDER 18 INDIVIDUAL - Alexis Klinka (France)
UNDER 18 DOUBLES - Galvin McDermott & Ryan Marcus (Northern Ireland)

UNDER 15 'A' TEAM - England
UNDER 15 'B'  TEAM - Scotland 'B'
UNDER 15 INDIVIDUAL - Alfie Lee (England)
UNDER 15 DOUBLES - Logan Hunt & Luke Taylor (Scotland)

The Spa Arena, Bridlington

The fantastic Spa Arena in Bridlington looking in great shape for the 2018 EBA Euros

All the stats

Use the links on the left hand column to keep up to date with everything that is happening in Bridlington at the 2018 European Championships.

Wednesday 4th April - Saturday 7th April
Under 23, Under 18, Under 15 and Learning Disabilities

Monday 9th April to Saturday 14th April
Mens, Ladies, Seniors (over 40s) and Masters (over 50s)

Venue times

Unders & Learning Disabilities
The Spa Arena will be open for practice at 8.00pm on Tuesday 3rd April. Managers information packs will also be available to collect from the Top Table.

The Opening Ceremony will be at 9.30am on Wednesday 4th April with the opening session of matches starting at 10.30am. Payers and officials are asked to be at the venue for 9.00am

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Adults
The Spa Arena will be open for practice at 2.00pm on Sunday 8th April. Managers information packs will also be available to collect from the Top Table.

The Opening Ceremony will be at 10.00am on Wednesday 4th April with the opening session of matches starting at 11.00am. Payers and officials are asked to be at the venue for 9.30am

2018 Belgian Open

https://belgianopen2018.000webhostapp.com/

2018 EBA Euros - Unders & Learning Disabilities Schedule

UNDERS & LEARNING DISABILITIES PROGRAMME OF EVENTS 2018 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Click on the above link to view the schedule of play from 4th - 7th April

All fixtures will also be on PoolAppLive (downloadable from the App or Play Store) along with live frame by frame scoring, tables and stats during the event.

2018 Euros - Adult Schedule

Click on the link below to view or print out the Adult playing schedule for Bridlington 2018

ADULT PROGRAMME OF EVENTS 2018 EBA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

All fixtures will also be on PoolAppLive (downloadable from the App or Play Store) along with live frame by frame scoring, tables and stats during the event.

As you will see there is a team from Andalusia competing in the Men's B Section. Obviously for those who know their geography this is a Spanish province, just as Catalonia is. As Catalonia, who are established and respected members of the EBA, have entered a Men's A and a Men's B team the EBA has permitted Andalusia to enter as a 3rd Men's team from the county of Spain. However just like Catalonia they will not be called Spain, they will be called by their provincial name, Andalusia. With Blackball expanding throughout Spain the EBA will be bringing both parties together at the championships in order to discuss and hopefully map a way forward which will allow all parties to play Blackball at EBA and BI level.

The Unders & Learning Disabilities schedule will follow soon

Not long to go now until a record 126 different teams converge on the magnificent Spa Arena, Bridlington for the 2018 European Championships. Competing teams are as follows -

MENS 'A' - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, France, Gibraltar, Malta, Catalonia, Shetland, Belguim, Cyprus, Netherlands
MENS 'B' - England x3, Scotland x3, Wales x3, Northern Ireland x2, Ireland x3, Malta, Catalonia, Gibraltar, Netherlands

SENIORS 'A' - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, France, Gibraltar, Malta, Belguim, Shetland
SENIORS 'B' - England x2, Scotland x2, Wales x2, Northern Ireland x2, Ireland x2

LADIES 'A' - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Gibraltar, France
LADIES 'B' - England x2, Scotland x2, Wales x1, Northern Ireland x1

MASTERS 'A' - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Gibraltar
MASTERS 'B' - England x2, Scotland x2, Wales x2, Ireland x2, Gibraltar x1

UNDER 15 'A' - England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Gibraltar
UNDER 15 'B' - England x2, Scotland x2, Wales x1, Ireland x2

UNDER 18'A' - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, France
UNDER 18 'B' - England x2, Scotland x1, Wales x2

UNDER 23 'A' - England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Malta, France
UNDER 23 'B' - England x2, Scotland x2, Wales x2, Malta

LDs 'A' - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Gibraltar
LDs 'B' - England x2, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland x2

2018 BI World Championships confirmed in Bridlington, UK

Press release from Blackball International

EBA DRUGS POLICY

Information regarding the promised introduction of drug testing by the European Blackball Association which will start at the upcoming 2018 Euros in Bridlington.

""The EBA wish to inform all members that in accordance with the decision made at the 2017 Annual General Meeting drug testing will be introduced at the 2018 European Championships.

Attached to this notification is a copy of the EBA Drugs Policy which outlines the procedure for testing along with all other useful information""

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VIEW THE EBA DRUGS POLICY

2018 IPA World Championships

OPEN WORLD CHAMPION

Ben Davies (Wales)

LADIES WORLD CHAMPION

Michelle Roonay (Northern Ireland)

SENIORS (over 40s) WORLD CHAMPION

Andy Lucas (England)

MENS DOUBLES WORLD CHAMPIONS

Mark Boyle and Liam Dunster (Scotland)

MIXED DOUBLES WORLD CHAMPIONS

Rab Fee and Collette Henriksen (Northern Ireland)

IPA 2018 World Blackball Championships

6-11th February, Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford, England

Tune in to see some of the best cueists in the world of Blackball Pool vie for the various titles on offer. Dont forget the IPA will be broadcasting LIVE ON TV through FREESPORTS TV from Thursday 8th - Saturday 10th February

Thursday 8th - Live coverage on Freesports TV from 11.00am (UK time)
Friday 9th - Live coverage on Freesports TV from 4.00pm (UK time)
Saturday 10th - Live coverage on Freesports TV from 11.00am and 6.00pm (UK time)

CLICK HERE FOR DRAWS AND SCORING


CLICK HERE FOR IPA HOME PAGE


CLICK HERE FOR EVENT BETTING FROM BLACK TYPE


CLICK HERE FOR THE IPA FACEBOOK PAGE

Huge boost for Blackball, as IPA goes ""LIVE"" on Freesports TV

The IPA is delighted to announce that an agreement has been reached and signed, for the IPA Professional World Championships to be televised LIVE on the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air sports channel Freesports.

Three days of coverage from the 8th - 10th February will culminate in the Open and Ladies Finals showcased LIVE in up to 18 million homes. This unprecedented LIVE coverage is a major development for the IPA, the Professional players, and pool in general and will allow millions of people to enjoy the World’s best players in action as Craig Marsh (Wales) and Collette Henriksen (Northern Ireland) look to defend their respective titles.

And in addition to this, we can also announce a brand new event to the IPA calendar - the IPA Freesports Champions Cup. This weekly event will be televised LIVE for 21 consecutive weeks, and will feature all the IPA Professionals doing battle over a series of group stages. The 16 group winners will then feature in the knockout rounds until we discover our new Champion. All matches in the Champions cup will be televised LIVE.

FreeSports is the UK’s newest sports channel and the only dedicated free-to-air sports network. It currently operates on Freeview (95), Sky (424), TalkTalk and BT Vision (95). The channel carries a wide range of sports including Rugby, Ice Hockey, Football, Motorsport, Cricket, basketball and MMA.

IPA Chairman Kevin Barton said “We are delighted to be able to showcase the talents of the IPA players to a whole new audience through our partnership with Freesports for the biggest event of the pool year - the IPA World Championships. The new Freesports Cup will also deliver regular LIVE coverage to sports fan across the UK and beyond in what is a ground-breaking event, and demonstrates that the IPA continues to be the driving force of blackball pool. More people than ever before will now be able to watch with amazement as the skills of the IPA Professionals are showcased live and free and there is no doubt they are in for absolute treat”.
Richard Webb, Channel Manager at FreeSports commented, “This is great news to be able to announce over 23 hours of live coverage from Bradford of the World Championships. We are also delighted to be partnering with IPA to bring live pool to UK homes every Monday night as we find Britain’s best 8 ball player over the course of 21 weeks.”

For more information on FreeSports visit www.freesports.tv

EBA endorses "The Racker"

The EBA is delighted to announce a new sponsorship deal with The Racker, the deal will mean that The Racker Triangles will be used at all EBA events for the next 3 years.

We would like to thank Gareth Aries and Joshua Yates from the Racker team for putting this deal on the table and for helping to push it forward.

The custom colour scheme is only for EBA events and is not available for sale from the EBA or The Racker  during the 3 year sponsorship deal.

http://theracker.co.uk/

EBA endorses Strachan 861

The EBA is delighted to announce a partnership with Strachan Cloth that will result in the EBA using the Strachan 861 Powder Blue cloth (by Simonis) for all its events, the European Championships and the Nations Cup, for the next three years (2018 till 2020). This cloth, with its superb playability and its modern look and feel, will also give the sport its own unique identity.

From a player’s perspective the cloth is more responsive which means a wider range of shots can be played compared to a traditional cloth. Being nap free also ensures no roll offs (from finger marks) and it plays at a higher, consistent level for longer.

It’s ideal for club owners also, with its spill resistant coating to help those accidents that sometimes happen, it requires no ironing (just brushing) and lasts at least as long as its napped counterpart.

EBA Chairman Kevin Byrne said :  ""We are absolutely delighted that we are able to formally announce this new partnership with Strachan after having recently signed a new 3-years deal with Aramith securing the best possible ball material for our players. The Strachan 861 cloth by Simonis offers us the right speed, consistency and control that all players require and deserve in order to perform at the very highest levels""

Group Commercial Director Bernard Bollette said :  ""To set the scene, the Iwan Simonis Group is the home of the 3 leading billiard manufactures and brands""

-        Iwan Simonis, the manufacturer of Simonis^TM premium quality worsted billiard cloth.

-        Home of Saluc, the manufacturer of Aramith^TM balls and global leader in billiard balls.

-        Since early 2016 the home of WSP Textiles Ltd, the leading manufacturer of premium quality woollen cloth and the brand reference for Blackball Pool and Snooker with its Strachan signature.

We are extremely excited to have this cloth as the official cloth material to all EBA events.̎ 

All the Winners from Malta

MENS 'A' TEAM - Scotland
MENS 'B' TEAM - Scotland 'B'
MENS INDIVIDUAL - Steve Thompson (England) 

LADIES 'A' TEAM - Northern Ireland
LADIES 'B' TEAM - England 'B' 
LADIES INDIVIDUAL - Collette Henriksen (Northern Ireland)

SENIORS 'A' TEAM - England
SENIORS 'B' TEAM - Scotland 'B'
SENIORS INDIVIDUAL - Wayne Jones (Wales)

MASTERS 'A' TEAM - England
MASTERS 'B' TEAM - England 'B'
MASTERS INDIVIDUAL - Adrian Jones (Wales)

UNDER 23 'A' TEAM - France
UNDER 23 'B' TEAM - Malta 'B' 
UNDER 23 INDIVIDUAL - Cole Bedford (Wales)
UNDER 23 DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - Darren Azzopardi & Clint Zammit (Malta)

UNDER 18 'A' TEAM - Northern Ireland
UNDER 18 'B' TEAM - Wales 'B
UNDER 18 INDIVIDUAL - Pere Alcazar (Catalonia) 
UNDER 18 DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - Aaron Rolston & Adam Freeburn (Northern Ireland)

UNDER 15 INDIVIDUAL - Kian Davies (Wales)

Finals Day Streaming Schedule

Match times are Central European Time (One hour ahead of the UK & Ireland)

https://www.facebook.com/MaltaEightBallFederation/

10.00
MENS 'A'PLAY OFFS
Northern Ireland v France
Malta v Cyprus

12.30
MENS INDIVIDUAL FINAL
Jack Whelan (England) v Steve Thompson (England)
MASTERS INDIVIDUAL FINAL
Adrian Jones (Wales) v Mark Donnan (Scotland)

15.15
LADIES INDIVIDUAL FINAL
Collette Henriksen (Northern Ireland) v Michelle Roonay (Northern Ireland)
SENIORS INDIVIDUAL FINAL
Jules Goodyear (England) v Wayne Jones (Wales)

18.00
MENS 'A' TEAM FINAL

Subject to change