EDITOR ’S DESK All the World’s A Pool Stage! As the world celebrates the onset of a new decade (without all the pending numerical strife of Y2K), the pool world celebrates what has become a truly international sport. No more the domain of the American pool player, pocket billiards stamped its global footprint throughout Europe and Asia. In just the past month, as you’ll see in this issue, world-class events have included the Women’s Nationals (held on U.S. soil but won by Austrian Jasmin Ouschan); the World Mixed Doubles and World 10-Ball Championships in Manila (won by a Philippine team and Finland’s Mika Immonen); the women’s World 9-Ball Championships in China, won by China’s own Shasha Liu, and the Mosconi Cup, returning to U.S. soil, and, for the first time since 2005, won again by America. What does this mean for pool as we know it? Well for starters, it means when we talk about the best players in the world, we mean it. And when we offer up instruction from the world’s best players and teachers, we really mean it. It also means continued growth of a sport we all love, right down to the amateur ranks. Way back when we undertook this project called Pool & Billiard Magazine, there were just a handful of world class players, and less television coverage. Today, thousands (yes, thousands!) of television hours are broadcast 6 P&B January 2010 by Shari J. Stauch worldwide, in Asia, Europe and the good ol’ U.S. of A., offering aspiring players opportunities they never had before to watch and learn from the best players on the planet. Finally, it means that, for the first time in the recent history of our sport, the talents of these top players must be continually challenged. 9-Ball, hailed as the only game the pros were playing, has moved over to make room for a wealth of new competitive pocket billiard games, from trick shots and artistic pool, to 10-Ball, to team competitions. This month pros from around the world will gather in the Midwest for the Derby City Classic, pitting players against each other in divisions that include 9-Ball, One Pocket and even Banks! Once again, that means more for you as a spectator and aspiring player, especially if you’re spending time online checking out the live video-streaming from these exciting events! This month we also celebrate another report on our annual Player & Fan Poll, and we’re excited to share the results with you. We also commend you on your great suggestions for future issues, and look forward to bringing the news to you in this, our 27th year at P&B! Put on your seatbelts, players and fans – 2010 promises to be an ever more wild ride around the globe. We can’t wait – how about you?! From the entire staff at P&B, our fondest wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year! EXECUTIVE STAFF PUBLISHER: Harold L. Simonsen EXECUTIVE EDITOR Shari J. Stauch MANAGING EDITOR Thomas C. Shaw CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Carol Simonsen COLUMNISTS Phil Capelle Dominic Esposito Randi Givens Loree Jon Jones Gerry Kanov Ewa Mataya Laurance Nick Nikolaidis John Schmidt Charlie Williams CONTRIBUTORS Anne Craig Doug Ennis Ashi Fachler Jerry Forsyth Tina Hardt Diana Hoppe Karin Kaltofen Sally Lee Jojo Lirio, Jr. Lawrence Lustig Luke Riches Tom Rossman Dale Shank Victor Stein Dave Thomson Charles Ursitti January 2010 Pool & Billiard Magazine is published by: Sports Publications Ltd. 115 S. Main St. Summerville, SC 29483 Telephone (843) 875-5115 Fax (843) 875-5171 Web Site: www.poolmag.com e-mail: poolmag@poolmag.com Contents © 2009 and cannot be reproduced without express written permission of this publication. www.poolmag.com
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