Mezz Cues Baltic Pool League 2019
Organizers: Estonian Billiard Association, Lithuanian Pool Federation, Latvian Pool Federation, Belarusian Association of Billiard Sports and Finnish Billiard Federation.
Venue: Arena Billiards, Savanoriu 363, Kaunas, Lithuania.
16th of November 2019
- 9:00 Doors open
- 9:30 Opening ceremony
- 10:00 Start of matches
17th of November 2019
- 9:00 Continue of play
- 13:00 Semifinals
- 15:00 Finals
- 17:00 Award ceremony
Discipline: 10-ball
Distance:
- Open division race to 8.
- Women division race to 6.
- Old-boys division race to 6
- U15 division race to 4.
- All play-off stage matches (+2).
Prize fund: 5000 Euros
Women division: Old boys division Men division:
1st place 500 EUR 1st place 500 1st place 1200 EUR
2nd place 250 EUR 2nd place 250 2nd place 600 EUR
3rd place 125 EUR 3rd place 125 3rd place 300 EUR 5th–8th place 150 EUR
Tournament officials:
Tournament director: Tomas Brikmanis (Lithuania)
Stage head referee: Tomas Brikmanis (Lithuania)
Participants and draw
Best 8 ranked women, best 8 ranked old boys, best-ranked U15 and best 32 ranked men players are invited to take part in final BPL event. The list of players: http://balticpoolleague.eu/events/2019/final
Players with shared ranking points are also invited.
- All participants must confirm the participation in the event by sending an announcement to local federations or sending email to balticpoolleague@gmail.com not later than 12th of November, 2019.
- The draw is made 16th of November, 2019 during the open ceremony
Entry fee
The open division must pay an entry fee in the amount of 40 euros.
Women and old boys divisions must pay an entry fee in the amount of 30 euros.
Youth U16 division must pay an entry fee in the amount of 5 euros.
U16 division games start on the 17th of November (Sunday).
Dress Code
Each player’s attire must be clean, proper and in good condition. If an athlete is unsure about the legality of his attire, the athlete should approach the Tournament Leader before the match and ask whether the attire is legal. The Tournament Leader has the final say with regards to the legality of attire.
Shirts:
Shirts can be of any design providing it has a collar, short sleeve or long sleeve and any color. Extra clothing if the area is cool can be worn on top of the shirt in the form of a jumper/sweater or tracksuit top but none of these are permitted with a hood attached. It is also allowed to wear an undershirt as long as it is matching the shirt. Shirts must be tucked inside trousers and must be long enough that when stretching over the table, no body skin should be visible. For Women, shirts can be outside trousers, but no body skin should be visible. It is not allowed to wear T-shirts.
Trousers:
Dress trousers that are clean and in good condition are to be used. Trousers must cover the entire backside and must fit around the waist and a belt should be worn, no half trousers regardless of the design. For women, also a black skirt or divided skirt, which covers the knees is allowed. It is not allowed to wear trousers with studs/chains or side pockets below the thigh. Denim/blue jeans of any color and corduroy material are forbidden.
Shoes:
Shoes must be elegant dress shoes that fit in the outfit. Sneakers and sandals are not allowed. Dark sports shoes with a top of leather or leather-like material are allowed but are subject to the Tournament Leader’s discretion.
Other:
No headgear, or headphones other than on recognized grounds with written medical reasons from a qualified doctor.
Any Athlete refusing to meet with requirements in respect of the Dress Code shall be liable to forfeit that respective match.
Special break rules
Special „out of the box“ rule applies. All matches alternative brake..
Time limit
In order to better control the schedule of an event, each match can be given a certain time limit. A shot clock can be implemented at any time. The decision lies with the discretion of the tournament leader. After enforcing the shot clock, the time for each shot (with the exemption of the second shot after racking, see below) is 35 seconds, with a warning after 25 seconds. Each athlete will be allowed one 25-second extension during each rack. The time for the second shot after the racking of the balls will be 60 seconds with a warning after 50 seconds and no option for extension. The second shot after racking means the shot immediately following the break shot in 8, 9 and 10-ball. The shot clock will be started when all balls come to rest, including spinning balls and (when applicable) the cue-ball is available to the player. The shot clock will end when the cue tip strikes the cue ball to initiate a stroke or when the athlete’s time expires from the shot clock. If an athlete runs out of time, it is a standard foul.
Late Start
Athletes must be at the venue and ready to play their assigned match 30 minutes before the appointed match time. If an athlete is late for an announced match, he/she will have a maximum of twenty minutes to report to his assigned table ready to play or the match will be lost. If an athlete is late for his appointed match the following procedure will be enforced:
- after 6 minutes: First call and one rack (8, 9 and 10-ball);
- after 11 minutes: Second call and one rack;
- after 16 minutes: Final warning call and one rack;
- after 20 minutes: Loss of match by forfeit.
Should this happen in the winner’s bracket of a DKO system, he will be placed in the loser’s bracket. Otherwise, such an athlete is disqualified. Should both athletes in the same match in the winner’s bracket arrive too late, both athletes will be disqualified since both of them cannot use the one and only existing spot in the loser’s bracket. Tournament officials are the only ones who have the power to implement this.
Rack template (aka magic rack) removal
After the break, the rack template must be removed from the table as soon as possible without disturbing any of the balls. If there are balls obstructing the removal of the rack template, the opponent must be the one to remove the rack template. If there are no obstructions, the athlete at the table may remove the rack template without the opponent interfering. The Rack Template can only be removed if not more than 2 balls are an obstruction in its removal. The exception to this rule applies if 1 or more balls are frozen and obstructing the removal, in this case, the rack template stays in place until such time that the frozen balls are no longer an obstacle in the removal of the Rack Template. Once the rack template is completely removed from its original position, it cannot interfere with the game i.e. it will be considered a foul shot if any ball touches it.
Random 9-ball and 10-ball rack
The rack in 10-ball and 9-ball should be built randomly, with the exception of the 1-ball, which should always be on top and the 9-ball/10-ball, that is to be put in the center of the rack. It is not allowed to routinely put specific balls in a specific location. Both players agreeing on this is irrelevant.
Time-out
One time-out of five minutes for each athlete is allowed per match. The time-out can be taken between racks and play is suspended. The athlete can use his right for a time-out only before any break shot is executed. The opponent must remain seated as during normal play unless he/she decides to use his/her time-out at the same time, in which case no further time-out will be allowed. The athletes should remember that their actions must be within the spirit of the game and if they act otherwise, they are subject to a penalty under the Unsportsmanlike Conduct. Reasons for an imposed penalty are: taking time-out other than in between the racks, practicing during a time-out and late return after a time-out.
Anti-doping, smoking, drinking alcohol, etc
Prohibited substances are defined by the WADA List of Prohibited Substances (www.wada-ama.org).
Smoking, using snus or snuff or electronic cigarette and drinking alcohol or non-alcoholic beer is forbidden during the match, including time-out (at all times for U16 division). Any violation will be considered as an Unsportsmanlike Conduct. If a referee or the tournament leader decides that an athlete is unfit to start or continue his/her match because of visible intoxication, they can penalize the offending athlete up to disqualification from the event at their sole discretion.
Use of mobile phones and other electronic devices
Active athletes are not allowed to use mobile phones and other electronic devices during the match, including time-out. Such items must be turned off or in silent mode and may not lie on the table or in any other visible spot.
Referees
BPL will endeavor to have at least one referee present at the venue for the duration
of the event. The athletes will be taking care of the racking themselves. The athletes are responsible for match scoring and for calling the referee when needed. The winner is responsible for the official match protocol.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct
The rules and regulations give the referee and other tournament officials considerable latitude in penalizing Unsportsmanlike Conduct. Several factors will be considered in such decisions, including previous conduct, previous warnings, how serious the offense is, and information that the athletes may have been given at the the start of the tournament. If an athlete insults a referee or any other tournament official, the offending player will be penalized up to disqualification from the event.
Protest procedures
All the disputes between participants are resolved by the head referee. The participants have the right to forward a written disagreement with the application of the head referees' decision to the organizing committee‘s email balticpoolleague@gmail.com within one week after the event is held. Each forwarded disagreement application fee is 50 EUR that must be forwarded to the organizing committee. In case the organizing committee finds that the participant disagreement is justified the disagreement application fee in the amount of 50 euros is refunded to the participant and further actions regarding the decision are forwarded to the participant, referee and any other party involved.