Mezz Cues Baltic Pool League 2022

Organizers: Estonian Billiard Association, Lithuanian Pool Federation, Latvian Billiard Federation.

Venue: Arena Billiards, Savanorių per. 363, Kaunas, Lithuania.

28th of May 2022

• 8:30   Doors open
• 9:00   Start of 1st session
• 10:30 Opening ceremony
• 11:00 Continue play

29th of May 2022

• 9:00   Continue of play
• 16:00 Semifinals
• 17:30 Final
• 19:00 Award ceremony

Discipline: 9-ball

Distance:

• Open division race to 7.
• Women division race to 6.
• Seniors division race to 6.
• All play-off stage matches (RT+1).

Prize fund: 75% of all received entry fees.

Prize money will be paid during the award ceremony only.

Tournament officials:

Tournament director: Tomas Brikmanis (Lithuania)

Stage head referree: Vladislavs Belkovs (Latvia)

Registration and draw

• All participants must announce participation by sending an announcement to local federations or registering at http://balticpoolleague.eu/events/2022/2/registration.html or sending email to balticpoolleague@gmail.com no later than 8 pm 26th of May, 2022.
• The draw is made 26th of May, 2022 and published within the same day on the official BPL website balticpoolleague.eu.

Entry fee

Participants in open, women and seniors divisions must pay an entry fee in the amount of 40 euros.

Underaged athletes participating in open division must pay an entry fee in the amount of 20 euros.

Tournament brakets:

• In open division the qualifying stages chart consists of the winners and losers side. In case there are more than 64 participants then the last 32 play knock out stages. In case there are less than 64 participants then the last 16 play knock out stages.
• In women‘s and oldboys division the qualifying stages chart consists of the winners and losers side. In case there are more than 16 participants then the last 8 play knock out stages. In case there are less than 16 participants then the last 4 play knock out stages.

Age limits

• Seniors and Ladies age group is defined according to EPBF sports regulations:
• 2021 - An athlete must at least have their 44th birthday in 2021.
• 2022 - An athlete must at least have their 44th birthday in 2022.
• 2023 - An athlete must at least have their 45th birthday in 2023.

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 regard to the legality of attire.

Shirts:

Shirts can be of any design providing it has a collar, short sleeve or long sleeve and any colour. 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:

Dark dress trousers and chinos that are clean and in good condition are to be used. Trousers must cover the entire backside and must fit around the waist, 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 colour and corduroy material are forbidden.

Shoes:

Dress shoes and sports shoes are allowed. Dress shoes can be of any colour and must be made of leather. Sports shoes must either be of dark colour including a sole and made of leather or leather-like material or of black colour including a sole and logos if top is made of cloth material. Dark socks/tights must be worn, no akin should be visible on the legs/ankles.

Other:

No headgear, or headphones other than on recognized grounds with written medical reasons from a qualified doctor.

Any Athlete refusing to meet requirements in respect of the Dress Code shall be liable to forfeit that respective match.

Special break rules

All matches alternative brake, 9 ball on the spot and 3 point rule applies 

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 the when 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 or 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 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 exception of the 1-ball, which should always be on top and the 9-ball/10-ball, that is to be put in the centre 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/hers 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, practising during time-out and late return after a time-out.

Anti-doping, smoking, drinking alcohol, etc

Prohibited substances are defined by WADA List of Prohibited Substances (www.wada-ama.org).

Smoking, using of 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 Unsportsmanlike Conduct. If a referee or the tournament leader decides that an athlete is unfit to start or continue his/hers 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 of 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 endeavour 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 offence 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's 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.