ESPN Announces Airdates for 2008 GenerationPool.com 9-Ball Championships
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) today announced that ESPN will air the semi-final and final rounds of the 2008 GenerationPool.com 9-Ball Championships on July 19, 2008. The event was held June 8-12, 2008, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tournament’s semi-finals and finals events took place June 11-12 in the Grand Ballroom at the Charlotte Convention Center. Broadcast support is exceptional, with six (6) hours of first-run programming secured for airing by ESPN.
As more broadcasts are scheduled, show updates will appear regularly on the Generation Pool.com web site.
The first-run lineup is as follows:
Men’s Semi-Final 1:
Johnny Archer vs. Ronnie Wiseman
12 p.m.–1 p.m. EDT
Men’s Semi-Final 2:
Shawn Putnam vs. Jeremy Jones
1 p.m.–2 p.m. EDT
Men’s Final:
Ronnie Wiseman vs. Jeremy Jones
2 p.m.–3 p.m. EDT
Women’s Semi-Final 1:
Anna Kostanian vs. Xiaoting Pan
3 p.m.–4 p.m. EDT
Women’s Semi-Final 2:
Jasmine Ouschan vs. Ga Young Kim
4 p.m–5 p.m. EDT
Women’s Final:
Xiaoting Pan vs. Ga Young Kim
5 p.m–6 p.m. EDT
ESPN is committing more time to showing the GenerationPool.com 9-Ball Championships on ESPN and ESPN2 in 2008. ESPN is adding two additional hours of programming, meaning the event will air for a minimum of six hours. These additional hours of airtime will add more than 30 percent of first-run coverage shown on television.
“ESPN is pleased to cover three hours from both the men’s and women’s GenerationPool.com 9-Ball Championship events in 2008,” said Nick Dawson, associate program manager for ESPN. “The event is one of the marquee billiard events in the world each year and the added hours will allow viewers the opportunity to enjoy both the semi-finals and the championship from each division, along with additional tournament competition.”
Throughout the televised rounds, rotating arena banners will reach millions of billiard fans on ESPN, promoting the official 2008 sponsors, which include: GenerationPool.com (title sponsor); Olhausen Billiard Mfg., Inc. (table); Sterling-Fury Cues (cue); Sterling-Milliken Super Pro (cloth); Mikhail Darafeev (furniture); Aramith (ball); DELTA-13 (rack); PoolDawg.com (closed captioning); American Poolplayers Association (rotational signage); and CueSight.com (rotational signage). Additional event sponsors include Sterling Gaming (Hall of Fame Reception) and Sterling-Fury Cues (VIP Reception).
About Billiard Congress of America
Founded in 1948, the Billiard Congress of America is a non-profit trade organization dedicated to growing a united, prosperous and highly regarded billiard industry through BCA leadership. The BCA seeks to enhance the success of its members and promote the game of billiards though educational, marketing and promotional efforts, annual industry trade shows, tournaments and other programs designed to encourage billiards as a lifestyle and make pool everybody’s game. For more information, visit bca-pool.com or call 866.852.0999.