P.E.I. 8-Ball League ready to host national pool tournament

Top pool players from across Canada will be in Charlottetown taking part in a three-day tournament hosted by theP.E.I. 8-Ball League.

ChairmanAndrew Sprague says there will be more than 100 men and women competing in four divisions for $31,000 in prize money in theCCS Maritime 8 Ball Championship.

"We put a significant amount of work into this tournament and its just completely blown up on us."

Sprague said it had to limit the number of registrations it could accept because the venue at Dooly's only has 20 pool tables and the tournament isonly three days.

"After a lot of consideration, we ended up somewhere around 128 players."

A competitive match Friday night will see P.E.I.'s best player play against Nova Scotia's best player for $1,000 in a winner take all match, an event the public are invited to watch.

Games from the tournament will also be live streamed with commentary by pool broadcaster Cue Sports Live on its website, Facebook,andYouTube.

"It really brings this tournament to another level because they stream all day and do play by play commentary. They are really interactive with the crowd.

Sprague said the volunteer committee has worked many hours to prepare for the tournament and to grow the sport on P.E.I.

"Our league has grown from 80 to 120 players in the last two years."

Sprague is hoping a tournament like this will encourage people to come and see what it's all about and get interested in it.

"We're going to put on one heck of an event."

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