The competition shall be held in accordance with the General Rules of the game and the Eight Ball Rules as approved by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), the Governing Body of Pool. See the Official WPA Website for the General Rules, Eight Ball Rules & Definitions used in the Rules.
- Teams: A team is composed exclusively of two players, either gender, or a mixed team of which one of whom shall act as captain. If there are 10 teams or less, each team shall play against each other; if there are eleven or more teams, the teams shall be divided into groups (box system playing Round Robin). The number of groups will be decided by:
- the number of teams participating
- the number of available tables
- In the event of Round Robin groups being played, the top team of each group shall progress to a knock-out stage resulting in a final between two teams. Depending on the number of groups and the group sizes, more than 1 team may progress from each group to the knock-out phase; this is decided at the beginning of the tournament by the discipline coordinator(s) in agreement with the team captains once the number of teams participating is known.
- Playing Format: The playing format will be a best-of-five rubbers format. An encounter consists of two singles matches, a doubles match, and then two reverse singles matches:
- Rubber 1: Singles match: Player 1 Team A vs Player 1 Team B
- Rubber 2: Singles match: Player 2 Team A vs Player 2 Team B
- Rubber 3: Doubles match: Player 1 & 2 Team A vs Player 1 & 2 Team B
- Rubber 4: Singles match: Player 1 Team A vs Player 2 Team B
- Rubber 5: Singles match: Player 2 Team A vs Player 1 Team B
- Each match played will be best of 3 racks. This may change depending on the number of teams: it may be increased if there are a low number of teams, or it may be reduced to a best of 1 rack if there are many teams. The discipline coordinator(s) in agreement with the team captains have the authority to decide at the beginning of the tournament which format to adopt.
- Determining the First Break: The player winning the lag has the option to determine who has to execute the first break shot. The lag is the first shot of the match and determines order of play. The player who wins the lag chooses who will shoot first. The players will place a ball on each side of the table behind the head string and near the head string. The players will shoot at about the same time to make each ball contact the foot cushion with the goal of returning the ball closer to the head cushion than the opponent.
- Points: One point will be awarded to the winning team of each rubber totaling 5 points over the 5 rubbers to be played.
- Points Draw: In case of a numeric draw in the final classification, the winning team will be decided according to the results of the direct encounter between the 2 teams
- Smoke Free: The venue where participants will be playing is to be NO SMOKING.
Notes: By registering to participate as a player in the “Pool-Billiards (Eight Ball)” discipline, the person concerned confirms that they have a good knowledge and understanding of the General Rules & Eight Ball Rules.
Material Requirements
- All tables & equipment should fit the specifications set out by the WPA. See the Official WPA Website for details.
- The location in which the discipline is taking place should provide cues for participants to play with. Participants may bring their own cue to play with if they so choose.