Ladies to debut at the 2018 National Pool Championship

9^th National Pool Championship

• Grand-finale: 27^th October 2018 | Lugogo Indoor Stadium, Kampala

Road-map:

Men:

• Mini-qualifiers: Cue off 24th August 2018 (Over 250 venues)
• Regional qualifiers: Cue off on 14th September 2018

Women:

• Regional qualifiers: Cue off 14^th September 2018 (In 8 regional locations across the country)
• Tournament Draws: 23rd October, 2018

The unique component at 2018 National Pool Championship will be the inclusion and involvement of women.

This was officially announced during the tournament launch at TBWA offices in Bugolobi, Kampala on Wednesday, 8th August, 2018.

The well attended launch was graced by the media, pool players and officials as well as the representative of the main sponsors, Nile Breweries.

Addressing the gathering at the launch, the Pool Association of Uganda (PAU) chairman Bob Trubish lauded the sponsors for wholesomely accepting the ladies to have their own tournament.

“I take this opportunity to thank our sponsors for the continuous support and accepting to include the ladies category for the first time. I also thank them for the 50 percent increase of facilitation for top seeds,” Trubish noted.

Nile Special brand manager, Francis Nyende, echoed the beer company’s pledge and love for supporting the game of pool in Uganda.

“We have had a tremendous journey over the nine years in sponsoring this championship. I thank the Pool Association body and the media for being good partners. Pool is in a much better place now. Exciting bit of it all is including the ladies. We seek to inspire pride and greatness in Uganda, this is the reason of including the ladies,” Nyende remarked.

Defending champion Fahad Ssewakambo vowed to defend the title he clinched last year.

As defending champion, all the focus will be to retain this title. Being a champion is not that easy. This championship is about making history. It will be very competitive. The Indoor stadium is like my home and I look forward playing well

Victoria Namuyanja, the female seed two thanked Nile Special for considering the female players this time round;

“I thank Nile Special for considering us the ladies. This has shown gender balance. Personally, whenever a new tournament comes up, I am the first to win and I promise to win this championship,” Namuyanja vowed.

The main prize for the men is the Toyota Altezza with Shs 1M. The runners up will pocket Shs 4M and a Super League Pool table.

There will be cash prizes up to the final 16^th ranked player.

Meanwhile, the ladies will play only 32 in total at the grand finals.

The mini qualifiers cue off on 24^th August 2018 before the regional championships start on 14^th September 2018.

The date ear marked for the grand finals is 28^th October 2018 at Lugogo Indoor Arena where 24 championship pool tables will be used.

Like it has been the norm, 8 top seeded male players will not be engaged in the qualifiers and only 4 top female seeds will get a bye for the Lugogo do.

PRIZES:

Ladies:

• Winner: Toyota Raum and Shs 1M
• 2^nd Placed: Super League Table (valued at Shs 6M), Shs 3M
• 3^rd placed: 1.5M
• 4^th placed: Shs. 7,500,000

• 5^th – 8^th placed: Shs. 350,000 each
• 9^th – 16^th placed: Shs. 250,000 each

Men Prizes:

• Top prize: Toyota Altezza and Shs 1M
• 2^nd placed: Super League table and Shs. 1.5M
• 3^rd placed: Shs 2m
• 4^th placed: 1M
• 5-8^th placed: Shs 500,000 each
• 9^th – 16^th placed: 250,000 each