Televised live by BT Sport from the last 32 onwards, the inaugural Ultimate Pool Professional Cup is set to be a landmark event for 8-ball pool.
The straight-knockout tournament - carrying a top prize of £10,000 - will run between the 26th-30th December at the Players Pool and Snooker Lounge in Newcastle-under-Lyme. The ranked event will be the first of the new 2022 Ultimate Pool professional season and features the new intake of pro players and those that were promoted from the recent Challenger Series campaign.
BT Sport’s four-day coverage begins on Monday 27th with afternoon and evening sessions equating to approximately 36 hours of live baize action.
The Format
Those ranked outside of the top 16 in the current Ultimate Pool professional rankings need to contest a preliminary round on Boxing Day in order to make it through to the televised rounds.
These matches are the first to eight frames with no time limits attached. The winners will then face the seeded players in the last 32 under the bright lights in the main arena.
Similar to what we saw in the Ultimate Pool Masters earlier this year, the opening two rounds of the main draw will be played in the 4-2-1 format. During the first two-and-a-half days of broadcast coverage we will see sessions of last 32 matches with the winners then facing each other in the last 16 for the right to get through to the quarter-finals later in the week.
Matches in the last 32 and last 16 will be the first to seven frames but with a 40-minutes match-clock. If a match finishes level, the winner will be decided via a 6-reds shootout. There is a 30-seconds shot-clock for these matches but this will be reduced to 15 seconds for the final ten minutes. Players have one extension per frame.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are all played across the final three sessions. These matches will be played to a two-sets format. Each set is the first to seven frames but with a 40-minutes set-clock (30-seconds shot-clock, but reduced to 15 seconds for the final ten minutes – one extension per player, per frame). Whoever wins the set gets a point – if scores are tied at the end of a set, both players get half a point. If the match finishes one set all, the winner will be decided via a 6-reds shootout.
The Golden Break and Golden Duck will be in operation from the Last 32 onwards.
TV and Livestream Schedule
All matches from the last 32 onwards will be shown live on BT Sport. There will be afternoon sessions between 1100-1700GMT and then evening sessions 1900-2200GMT (until 2300 for the 29th and 30th) for each of the four days.
For those unable to access BT Sport, there will be a worldwide livestream on ultimatepool.tv. Buy your Pro Cup Season Pass here.
Please note, the livestream is not available in the UK as coverage is on BT Sport.
Draw and Match Schedule
The draw and match schedule for the Ultimate Pool Professional Cup will be released in the coming days on ultimatepool.tv and Ultimate Pool’s social media channels.
