• Source: Earl Strickland

Earl Strickland (born June 8, 1961) is an American professional pool player who is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time. He has won over 100 championship titles and three world titles. In 2006 he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame. In 1996, Strickland won the largest cash prize to date winning the PCA $1,000,000 Challenge by being the first player to run 10 consecutive racks in a tournament.




Career


Strickland started playing pool at the age of 8. After intensive practice, he entered his first professional tournament aged 16. Strickland rose to national prominence in 1983 with a victory in Caesars Tahoe Billiard Classic defeating Steve Mizerak in the finals and winning $35,000. This was followed in 1984 by winning the McDermott Masters 9-Ball Championship.
According to sources, Strickland played "like a polished gem." He was beginning to be a dominant force on the tournament trail and recognized as a future world champion. He had the "skill, endurance, patience, temperament, and tenacity of which champions are made." Because of his dominance, Strickland was named The National Billiard News Player of the Year in 1984. He won the 1988 PBA World 9-Ball Championship, after a momentous final confrontation with Mike Sigel.




Awards and accolades


Strickland is a multiple winner of the prestigious Billiards Digest Player of the Year in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 2000 including Billiards Digest Player of the Decade in the 1980s.
His career highlights of a record three WPA World Nine-ball Championships & a record five U.S. Open Nine-ball Championships along with Shane Van Boening & a record three McDermott Masters 9-Ball Championships. Strickland is the only WPA World Nine-ball Champion ever to win the event in consecutive years. At Mosconi Cup, from 1996 until 2005, Strickland holds the record for winning nine times along with Johnny Archer.
Strickland once ran 11 consecutive racks against Nick Mannino during the first PCA tournament in 1996 where there was a stipulation that anyone who could break and run 10 racks would win US$1,000,000. Jimmy Mataya, who was present at the event, witnessed Strickland's last shot, a tough nine-ball combination in which Earl showed no fear and "fired it in with authority" to win the prize. Up to that time, no one had ever run 10 racks of 9-ball in a row during a professionally sanctioned event. The feat has never been duplicated in a tournament since. This Million dollar Challenge event was a kickoff for the new tour, which Earl Strickland, C.J. Wiley, and others helped to build. He won it on the first day of the event and the very start of the brand new tour association (PCA). The insurance company backing the event refused to pay and lawsuits were filed. The dispute was over what was considered a "run rack" as during Earl's run, he made nine-on-the-breaks and early nines, as well as run the balls 1-9 in order, which is officially considered a run rack. The final rack was also an early nine made by a combination shot. Two and one half years later, the insurers were forced to pay up. Unfortunately, due to expenses of the legal battle, Earl received less than a $1,000,000 and this resulted in negative publicity around it and led to a very premature demise of the new PCA tour. Earl was very gracious about the money, but sorely disappointed that the new tour got off to a bad start. The scandal and a feud with the already existing feud with the Professional Billiards Tour fearing lost revenues and television contracts spelled doom and led to a quick demise of the new tour.
For 2007, he was ranked #6 in Pool & Billiard Magazine's "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll.




Career titles and achievements






See also


Biography portal
Cue sports portal




References






External links


Media related to Earl Strickland at Wikimedia Commons
"Earl Strickland, Player Profile", InternationalPoolTour.com

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Efren Reyes
• James Hepburn
• Henry dari Grosmont, Adipati Lancaster I
• Malcolm X
• Wangsa Plantagenet
• Adolf Hitler
• Mathilde dari Boulogne
• Daftar penerima Nobel
• Gubernur New South Wales
• Busur panjang Inggris
• Earl Strickland
• Efren Reyes
• Mosconi Cup
• WPA World Nine-ball Championship
• Nine-ball
• U.S. Open Pool Championship
• Barry Strickland
• Strickland (surname)
• The Color of Money
• List of WPA World Nine-ball champions