Earl Strickland
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{short description|American pool player}}
{{infobox pool player
|name=Earl Strickland
|image= Earl Strickland.JPG
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|06|08}}
| birth_place =Roseboro, North Carolina
| death_date =
| death_place =
| sport country =
| professional = 1981
| major wins =
| other wins = 100
|world champ = Nine-ball (1988, 1990, 1991, 2002)
| nickname = "The Pearl"
| highest ranking = 1
}}
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.[http://www.bca-pool.com/cgi/site/framegate.cgi?url=http://www.bca-pool.com/industry/hof/hof.shtml&cat=i Earl Strickland inducted into Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331000000/http://www.bca-pool.com/cgi/site/framegate.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bca-pool.com%2Findustry%2Fhof%2Fhof.shtml&cat=i |date=March 31, 2007 }} 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."USA Dominates World Nine-ball", Pool & Billiards Magazine, May 1990. 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.""Earl 'The Pearl' Strickland Wins Another Caesars Event," page 11, The National Billiard News, October 1984. Retrieved May 18, 2007 Because of his dominance, Strickland was named The National Billiard News Player of the Year in 1984."Pot Shots" by Bruce Venzke, page 5, The National Billiard News, February 1986. Retrieved May 19, 2007 He won the 1988 PBA World 9-Ball Championship, after a momentous final confrontation with Mike Sigel.
In 2022, aged 61, Strickland was named as a wild card selection for Team USA in the Mosconi Cup. Strickland's attempts to win a record tenth Mosconi Cup crown was unsuccessful though as Team Europe won the contest 11{{nbnd}}7.{{cite web |title=Mosconi Cup 2022: Earl 'The Pearl' Strickland is final wild card pick for Team USA |url=https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/snooker/news/12243/12739333/mosconi-cup-2022-earl-the-pearl-strickland-is-final-wild-card-pick-for-team-usa |website=Sky Sports |access-date=20 April 2025}}{{cite web |title=Mosconi Cup: Team Europe claim third straight trophy as Joshua Filler sees off USA in Las Vegas |url=https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/snooker/news/12243/12761577/mosconi-cup-team-europe-claim-third-straight-trophy-as-joshua-filler-sees-off-usa-in-las-vegas |website=Sky Sports |access-date=20 April 2025}}
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 {{Cuegloss|Break and run|break and run}} 10 racks would win US$1,000,000.[http://www.billiardsdigest.com/current_issue/apr_06/story_6.php "Earl, According to Earl"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070501200746/http://www.billiardsdigest.com/current_issue/apr_06/story_6.php |date=May 1, 2007 }}, Billiards Digest magazine (online edition), April 2006; Note: The million-dollar prize seemed to be a very safe stipulation because runs that high are quite rare especially in formal tournament play; there have been no similar promotions since. Jimmy Mataya, who was present at the event, witnessed Strickland's last shot, a tough nine-ball {{Cuegloss|Combination shot|combination}} in which Earl showed no fear and "fired it in with authority" to win the prize.{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeeXvz9mIkk |title=Billiard Club Network, 2004 Derby City Classic, Louisville, Kentucky |access-date=November 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418064015/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeeXvz9mIkk |archive-date=April 18, 2016 |url-status=live }} 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
Career titles and achievements
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See also
- {{portal-inline|Biography}}
- {{portal-inline|Cue sports}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons-inline}}
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090917093056/http://www.internationalpooltour.com/Players/Bio_Strickland_Earl.aspx "Earl Strickland, Player Profile"]}}, InternationalPoolTour.com
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{{1996 United States Mosconi Cup team}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Strickland, Earl}}
Category:American pool players
Category:Sportspeople from North Carolina