The prestigious Derby City Classic returns from January 22-26 as the World Nineball Tour ranking tournament takes place for its 26th annual edition at the Caesars Southern Indiana casino in Elizabeth, Indiana.
Joshua Filler will be defending his title following his win over Lithuania’s Pijus Labutis in last year’s final. Both players had competed throughout the night until 11am to reach the latter stages and that led to an extra day being added for 2025.
World number one Fedor Gorst, four-time winner Shane van Boening and Jayson Shaw are amongst the headliners in this year’s tournament, with the eventual champion receiving the $16,000 top prize.
As is usually the case when it comes to Derby City due to its gruelling nature, international entrants are limited, although European Open champion Mickey Krause, Ruslan Chinakhov and Francesco Candela have entered, while Germany’s Moritz Neuhausen will make his debut.
Other notable names who will compete in Elizabeth include 2019 winner Skyler Woodward, Texas Open champion Vitaliy Patsura, Tyler Styer, Oscar Dominguez, Billy Thorpe, Alex Pagulayan, John Morra, Mika Immonen and Peru’s Gerson Martinez.
More than 400 players have entered the popular tournament, with the Philippines represented by Francisco Bustamante, 2020 champion Lee Van Corteza, Jeffrey de Luna and Roberto Gomez.
In addition, women’s world 10-ball champion Kristina Tkach will be making a rare appearance in a WNT ranking event alongside fellow female star Pia Filler.
Derby City uses the unique race-to-nine, single elimination with one buyback option format, meaning players can buy their way back into the field following one loss, while the draw is completely random and redone after every round.
Coverage will be broadcast via Digital Pool live streaming for those with either an event-long subscription or a daily pass, with action from every table being shown via the premium platform.
The World Nineball Tour’s brand new streaming service WNT TV will also be showing one table for subscribers, while results can be followed via the Digital Pool website.
