Palm Springs, CA November 6, 2024 – The Lions of Desert Hot Springs, CA qualified for the APA 8-Ball Doubles Championship to be conducted by the American Poolplayers Association (APA) in Las Vegas April 29-May 1, 2025. They will be joining thousands of other APA players from throughout North America who will be traveling to the Westgate Las Vegas to compete in the event.

The Open 8-Ball Doubles Championship is held in conjunction with the APA Poolplayer Championships, which will also include the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout Championship tournaments.

Previously, the APA Poolplayer Championships, along with the Showdown Series events, paid out more than $600,000 in prize money with $5,000 going to the 1st Place winner of the 8-Ball Doubles Championship.

The Lions are members of the APA Pool League and participate in weekly league play throughout the Coachella Valley. Team members include: Christopher Estrada and Leonel Esquivel.

The APA, based in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., sanctions the world’s largest amateur pool league, known as the APA Pool League throughout the United States and as the Canadian Pool League in Canada. Nearly 250,000 members compete in weekly 8-Ball and 9-Ball League play. The APA is generally recognized as the Governing Body of Amateur Pool, having established the official rules, championships, formats and handicap systems for the sport of amateur billiards.

The APA produces four major tournaments each year—the APA World Pool Championships, the APA Poolplayer Championships, the APA Junior Championships and the U.S. Amateur Championship—that, together, pay out nearly $2 Million in cash and prizes annually. In 2010, the APA World Pool Championships were recognized by Guinness World Records as the “world’s largest pool tournament.”

The APA and its Championships are sponsored by PoolDawg, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products and Action Cues.

For more information or to get signed up with the APA, please contact (Amanda English at [email protected] or you can visit the official APA website at poolplayers.com.