The third Rasson Billiards Pro Cup of the season was to be contested between two players both experiencing a dry run of success on the tour. Malta’s finest and London’s finest, Tony Drago and Imran Majid, took to the floor with both looking for a first tournament win in over a year.
Drago opened his account against the ever improving Ashik Nathwani. The seasoned professional was too good for Nathwani, however, and Drago won through 10-5 to face the newly crowned Northern Masters champion Craig Osborne in the winners qualifying round. Osborne’s ruthless form over the weekend wasn’t ceasing, and this time Drago was on the wrong end of a 10-5 reverse which saw him in the last chance saloon with Chris Cowie. Drago, hungry for success, was taking no chances against Cowie. A safe 10-4 win ensured passage to the quarter finals where Chris Hall was waiting for him. Drago once again was taking no prisoners. Following up from a 9-3 win over Hall in the Northern Masters, a hard fought 10-6 win ensured a mouth watering semi final in a rematch with Osborne. The Shotgun was two wins away from a perfect weekend and was eager to see off Drago here, but Drago pulled a rabbit out of the hat at the perfect moment. An excellent 10-8 win put Drago into the final and ended Osborne’s weekend.
Majid began his Pro Cup campaign against David Worrow, and he too was in no mood for letting up. A hard fought 10-7 win put him into a qualifying round match against Darryn Walker. Walker was looking for his second Pro Cup in succession, but Majid was the one to walk away victorious. Another win by 10 racks to 7 was enough to put Majid into the quarter finals. Majid had only hit two break and runs in his two matches at present, but he doubled his tally in his quarter final match with Ian Mccormick. Those two runouts helped him towards a 10-5 victory and into a last 4 showdown with Chris Melling. Melling already had one semi final under his belt in the weekend and was looking to make it one better this time round, but the Maharaja had other ideas. Another big effort from Melling was in vain as Majid sneaked home and into the final with a victory by 10 racks to 8.
The contrasting styles of the two players – slow and composed from Majid, fast and ruthless from Drago – lead to a fascinating final that didn’t disappoint. Three runouts from Drago helped him cross the finish line in first place with a very well earned 11-5 victory to take him his first GB9 title since the 2011 Pro Cup (III).
The penultimate round of this season’s GB 9 Ball Tour hits town this weekend as the Southern Masters is contested at the Daventry Court Hotel in Northamptonshire.
As the 7th GB9 season draws ever closer to its climax, the fourth event of 2014 brings together once again some of the country’s finest cueists as they lock horns to see who will take home the next major British title. Having already gone past the halfway stage of this 2014 season, it’s fair to say that the dominance of Phil Burford and Mark Gray at the top of the rankings will take quite some stopping at this event. With 3rd placed Daryl Peach flying the flag for Great Britain at the WPA World Team Championship alongside Karl Boyes, Chris Melling and Allison Fisher, it will take nothing short of a tournament win for any of the chasing pack to close that gap. With some of the country’s leading amateur’s at the head of that pack including reigning Midlands Classic champion Chris Hall, Michael Rhodes, Craig Osborne and Darryn Walker, all of the top players will have to be on their toes. It remains to see whether any of those four, or any of the other exciting amateurs in the field, can stop Burford and Gray on their quest for yet more silverware.
The magnificent Daventry Court Hotel will host its 14th GB9 event to date, a run which stretches all the way back to the 2010 British Grand Prix. It has proven itself over the years to be a very popular venue with players, officials and all those involved with the GB 9 Ball Tour. The tour is also due to close the season out at the hotel with this year’s British Grand Prix between November 7th and 9th. We are sure that this event will be as smooth and enjoyable as those previous, and GB9 would like to extend its thanks and gratitude to the hotel and its staff for their tireless work to date in making tour events so memorable.
The Southern Masters is due to begin on the evening of Friday 1st August, with play across the weekend coming to a conclusion on the evening of Sunday 3rd August. Entry to spectators is free as ever. Players entries MUST be received by midnight on Tuesday 29 July. Live streaming will be available once again, alongside the innovative rack-by-rack live-scoring system, GB9-Live. High octane pool is guaranteed once again as the race to grab those crucial ranking points hot’s up, so get yourself down to Daventry to witness the cream of American pool players that this country has to offer.
In 2014 GB9 is proudly sponsored by Rasson Billiards, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Billiard Balls, OB Cues and Kamui Tips making the perfect combination of the very best equipment in the most outstanding venues.
The first main event final of the season saw Darlington’s Phil Burford come up against Wakefield’s Chris Hall. Both players have been stalwarts of the tour for a number of years now, and it was fitting that two such players should contest the first major showdown of the season.
Hall opened his account for the weekend in fine style, dispatching of Welshman Nathan James 9-0 in a mere 35 minutes to secure passage through to the last 32. Here he met two times defending Universities Pool Council 9-Ball champion Benji Buckley in a much closer affair. Hall came away victorious, however, with a solid 9-5 scoreline ensuring safe passage to the round of 16. His opponent, Dave Evans, suffered almost the same fate as Hall’s first opponent. 9-1 was the score in favour of Hall, taking the Yorkshireman through to a quarter final showdown with none other than Tony Drago. Smelling blood from his early exit in the World Snooker Welsh Open earlier in the week, a quarter final was the best he could manage here. An incredible match which Hall won 9-7 saw the pair share no less than SEVEN break and runs between them in a match that took just 66 minutes. Hall then had another high quality match in the semi-finals, this time against Ipswich’s Craig Osborne. Another three break and runs from Hall took his tally for the competition to 15 in the space of four matches and helped him to a 9-6 victory to send him into his first main event final.
Burford’s last 64 match saw him overcome a resilient Simon Gardner, with a 9-5 win seeing him into the last 32 to face Colchester’s Shaun Storry. Three break and runs each would often be a sign of a close match, but Shaun’s three were his only rack wins as Burford won 9-3. His opponent in the last 16 was Stuart Colclough, another long time tour player. Another 9-5 victory was enough to take Burford into a quarter final match with Wolverhampton’s Darryn Walker. Walker has established himself as a feared name in British 9-ball in recent years, but this time he was no match for the defending Midlands Classic champion. Burford won through 9 racks to 4 to take him into an all north-east semi final against Michael Rhodes. It was Burford who came out on top 9 racks to 4 to take him just 11 more racks away from a successful defence of his title.
Many saw Burford as heavy favourite going into the final, but it was Hall who raced into what can only be called a shock 9-0 lead to leave Burford hanging on by his fingertips. The seemingly impossible wasn’t to follow, and Hall soon wrapped up the two racks he required to take a tremendous 11-3 victory over Burford to take his maiden main event win at a GB9 event.
The first ever GB9 UK Open kicked off less than 24 hours after the completion of the final ranking event of the season, and many players disappointed with their finishing positions in the British Grand Prix were looking to make amends here. Many of the tour regulars, including some new faces, were eager to get going and pave their way to the final. However, it was two British faces – Mick Hill and Phil Burford – which were to compete in the final showdown of 2013. The format for this competition was slightly different to other events of the season; races to 10 on the winners side and from the last 32 onwards, races to 9 throughout the one-loss side and winner breaks in all matches. This format was sure to be a hit with the professionals, and so it appeared as the match unfolded.
Hill's route to the final started in the most peculiar of ways: he suffered a heavy defeat. Scotland's Michael Valentine was in inspired form, putting in four break and runs in beating Hill 10 racks to 2 and leaving him with a one-loss match against Nottingham's Dave Hopkin. Hill found some better form here in winning 9-3 and setting up a losers qualification match against Mark Parker. A high quality and close match was to follow as Hill made three break and runs in making his way to the last 32 and winning 9-7. Things didn't get any easier in his first two single knockout matches when he first came up against Davy Piergiovanni and then Darryn Walker. He took both men out by the same score line, with back to back 10-8 victories ensuring safe passage through to the quarter finals where he was due to meet Ben Buckley. Another gruelling counter followed as Hill defeated the Derby University student in a brilliant encounter by a score of 10-9 and set up a semi-final showdown against none other than Michael Valentine once again, his nemesis from the opening round of the tournament. The score line was completely different this time around – a close match with a different winner. A second consecutive victory on the hill saw Hill into his second final of the season with a brilliantly fought 10-9 win over the Scot.
Burford was looking to pick up where he left off in winning the British Grand Prix title just the previous say, but even his route to the final started in defeat. Italy’s Bruno Muratore saw his safe passage through to the winners’ qualification round with a gritty 10-9 win over the Locomotive. Eager to pick his form up, however, Burford ploughed his way through his two one-loss side matches by first defeating Bradley Parker 9-2 before following that up with a 9-4 win over Ian McCormick. He had to step his game up significantly to beat his next opponent – none other than fellow pro Chris Melling. Another classic tussle saw Burford come through victorious, winning 10 racks to 8 and heading into the last 16 to face GB9 debutant Zoltan Kojsza. An impressive first run came to an end for Kojsza as Burford progressed through to the final 8 with a well-deserved 10-4 win. As Mark Gray had done in the British Grand Prix, Phil Burford was to deny Shaun Storry in the last 8 once again. The Essex potter just count get over the second from last hurdle at either attempt during the two tournaments and succumbed to a heavy 10-1 defeat which saw Burford through to the semi-finals. His last opposition prior to the final was that of Russia’s Ruslan Chinahov in a match that Burford later described on Facebook as a ‘mental game’. After taking an incredible 9-0 lead, Chinahov edged his way back into the match to come within 2 at 9-7. Burford managed to stop the rot in the 17th rack, however, winning through 10 racks to 7 to set up a final with Hill.
That left two Englishmen, with three of the season’s five ranking event titles between them, to fight it out for the first ever UK Open crown. An undoubtedly high quality match was in store, and the fans were not let down. Burford was denied back to back crowns and what would have been his third GB9 title win of the season – Mick Hill saw through 11 racks to 7 to add the UK Open to his Paul Medati Trophy title won back in April. The former English 8-ball World Champion will surely look to this as a shot of confidence ready for the start of the 2014 GB9 season which commences in February.
