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 Tier II final in the Challenge Cup saw two players both relatively new to GB9, Chris Fraser and Dave Evans, do battle for the title. This tier was designed especially for players looking to develop their games whilst playing tournament standard pool, and these two players have shown their worth in taking their games to the next level.

 

Scotsman Fraser opened his account in the Challenge Cup with a 9-7 victory over London’s Paul Taylor, a result that saw him face Simon Gardner in the last 16. he stepped his game up a gear in dispatching of Gardner by 9 racks to 4. This put him into a quarter final match against Devon’s Jamie Graham. The two players couldn’t be much further apart in terms of residence, but the scoreline couldn’t have been much closer on the day, Fraser winning through once again by 9 racks to 7 and pitting him against Luke Rollison in the final four. It was another 9-4 scoreline that saw Fraser past the finishing post and into his first ever major final on the GB 9 Ball Tour.

 

Evans opened up his campaign against namesake Dave Simmonds in the first round, himself another long time servant of the tour. Evans came out on top by 9 racks to 5 to have him face Joni Holden in the round of 16. Both players served up an excellent match, but Evans came home winner 9-7 to book a place in the quarter final. Here he faced GB9 Chairperson Andy Warden, himself in his best ever finish at a GB9 event, but the Chair was dethroned in a match that Evans won by 9 racks to 6. In the semi-finals he faced Aslam Abubaker, who must be given credit for becoming the first wheelchair player ever to make the semi-finals in any GB9 competition.

His dream run was brought to an end by Evans, however, and Evans took the match 9-5 to secure his place in what was also his maiden final.

With both players fired up for the first ever GB9 final, a close scoreline was expected. However, Fraser stepped his game up another gear to win his first title on the GB 9 Ball Tour, winning the final by 9 racks to 2.