A two-time event winner on last season’s inaugural Supreme Pool Series, reigning BI World Champion Scott Gillespie begins his Liberty Games Open campaign against Clint I’Anson in an opening round blockbuster on Friday.
Held at the Players Pool and Snooker Lounge near Stoke-on-Trent, the competition is the curtain raiser to this year’s prestigious five-event Supreme Pool Series that brings together top, multi-disciplined English 8-Ball players from across the world. Entries from the UK, Europe, Africa and even Australia will have their eyes on the title and a lucrative £5,000 top prize payday come Sunday evening.
Scotland’s Gillespie made history in 2018 when he claimed the first ever SPS event. He will be hoping to repeat his success of making a fast start to a new term this weekend, although he faces the unenviable task of multiple major tournament winner I'Anson first up in a preliminary round tie.
Pre-tournament favourite Phil Harrison also secured a double of SPS titles last year – winning the back-to-back Strachan Open and Supreme Masters during the summer months. One of several current or former world title holders on display this year, Harrison looks set to cross cues with 2017 IPA World Champion Craig Marsh in the first round proper.
Number 1 ranked player Liam Dunster, who claimed last season’s concluding Grand Final and walked off with a record-breaking cheque of £51,000, will start the defence of his pole position against the rapid Darren McVicar.
Former professional snooker player and 2010 Shanghai Masters finalist Jamie Burnett has signed up to the series, and he too is on duty early doors when up against another promising youngster in Kian Monaghan. An entrant who has made an even bigger commitment is Australia’s Jake McCartney, whose thirst for premier level pool will be quenched in this unique, pressure environment. McCartney plays Scott Crawley Friday lunchtime.
Following the success of their introduction at the Grand Final last December, the series makes a full transition to Supreme Rules throughout this year. Format-wise, the 2019 Liberty Games Open features an initial double-elimination qualifying portion where eight will emerge undefeated, whilst another eight will come through the ‘Losers’ Side’ to join them. From the last 16 onwards the tournament becomes straight knockout.
You can catch free, live action of the 2019 Liberty Games Open courtesy of Beard Productions on YouTube across all three days. Starting Friday at 12.30GMT, four tables from each session will be streamed simultaneously.
Scott Gillespie (Photo courtesy of Supreme Pool Series)
Scott Gillespie returned to winning ways on the Supreme Pool Series with victory at the 2018 K8.com Classic last weekend.
The talented Scottish cueist won the season opening Jason Owen Open in May, but after early exits in the following two competitions on the SPS circuit, Gillespie has quickly reminded the English 8-Ball world why he is one of the best around.
Gillespie qualified unscathed for the knockouts after coming through an ultra tough section of the draw. In a blockbuster first round tie he got the better of Phil Harrison 11-6; the only other player to have triumphed on the series so far.
He then ousted 2016 IPA World Champion Gareth Hibbott via a deciding frame, 11-10, and saw off two-times former WEPF World Junior Champion Jordan Church, 11-7. Securing his berth in the Last 16, the World Cup of Pool selection defeated Northern Irish rising star Declan Brennan, 11-7.
The random draw for the KOs drew Gillespie and Brennan together again – it was the former who would repeat the prescription, but with a different dose of 11-8.
Enjoying his best run in the series so far, the dangerous Craig Waddingham was eliminated 11-7 in the Quarter-Finals, whilst fellow countryman and the winner of multiple titles in recent years, Mark Boyle, was comprehensively dispatched 11-3 in the Semis.
Gillespie's opponent in the final was England's Shaun Storry, who had produced a string of impressive results on route.
Just like his rival in the final, Storry had advanced through the long weekend undefeated – it would be the first time on the series this year that both finalists came from the winners' section. Among those who lost to Storry included Hibbott (11-9) in the Last 16 and pre-tournament favourite Mick Hill (11-7) in the Last 8, a result that Storry described as the biggest win of his life on Social Media.
Despite having been priced up as 40/1 before a ball was struck, Storry had already been a champion at the Players Pool and Snooker Lounge venue when he claimed the Players Amateur Challenge in the spring of 2017.
However, his memorable run and ambition of a second title there was denied by Gillespie, who won the final 11-7 to become the 2018 K8.com Classic Champion, taking the trophy and £5,000 home as rewards.
Elsewhere in the 128 player entry event, winner of the Strachan Cup and Supreme Masters over the summer, Harrison's bid for an unprecedented hat-trick was closed early. After his opening round loss to Gillespie, the former World Champion was unable to re-create the heroics he produced during August and succumbed via the earliest avenue on the losers' side when he lost to Lee Clough in a decider.
Finalist at events 1 and 2, Liam Dunster's stay in Newcastle-under-Lyme was also brought to a close by Clough in a deciding frame during the Losers' Round 3.
Reigning World Masters Champion Callum Singleton make his mark on the series by reaching the Last 4 before going out to Storry. In the previous round he pipped former back-to-back WEPF World Champion Tom Cousins, 11-10.
Ronan McCarthy and Marc Farnsworth, two of the sport's most consistent performers, both qualified for the single elimination portion again. They lost in the Last 16 to Singleton (11-7) and Hill (11-10), respectively.
Attention on the Supreme Pool Series now turns to the climax of the season; the record-breaking Home Leisure Direct Grand Finals. Taking place between the 30th November to the 2nd December, the event boasts a top prize of £51,000 – the largest amount in English 8-Ball tournament history.
2018 Supreme Pool Series – Event 4, the K8.com Classic
Phil Harrison recorded one of the greatest tournament victories in the history of English 8 Ball Pool when he became the 2018 Supreme Masters Champion last weekend.
Contested at the renowned Players Pool and Snooker Lounge, the tournament was the third leg of this year's ground-breaking Supreme Pool Series which sees competitors from both rule sets, and the UK and beyond, crossing cues for a £152,250 total prize fund.
Already regarded as one of the sport's all-time legends, Harrison added another significant entry to his illustrious bio and boosted his popularity once again with the quiet and classy way he went about his business throughout.
Fresh from claiming last month's Strachan Cup, an exceptional brace of consecutive victories on the series looked like a forlorn ambition for Harrison when Darrell Whitworth caused an upset by defeating him 11-6 in the First Round.
Despite this early setback that pushed him to the very start of the Losers' Section, the former WEPF World Champion embarked on tackling a gauntlet of high profile names in order to get back on track. 44-year-old Harrison eliminated Tony Halpin, Ronan McCarthy, Zak Shepherd, Darren Appleton, Chris Melling and then Clint I'Anson just to qualify for the Last 16 Knock-Outs where the competition was effectively re-set.
Now back on a level footing with everyone else remaining, the Cambridgeshire cueist defeated current IPA Premier League leader Neil Raybone 11-6 and then IPA professional Drew Hughes 11-5 to reach the Last 4.
Max Nosko was enjoying a memorable run in Newcastle-Under-Lyme and had already secured the additional 'Best Non-Elite' prize after walloping 2015 IPA World Champion Jack Whelan 11-1 in the Quarters. The Bristolian's hopes were extinguished, though, by the eventual champion, 11-6.
Harrison's opponent in the final was none other than the reigning and five-times WEPF World Champion Mick Hill, who was once again the pre-tournament favourite.
Despite suffering from a neck injury which was clearly visible during his opening fixture on the main arena table, Hill won four straight matches to serenely qualify for the Last 16 undefeated.
During the Knock-Outs Craig Lakin held Hill at 8-8 before the latter pulled away with the last three frames. Further big name rivals in the form of Shaun Chipperfield and Marc Farnsworth would await Hill in the Quarters and Semis, but respective 11-6 and 11-5 scorelines saw off the danger.
Arguably the top two English 8 Ball players in the world today, the finalists would write another thrilling chapter into their ongoing saga. In recent head-to-heads Hill had denied Harrison in the 2017 and 2018 World Finals, but on his way to the Strachan Cup last month Harrison put on a clinic when he stopped Hill in the Semi-Finals.
In front of a live stream audience of thousands, predictably, the final was very high on quality with few unforced errors. The lead changed hands on several occasions and there was never more than two frames between them, but ultimately the pair found themselves locked at 10-10 and staring down a deciding frame with a difference of £8,000 in prize money and one of the most prestigious titles in the sport up for grabs.
Having won the lag around an hour and forty minutes earlier, Harrison split the pack well and crucially made balls off the break. He then proceeded by coolly holding his nerves together and converting a finish in the same one visit for a memorable victory.
Harrison was presented the beautiful trophy by tournament and series sponsor Laura Martin from Supreme Pool. He also banked a handsome £13,000 cheque, the largest amount, so far, to be awarded in English 8 Ball Pool this year.
When you regard Harrison's early disappointment on the Friday afternoon, the amount of, and standard of the players he faced subsequently, this is a remarkable achievement. You would be hard pushed to find a tougher and more grueling path to glory within the sport.
The 2018 Supreme Masters grabbed the imagination of the viewing public with live streaming of up to four tables on multiple platforms across the three days. On Facebook alone there have been a million reaches so far.
There are now just two more events of the campaign remaining – the K8.com Classic (28th-30th September) and the Home Leisure Direct Grand Finals (30th November – 2nd December) which holds a record-breaking £51,000 top prize.
