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The 2011 GB9 Northern Masters, Pro Cup III, & Challenge Cup III
Barcel� Daventry Hotel
Sedgemoor Way
Daventry
Northamptonshire
NN11 0SG
United Kingdom
www.gb9balltour.com
www.belleza-photography.co.uk

Friday/Saturday/Sunday 5-7 August 2011

2011 GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS, PRO CUP III, CHALLENGE CUP III

The 2011 edition of the Northern Masters has concluded with Craig Osborne, Tony Drago and Shaun Storry reigning supreme in the weekend's three competitions. This was the second of the three quick fire events in the GB9 calendar, and players were expecting to be fresh from the Paul Medati Trophy back in June. Knowing that the Southern Masters is less than four weeks away itself, every one of the 144 players was looking to pick up a head of steam that they can keep up as the season starts to take some real shape.

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TORNADO WREAKS HAVOC IN PRO CUP

The third Pro Cup final of the season was contested between Karl Boyes and Tony Drago - a terrific matchup of two of the most clinical and fast-paced 9-ball players on the planet. Boyes' pathway to the final began with a relatively routine 9-4 win over Luke Rollison. Good friend Scott Higgins was the next victim, but it was at this stage the going got tougher. 9-6 was the score line in that match, with Craig Osborne going down in the quarter finals 9 racks to 7. Imran Majid, a player so used to playing in GB9 finals, couldn't quite put another one onto his CV as he succumbed 9-6 to Guapo. Drago's attitude to the competition, just as any competition he enters requiring the use of a cue, was to simply pot balls and virtually fly around the table. His route was a little simpler to start with, needing just 81 minutes over the course of two matches to dispose of Paul Williams 9-1 and June�s Paul Medati Trophy winner Chris Melling 9-4. He nearly came unstuck in both the quarters and semis, with Daryl Peach falling in the former 9 racks to 8. The loser of the latter was Jayson Shaw and, although he was defeated in a last rack thriller himself, the whole seventeen racks in the match were completed in an almost ridiculous 45 minutes � more than three times quicker than the slowest match in the competition between Martyn Royce and Mark Collins. Throughout his matches, even in the hill-hill encounters, he lived up to his Tornado nickname; the final itself was no different and, despite recording another victorious score line of 9-6 in the match, he managed to wrap up the title in a blisteringly quick 48 minute battle. He pocketed the �800 and the gold medal for his incredibly speedy exploits - not bad for a player finding time to attend Daventry in an increasingly busy snooker calendar.

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE PRO CUP
THE LAST 32
Stewart Colclough	9 : 1	David Carter
Ben Finch	9 : 7	Dave Nelson
Michael Valentine	w / o	Paul Stoves
Craig Osborne	9 : 6	Andy Barnett
Stuart Pettman	9 : 3	Alan Coton
Scott Higgins	9 : 3	Gary Bullocke
Karl Boyes	9 : 4	Luke Rollison
Shane Appleton	9 : 3	Matthew Ford
Tony Drago	9 : 1	Paul Williams
Chris Melling	9 : 5	Mark Gray
James Kay	9 : 4	Brett Armer
Jonathan Mathers	9 : 8	Adam Shaw
Martyn Royce	9 : 7	Mark Collins

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE PRO CUP
THE LAST 16
Imran Majid	9 : 5	Stewart Colclough
Ben Finch	9 : 4	Michael Valentine
Craig Osborne	9 : 3	Stuart Pettman
Karl Boyes	9 : 6	Scott Higgins
Daryl Peach	9 : 4	Shane Appleton
Tony Drago	9 : 4	Chris Melling
James Kay	9 : 7	Jonathan Mathers
Jayson Shaw	9 : 5	Martyn Royce

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE PRO CUP
THE QUARTER FINALS
Imran Majid	9 : 2	Ben Finch
Karl Boyes	9 : 7	Craig Osborne
Tony Drago	9 : 8	Daryl Peach
Jayson Shaw	9 : 2	James Kay

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE PRO CUP
THE SEMI FINALS
Karl Boyes	9 : 6	Imran Majid
Tony Drago	9 : 8	Jayson Shaw

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE PRO CUP
THE FINAL
Tony Drago	9 : 6	Karl Boyes

THE GREATEST STORRY EVER TOLD

The Challenge Cup was once again contested by two players never to have made a GB9 final before. Derby's Jack Whelan is a relatively new convert to the sport of 9-ball, but anybody watching his gutsy performances throughout the weekend would see he is somewhat of a seasoned player already.

His first victim was Gravesend's Scott Foley 9-7, followed up with a 9-6 last 32 victory against Chris Hall. Remarkably he recorded his most comfortable score line against March's Challenge Cup winner Damian Massey with a 9 racks to 4 victory. He struggled his way through his quarter final against Jason Howard by coming through on the hill and, in securing his berth in the final, he managed to make it back to back 9-8 victories with a triumph against Craig Dixon.

Shaun Storry really showed his worth back in the Paul Medati Trophy main event back in June, with only a gut-wrenching 9-8 defeat in the last 16 at the hands of Michael Valentine halting his run. He came to Daventry this time around as one of the favourites for the gold medal, and started his campaign with a convincing 9-3 win against Dylan Thomas. New practice partner and good friend Phil Morgan was his next challenge, but saw this off with a 9-6 win. Tour stalwart Chris Buckmaster was next to bite the dust succumbing to a 9-4 defeat, before Craig Waddingham's impressive run came to a halt in the quarter finals with a 9-8 loss. In a strange twist, Storry also managed to take out the other Challenge Cup winner from this season, with Mathew Lawrenson falling short of his second successive Challenge final in losing 9-6. In the final itself, Storry stormed into a 5-0 lead. Whelan rightly took a timeout at this stage and, after winning eight of the next ten racks to go within one of the title at 8-7, Storry managed to find the same grit needed throughout the competition, pegging back to hill-hill before Whelan broke dry in the decider and left the table wide open for Storry to see out the win by 9 racks to 8. He wins the gold medal and �800 for his efforts, along with 14 ranking points to take him to an all time high Challenge ranking of 2nd; surely now a strong candidate promotion to the elite Pro Cup next season.

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE CHALLENGE CUP
THE LAST 32
Andrew Morris	9 : 1	Adam Stevens
Jason Howard	9 : 6	Neil Craycraft
Damian Massey	9 : 2	Mark Lunn
Jack Whelan	9 : 6	Chris Hall
Craig Dixon	9 : 8	Gordan Bain
Richard Lacey	9 : 5	Dave Simmonds
Neil Margossian	9 : 7	Michael Brisley
Andy Lester	9 : 7	Mark Singleton
Chris Buckmaster	9 : 7	Oliver Ruuger
Shaun Storry	9 : 6	Philip Morgan
Glenn Cooney	9 : 4	Sam Hirst
Craig Waddingham	9 : 3	Anthony Illingworth
Louis Clarke	9 : 2	James Topliff
Arfan Dad	9 : 4	Liam Waterworth
Dean Reeve	9 : 5	Mark Hughes
Mathew Lawrenson	9 : 8	Paul Wensley

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE CHALLENGE CUP
THE LAST 16
Jason Howard	9 : 4	Andrew Morris
Jack Whelan	9 : 4	Damian Massey
Craig Dixon	9 : 7	Richard Lacey
Neil Margossian	9 : 4	Andy Lester
Shaun Storry	9 : 4	Chris Buckmaster
Craig Waddington	9 : 3	Glenn Cooney
Louis Clarke	9 : 7	Arfan Dad
Mathew Lawerenson	9 : 4	Dean Reeve

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE CHALLENGE CUP
THE QUARTER FINALS
Jack Whelan	9 : 8	Jason Howard
Craig Dixon	9 : 7	Neil Margossian
Shaun Storry	9 : 8	Craig Waddington
Mathew Lawrenson	9 : 2	Louis Clarke

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE CHALLENGE CUP
THE SEMI FINALS
Jack Whelan	9 : 8	Craig Dixon
Shaun Storry	9 : 6	Mathew Lawrenson

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE CHALLENGE CUP
THE FINAL
Shaun Storry	9 : 8	Jack Whelan

BLACK SABBATH FOR MAHARAJA AS OZZY ROCKS TO VICTORY

Two of Karl Boyes' victims in his Pro Cup campaign were to meet ultimately for the title of 2011 Northern Masters champion in the weekend's main event. Quarter final loser Craig Osborne and semi final loser Imran Majid were the two players who battled through the 144 man field to reach the showdown at sunset on Sunday evening. Ozzy's campaign began with a last 64 clash and an easy 9-2 victory over Sam Thistlewhite. Craig Waddingham and Mathew Lawrenson can both make the very rare and unfortunate claim of being knocked out of both their divisional and main events by the eventual winner of the respective competitions; in this instance it was respective 9-5 and 9-6 defeats which saw Osborne through to the quarter finals. There he faced Scott Higgins in a bruising encounter, ultimately coming out on top by 9 racks to 7. His path to the final was completed after the run of Rugby local Andy Barnett came to an end, with a 9-2 win showing his opponent in the final that he was ready for anything. What he didn't bargain for, however, was coming up against a player so used to playing in GB9 finals that his nameplate might as well stay permanently fixed onto Table 1.

Imran Majid's campaign saw him start as the number 1 seed, and with 9-4 and 9-2 defeats of James Taylor and Finlay Laing he showed all and sundry why he's top of the GB9 tree. His ruthless form continued in the last 16, ending the brave run of Penzance's Robin Cripps with a 9-1 demolition job. Another brave run came to an end in the next round; Reading's Phil Wildman, responsible for dumping Pro Cup finalist Karl Boyes out of the competition in the previous round with a stunning 9-4 score line, was put to the sword by Majid with a 9-4 defeat of his own to come to terms with. The final man standing in Majid's way was Glasgow's powerhouse Jayson Shaw. A run to the semi-finals of the Pro Cup was emulated in the main event, and with Majid coming through 9-7 he set up a mouth-watering clash with Osborne. After Osborne took an early lead, both players took their timeouts. This seemed to rejuvenate Majid who managed to keep up with Osborne right until the end, but it was Osborne who managed to hold on for the victory. Where both main event finals have seen all 21 racks played so far this season, Osborne managed to keep a rack in hand in wrapping the tournament up with a gritty 11-9 win over the British number 1.

The win sees Osborne rise to a career high of British number 2, and few would doubt his credentials and potential of perhaps dethroning Imran Majid as the king amongst the staggering group of players coming through into British 9-ball.

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT
THE LAST 32
Imran Majid	9 : 2	Finlay Laing
Robin Cripps	9 : 4	Andrew Morris
Phillip Wildman	9 : 4	Andy Croasdale
Karl Boyes	9 : 1	Arfan Dad
Jayson Shaw	9 : 5	Andrew Appleton
Stewart Colclough	9 : 4	Gary Bullocke
Damian Massey	9 : 6	Dominic Clemmens
Tony Drago	9 : 3	Mark Lunn
Craig Osborne	9 : 5	Craig Waddingham
Mathew Lawrenson	9 : 5	Glenn Cooney
Michael Valentine	9 : 1	Shaun Storry
Scott Higgins	9 : 2	Daryl Peach
Andy Barnett	9 : 7	James Kay
Luke Rollison	9 : 5	Matthew Ford
Sam Hirst	9 : 8	Dave Nelson
Ben Finch	9 : 4	Chris Melling

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT
THE LAST 16
Imran Majid	9 : 1	Robin Cripps
Phillip Wildman	9 : 3	Karl Boyes
Jayson Shaw	9 : 6	Stewart Colclough
Damian Massey	9 : 7	Tony Drago
Craig Osborne	9 : 6	Mathew Lawrenson
Scott Higgins	9 : 8	Michael Valentine
Andy Barnett	9 : 5	Luke Rollison
Sam Hirst	9 : 7	Ben Finch

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT
THE QUARTER FINALS
Imran Majid	9 : 4	Phillip Wildman
Jayson Shaw	9 : 6	Damian Massey
Craig Osborne	9 : 7	Scott Higgins
Andy Barnett	9 : 6	Sam Hirst

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT
THE SEMI FINALS
Imran Majid	9 : 7	Jayson Shaw
Craig Osborne	9 : 2	Andy Barnett

THE GB9 NORTHERN MASTERS
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT
THE FINAL
Craig Osborne	11 : 9	Imran Majid

Osborne, Majid and the vast pool of talent that Britain has to offer in this sport will return for the Southern Masters competition in just three weekends time - the shortest space of time between two GB9 events in the tour's four year history. Players will expect to still be in red hot form and, with over half the season now completed, time is running out for players to grab themselves ranking points for the all important end of season rankings.

In 2011 GB9 is proudly sponsored by Barcel� Hotels, SAM Leisure, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Billiard Balls and CueClubInternational.com making the perfect combination of the very best equipment in the most outstanding venues.

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