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The 2012 GB9 Midlands Classic, Pro Cup I, & Challenge Cup I
Barcel� Daventry Hotel
Sedgemoor Way
Daventry
Northamptonshire
NN11 0SG
United Kingdom
www.gb9balltour.com
www.belleza-photography.co.uk

Friday/Saturday/Sunday 24-26 February 2012

Chipperfield, Shaw & Waddingham - Main, Pro & Challenge winners.
Photography courtesy & copyright of �Andrew Warden, www.belleza-photography.co.uk
CHIPPER BEATS THE FIELD FOR MAIDEN VICTORY

The final of this year�s Midlands Classic pitted two players together with entirely different background � one perennial face on the GB 9 Ball Tour in Manchester�s James Kay, alongside a relative newcomer to the sport in Norwich�s Shaun Chipperfield. Both players were seeded inside the top 32 coming into this event and so started their campaigns in the last 64.

Given the drama in the opening two competitions, every single player was eager to hit the ground running and push on in the main event, with once again some staggering results coming throughout the two days� play. As with Paul Taylor in the Challenge Cup against Mark Shepherd, Shaun Storry secured one of the biggest wins ever seen on the tour, coming back from 8-2 down to eliminate Challenge Cup champion Craig Waddingham 9 racks to 8.

Waddingham explained after the match that there�s very little he could have done to stop defeat. �I missed one ball in the whole match. It was my break that let me down I gave Shaun too many chances after them and ultimately that cost me dearly�.

Kay�s route to the final started in the best possible way, handing Tom Staveley a donut with a convincing 9-0. His next two triumphs were much more challenging, but he came through a thrilling 9-8 encounter against Belfast�s Mark McDonald before eliminating Adam Benn Smith 9 racks to 6 to reach the quarter finals. Waiting for him there was the daunting prospect of British number 1 Imran Majid, but a cool and collected Kay held his nerve to pull of a tremendous 9-7 victory and send the Londoner home. After taking out one of the most feared names on the tour, he then came up against another one at the semi-final stage in the form of Daryl Peach. The fact that each of the four opening racks resulted in break and runs showed the class both players showed to get to this stage. It was Kay who made it to the finish line first, however, with a final score of 9-8 ending a match of remendous quality and ensuring Kay of his first GB9 final since The Paul Medati Trophy in April 2010.

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GB9 Midlands Classic Main Event Winner Shaun Chipperfield.
Photograph �Andrew Warden/Belleza Photography.
Chipperfield has, in a relatively short time, found himself as one of the most feared names in this season�s Challenge division, and it�s those same kind of players he had to despatch in his opening four matches on his route to the final. One of the best in the south west in the form of Gary Bullocke was his first victim � slightly more convincing 9-5 score line ensured he continued his charge towards the last 16. He went one rack better in eliminating Chris Hall 9 racks to 4 before taking out Chris Buckmaster in another gruelling 9-7 match to book a mouth-watering showdown against world number 7 Darren Appleton. Chipperfield came flying out of the blocks and meant that Appleton couldn�t light the dynamite and end the Norfolk man�s route to the final. With four break and runs to his name come the end, a quite brilliant 9-5 victory put Chipperfield into his maiden GB9 final.

Neither player gave each other an inch in the final � at only one stage in the whole match did either player lead the other by more than a single rack. In amongst the balls, however, Chipperfield really was unstoppable, and his breaking was simply second to none. Kay threw absolutely everything he had at Chipperfield but it didn�t bring rewards with it, with Shaun taking the match 11 racks to 10. He wins the �2,000 top prize for his efforts, the coveted gold medal and, perhaps most important of all, becomes the first player in GB9 history to win a main event from the hallenge division � an amazing effort.

�I�m shocked to have won a tournament and to have beaten such great players on the way�, said the new Midlands Classic champion. �I�m new to the game but I think I�ve finally found the right one having given snooker a try. GB9 is certainly up there with the best tours and tournaments I�ve been involved with � given how it�s organised and run it�s very professional and the tour itself will grow in the next few years. With so many good players currently on the tour it can only get better and stronger.�

2012 GB9 Midlands Classic Pro Event Winner Jayson Shaw.
Photograph �Andrew Warden/Belleza Photography.

WIZARD LEAVES SHOTGUN SPELLBOUND AGAIN
Jayson Shaw and Craig Osborne made their way each into yet another final in the first Pro Cup of the season. With the newly revamped double-elimination 16-man field coming into effect in the competition, the field truly has become an elite group of the finest 9-ball players Great Britain has to offer.

Picking up where he left off after his British Grand Prix victory back in November, Shaw�s first victory of the season came over good friend Chris Melling. Nothing short of a top draw match was in order, with Shaw coming away 9-5 victor. In his winners bracket match he came up against Chris Hall, being pushed all the way to the hill before qualifiying for the quarter finals with a 9-8 win. the curiousities of the draw meant a rematch with Melling came next. It was a case of different result, same winner, as Shaw came through another hill-hill battle on top to make the semi-finals. His third consecutive hill-hill match came in the form of Daryl Peach and once again it was Shaw who came out on top to make his second straight GB9 final.

Osborne made slightly harder work on his way to the final, but still showed the quirky style of grit and finesse we�ve grown to love with Ozzy. His opening match against Pro Cup returnee Damian Massey was a real grinder, but he came through 9-8 to set up a winners� bracket match with Daryl Peach. The wheels temporarily fell right of the Ozzy bandwagon and a 9-3 victory for Peach meant Osborne went into the losers� bracket. A steady 9-6 victory over Karl Boyes saw him find his feet again and set up a quarter-final against James Kay. He came through that match 9-7 to set up a semi-final against Michael Valentine, a match which finished with the same scoreline and the same winner, sending Osborne through to yet another final.

Good friends off of the table, these two are nothing short of nemeses when playing against one another � a quality final was guaranteed for all the spectators. Perhaps surprisingly, therefore, the margin of victory in the final was the largest of any match in the whole competition: it was Shaw who kept up his unbeaten record against Osborne with a crushing 9-2 scoreline to take his first gold medal of the season along with the �1,000 winners cheque.

GB9 Midlands Classic Challenge Event Winner Craig Waddingham.
Photograph �Andrew Warden/Belleza Photography.

RHODES LEAD TO SILVER AS WADDINGHAM TAKES GOLD
A combination of gritty, gutsy pool combined with the likes of Phil Burford and Mark Gray playing in the Challenge division this season will ensure that the quality of cueing on show really does prove this to be the toughest ever field in this division.

Noteworthy results came from the very beginning, with new qualifier Steve Sears taking a dream 9-8 victory over Mark Gray in his very first match. Surely the other highlight amongst the results was Paul Taylor�s tremendous comeback against Mark Shepherd, finding himself 8-2 but going on to win the match 9 racks to 8. In what can now only be described as a brutally difficult field, it was November�s Challenge Cup finalist Craig Waddingham and former snooker professional Michael Rhodes who took to the floor in the first Challenge Cup final of 2012.

Waddingham was in high spirits coming into the event having come off the back of a runner-up spot in the final Challenge Cup event of last season. Kicking oni from where he left off, he neatly knocked out Mark McDonald and Adam Stevens by respective scorelines 9-3 and 9-5 to set up a last 16 encounter with Aslam Abubaker. GB9′s leading wheelchair player couldn�t quite carry on his excellent form, however, and Waddingham took another 9-3 victory to secure his place in the quarter-finals. Here, in one of the best matches of the entire weekend, Waddingham saw off Jack Whelan by 9 racks to 7, with each player contributing FOUR break and runs to the match � a staggering achievement for a Challenge division match. His semi final against Glenn Cooney was a slightly more grinding affair, but a comfortable 9-4 finish saw Waddingham through to his second consecutive Challenge Cup final.

As a newcomer to the tour, Michael Rhodes had to endure an extra round to Waddingham on his road to the final. He made short work of Nathan James, however, with a 9-4 victory of his own ensuring progress to the last 64. Michael Brisley was the next to succumb to the County Durham cueist, leaving the tournament 9-6 before Penzance�s Robin Cripps bit the dust � a futher 9-4 defeat ensuring the Cornishman left the competition and Rhodes progressed to the last 16. Jamie Yates, another GB9 debutant at the weekend, was the next victim of Rhodes. A gallant 9-7 defeat wasn�t enough to keep Yates in the competition and Rhodes progressed onwards to a 9-4 victory against Kevin Simpson. Awaiting the County Durham shooter in the semi-finals was last year�s September Challenge CUp champion Eric Dockerty, eager to make it into a second final in three attempts. His efforts were in vain, however, and a 9-6 saw himself just 9 racks away from the perfect start to his GB9 career.

The final, however, was a perhaps surprisingly comfortable one for Waddingham. Despite having quite a run against the balls, Rhodes fought gallantly but couldn�t stop Waddingham from charging towards the top of the Challenge rankings with a 9-4 victory in the final. The victory earns the man from Scunthorpe the �800 winner�s purse and the first gold medal of the Challenge season.

In 2012 GB9 is proudly sponsored by Barcel� Hotels, SAM Leisure, Simonis Cloth,
Aramith Billiard Balls and Power Bridge which together make the perfect combination
of the very best equipment in the most outstanding venues.

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