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The Road to St Albans - Event 3 from Total9Ball
Wickford Snooker and Sports Lounge
40-44 High Street
Wickford
Essex
SS12 9AT
www.wickfordsnookerandsportslounge.co.uk
www.total9ball.com

Sunday 19 October 2014

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Craig The Wizard of Os. Borne Takes another Total9Ball title

T9B presented Event 3 of the Sunday Golden Road to St. Albans Series at the Snooker & Pool Lounge at Wickford in Essex on Sunday 19th October.

With agreement of the players T9B decided to change the format of this event to our very popular 2x format to create more value for the players.

After entries were all paid in, the draw was completed by Kev Kelleher, Kev hasn't been seen at a 9ball event for a while but it was great to have him back playing. Kev's first match couldn't have been much harder as he drew himself against the in-form Tom Staveley, Kev only managed to take the one rack as the match ended 7v1 to Staveley. Paul McMichael made an impressive start to the event held at his local practice club beating Tashunka Schultz 7-5. Paul did well to comeback in this match from behind.

The most dangerous player as always and the player no one wants to draw 'Craig Osborne' also had a winning start, beating Joe Granville 7-4 it was nice to see Craig giving Joe some tips after the match to help improve his game.

Another player we haven't seen for a long time is Terry Arnold... Welcome back Terry. So who would Arnold be playing in his first event back? The answer was The Essexpanther Mark Parker in both sides of the draw. Mark eased to a 7-1 win in their first match as Terry struggled making the switch back to 9-Ball from snooker and 8-ball. He did however begin playing well in the second half of the draw as he got revenge in their second match, Mark battling back from 6-2 to 6-6 but Terry compiled a nice clearance to take the match.

Thanks to Dynamic Billard for sponsoring this event.

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Joe's Granvillew new tips from Craig Osborne nearly paid off as he gave Tom a run for his money but Tom prevailed 7-5 in the end.

As usual at the half way point of the event the popular "breakdish" took centre stage. The breakdish for this series has accumulated �290 over the 3 events played so far on Sundays. A nice �24 per ball and �50 extra for clearing up was announced by Mark Parker. The draw was made and it was Mark who was picked out first, he stepped up to the table confidently and he seemed to catch the pack perfectly, Mark however watched in horror as all the balls travelled quickly around the table but none dropped in!!! Then Tom Staveley was the last lucky player to make an attempt at this event for a reduced �5 per ball. As he broke, the cue ball arced and kicked into another ball which diverted the cue ball into the heart of the side pocket. Another unclaimed pot, Another ROLL OVER. The pot will be available at the next non Amateur series event and again sales will increase the prize.

Back to the main event. I bet Kev Kelleher couldn't believe his luck as he drew himself this time against Craig Osborne. Craig is so hard to beat Kev put up a fight but Craig got the better of him 7-3.

Paul McMichael was only one match away from cashing in both sides of the draw, he was on target for his best ever T9B result. However Paul came up short at the hands of Tom Staveley 7-4 and an improving Terry Arnold 7-3.

At this point Craig was roaring through the field as he took out Mark Parker 7-3. Tom Staveley however showed no fear of Craig in the next match as he raced away into a 6-0 lead, Craig wasn't done for yet though as onlookers watched one of the UK'S strongest pool talents complete dish after dish in quickfire style bringing Craig back to just one rack behind 6v5 could Tom get over the line after a brilliant comeback? Tom is mentally very strong and proved this by winning the next rack to advance 7v5.

So, the line up for the Semi Finals looked like this.

Tom Staveley vs Terry Arnold
Tom Staveley vs Craig Osborne

As you can see Staveley at this point was just two victories away from completing the double meaning he would collect the Winners and Runners up prize money.

He cruised away from Terry in the first match winning 7-3 as Terry's run came to an end. Terry commented after the match... 'I really enjoyed the event and was pleased to get in the prize money'.

So it was Tom vs Craig again for the 2nd time in the event and if it was anything like the first match, we were in for a treat. If Tom managed to defeat Craig for a second time then Tom would become only the 5th double champion. Tom's dreams were dashed very quickly as Craig pulled back the handicap fast, and when Craig took the lead he didn't look back, winning the match convincingly 7v6

THE FINAL: Tom vs Craig for the 3rd time!!!
The Final began much the same as the Semi-Final clash as Craig flew out of the traps Tom made a few mistakes and in the blink of an eye the match was level. When playing Osborne, a good start is critical to put some pressure on. It got worse for Staveley as Craig cruised in to a 4-1 lead. Tom seemed to hit a bit of form again as he reduced Craig's lead to 4v3. Ever so good Osborne took three of the next four racks sealing yet another Total9Ball tournament win, adding more glassware to his collection 7-4. Craig has now improved his impressive season taking two out of the three Sunday Golden events so far staged.

We now have a few different seeded players for the Grand Final event held at St. Albans in December. Event 4 is still yet to come at High Wycombe in November, this event will complete the seedings and also remember anybody who has attended a Golden Sunday event will be invited to the Grand Finals.

The next Total9Ball Event is this coming Saturday (25th November) The event is already nearly filled and is the final event of this season's Amateur Series. There are a few players who need to attend this event to make the Grand Finals as it's a minimum of three event attendances to be eligible. So check the rankings at www.total9ball.com. The top 8 ranked players who have attended five events or more will be 1st seeds. The next 8 ranked players who have attended five or more events will be 2nd seeds, with all other players who have attended three events or more making up the draw. To enter this Saturday's event please text Phil on 07795535051 or Mark on 07764485711.

And remember to take a look at T9B's new website www.total9ball.com and become a member at a discounted rate of �20 for next year. Only 6 memberships available at this promo price with the fee increasing to �25 when the promo expires. Members save �5 on all entry fees for T9B events less than �75 to enter.

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