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GB9 Ball Tour 2009 Midlands Classic - Press Release
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Posted on Tuesday, January 20 2009 @ 09:03:37 GMTby admin
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The GB9 Midlands Classic
- also featuring the Solihull Challenge Cup & Pro Cup
Rileys American Pool and Snooker - Solihull
Hobs Moat Road
Solihull
West Midlands
B92 8JN
www.rileysltd.com
www.gb9balltour.com
Friday-Sunday 9-11 January 2009
The ceremonies kicked off with Imran Majid being presented with this truly magnificent
"2008 GB9 Player Of The Year" trophy for his incredible domination of the 2008 season.
The GB9 Ball Tour starts 2009 by praising 2008's Player Of The Year!
The GB9 Ball Tour is constantly receiving plaudits from it's players for the outstandingly professional manner in which it is run, and it's clear to see the unflagging effort that the organisers take to make sure that the events run as smoothly as a well oiled machine.
It could be expected that these tributes would be a rare thing when dealing with 128 discerning players who pay between £500 and £700 ($700 - $1,000US) a year membership fees for the privilege of playing on the tour, 96 of whom are attempting to qualify for promotion to the elite Pro Division of 32 players - and the proof that they are doing something very right and very well is that applications to join the tour have always been over-subscribed.
So it's heartening to see that they have decided to start the 2009 season with a hark-back to the previous one, by rewarding last year's stand out player with a truly beautiful trophy.
Imran Majid's domination of the tour in 2008, winning no less than four of the six main events put him at the top of the rankings with an unassailable points lead, and because of the rolling six event system utilised by the tour, each new event now means that he has to try to defend his maximum points at each of the events he won, knowing that even the slightest slip will see the rest of the pack closing the gap.
"Read More..." for further details!
Mark Gray presented with the GB9 Midlands Classic trophy by tour sponsor Klaus Zobrekis,
who travelled from Germany to represent his Z9 Billiard Cloth company at this event.
Mark Gray beats Daryl Peach in final of GB9 Midlands Classic!
The final of the GB9 Midlands Classic, the main event of this three day tournament, saw an out of sorts World 9 Ball Champion Daryl Peach convincingly beaten by a slick Mosconi Cup potting machine named Mark Gray with a one-sided 11-6 margin.
Both Peach and Gray hail from the same region of the country and are good friends off the table, and even teamed up as partners in Matchroom Sports "World Cup of Pool" event, and the match was played with good humour thoughout, despite Peach being on the receiving end of some particularly frustating rules, dutifully enforced by the GB9 Ball Tour referee Mel Harley.
The tour has adopted a 3 point rule for all breaks to force players to use skill and power on their break, and despite Peach sinking two balls on his well aimed thunderclap break, he was penalised with loss of turn after failing to gain a third point by getting another ball to pass the "head string".
Despite this, the rule is the same for both players and Gray, who also finished top of the European rankings last year, was a graceful and worthy winner as always, and even more pleased to take the title as his parent's had come to support him and had front row seats for the final.
Michael Valentine wins Solihull Pro Cup
Scotland's Valentine triumphs over reigning Ten Ball Champion Appleton!
Saturday evening saw the first two events played to completion - in the Pro Cup semi-finals Darren Appleton beat Imran Majid and Michael Valentine beat James Kay creating a mouth-watering Appleton vs Valentine final.
Appleton had only just returned from the Philippines where he had been getting plenty of match practice and went into the final as the strong favourite. However Valentine knew he had a tough match ahead, and as he has frequently shown before, he rises to the tougher challenges and often plays his best pool under those conditions - and this was the case today as he eventually beat Appleton 9:6.
Steven Petty overjoyed with Challenge triumph
Freshman beats veteran to take Challenge Division title!
Forty new faces appeared on the Challenge Tour and at the end of the season the top ranked player will earn promotion into the Pro Cup. One of these new players has made his mark by winning the Solihull Challenge Cup and is now well on his way to the top of the rankings.
The Challenge Division semi-finals saw Steven Petty beat Matt Ford and Anthony Ginn triumph over Gareth Steele setting up a Petty versus Ginn final.
Once again there appeared to be a strong favourite, and once again the tables were turned as experienced veteran Ginn was edged at the finish line with an 11:9 scoreline from fellow Londoner and GB9 newcomer Steven Petty.
GB9 Referee Mel Harley watching Michael Valentine at the GB9 Midlands Classic.
THE STATS
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | THE LAST 32 | Steven Petty | 9 : 7 | Imran Majid | Damian Overton | 9 : 7 | Kevin Uzzell | Adam Benn Smith | 9 : 4 | Andy Worthington | Karl Boyes | 9 : 8 | Gordon Bain | Michael Valentine | 9 : 1 | Gary Houstoun | Bradley Parker | 9 : 5 | Andy Nicholson | Phil Burford | 9 : 8 | Mike Rogers | Mark Gray | 9 : 2 | Paul Williams | Raj Hundal | 9 : 6 | Anthony Ginn | Stephen Capaldi | 9 : 7 | Tony Burton | Damian Massey | 9 : 3 | Jason Howard | Daryl Peach | 9 : 7 | Stewart Colclough | James Kay | 9 : 7 | Chris Cowie | Jonathan Mathers | 9 : 3 | David Walsh | Martin Chapman | 9 : 6 | Andy Appleton | Gareth Steele | 9 : 5 | Tony Southern |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | THE LAST 16 | Steven Petty | 9 : 8 | Damian Overton | Adam Benn Smith | 9 : 3 | Karl Boyes | Bradley Parker | 9 : 3 | Michael Valentine | Mark Gray | 9 : 7 | Phil Burford | Stephen Capaldi | 9 : 7 | Raj Hundal | Daryl Peach | 9 : 3 | Damian Massey | James Kay | 9 : 6 | Jonathan Mathers | Gareth Steele | 9 : 6 | Martin Chapman |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | THE QUARTER FINALS | Adam Benn Smith | 9 : 8 | Steve Petty | Mark Gray | 9 : 6 | Bradley Parker | Daryl Peach | 9 : 1 | Stephen Capaldi | James Kay | 9 : 5 | Gareth Steele |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | THE SEMI FINALS | Mark Gray | 9 : 6 | Adam Benn Smith | Daryl Peach | 9 : 5 | James Kay |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | THE FINAL | Mark Gray | 11 : 6 | Daryl Peach |
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THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE CHALLENGE CUP | THE LAST 32 | Gary Lewis | 9 : 8 | David Nelson | Martin Chapman | 9 : 7 | Glenn Winter | Gordon Bain | 9 : 6 | Philip Wildman | Steven Petty | 9 : 3 | Andrew Richardson | Matthew Ford | 9 : 6 | Clark Smith | David McCarthy | 9 : 6 | Andy Jeronimidis | James Welch | 9 : 8 | Paul Edwards | James Taylor | 9 : 7 | Kevin Simpson | Craig Dixon | 9 : 8 | Luke Rollison | Andrew Bucknall | 9 : 5 | Dan Lim | Niel Cummins | 9 : 4 | John Beesley | Gareth Steele | 9 : 2 | Adam Stevens | Ian West | 9 : 5 | Chris Stocker | Stephen Folan | 9 : 4 | Dan Moore | Anthony Ginn | 9 : 3 | Bartosz Czapki | Adam Benn Smith | 9 : 2 | Simon Gardner |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE CHALLENGE CUP | THE LAST 16 | Martin Chapman | 9 : 2 | Gary Lewis | Steven Petty | 9 : 5 | Gordon Bain | Matthew Ford | 9 : 6 | David McCarthy | James Welch | 9 : 8 | James Taylor | Craig Dixon | 9 : 5 | Andrew Bucknall | Gareth Steele | 9 : 0 | Neil Cummins | Ian West | 9 : 4 | Stephen Folan | Anthony Ginn | 9 : 7 | Adam Benn Smith |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE CHALLENGE CUP | THE QUARTER FINALS | Steven Petty | 9 : 7 | Martin Chapman | Matthew Ford | 9 : 3 | James Welch | Gareth Steele | 9 : 7 | Craig Dixon | Anthony Ginn | 9 : 8 | Ian West |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE CHALLENGE CUP | THE SEMI FINALS | Steven Petty | 9 : 8 | Matthew Ford | Anthony Ginn | 9 : 2 | Gareth Steele |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE CHALLENGE CUP | THE FINAL | Steven Petty | 11 : 9 | Anthony Ginn |
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THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE PRO CUP | THE LAST 32 | Darren Appleton | 9 : 0 | Ben Moore | Andy Worthington | 9 : 6 | Stewart Colclough | Mark Gray | 9 : 7 | Stephen Capaldi | Chris Cowie | 9 : 6 | Daryl Peach | Imran Majid | 9 : 7 | James Carney | Paul Williams | 9 : 7 | Tony Burton | Damian Overton | 9 : 2 | Jason Howard | David Walsh | 9 : 7 | Tony Drago | Karl Boyes | 9 : 7 | Chris Melling | Michale Valentine | 9 : 4 | Christopher Robson | Raj Hundal | 9 : 2 | Chris Buckmaster | Jonathan Mathers | 9 : 5 | Kevin Uzzell | James Kay | 9 : 5 | Andy Nicholson | Jayson Shaw | 9 : 7 | Bradley Parker | Alan Millership | 9 : 1 | Matt Hyden | Simon Widlo | 9 : 8 | Phil Burford |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE PRO CUP | THE LAST 16 | Darren Appleton | 9 : 3 | Andy Worthington | Mark Gray | 9 : 2 | Chris Cowie | Imran Majid | 9 : 3 | Paul Williams | Damian Overton | 9 : 5 | David Walsh | Michael Valentine | 9 : 7 | Karl Boyes | Raj Hundal | 9 : 4 | Jonathan Mathers | James Kay | 9 : 4 | Jayson Shaw | Simon Widlo | 9 : 8 | Alan Millership |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE PRO CUP | THE QUARTER FINALS | Darren Appleton | 9 : 6 | Mark Gray | Imran Majid | 9 : 8 | Damian Overton | Michael Valentine | 9 : 4 | Raj Hundal | James Kay | 9 : 5 | Simon Widlo |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE PRO CUP | THE SEMI FINALS | Darren Appleton | 9 : 4 | Imran Majid | Michael Valentine | 9 : 6 | James Kay |
THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC | THE PRO CUP | THE FINAL | Michael Valentine | 11 : 4 | Darren Appleton |
Updated Rankings
GB9 - Main | TOP 16 | 1 | I Majid |  | 2 | M Gray | | 3 | R Hundal | | 4 | D Appleton | | 5 | D Peach | | 6 | MValentine | | 7 | J Kay | | 8 | K Boyes | | 9 | D Massey | | 10 | P Burford | | 11 | J Mathers | | 12 | S Higgins | | 13 | A Worth'ton | | 14 | A B Smith | | 15 | D Overton | | 16 | B Parker | |
| GB9 - Challenge | TOP 16 | 1 | G Steele | | 2 | C Dixon | | 3 | A Appleton | | 4 | D Massey | | 5 | C Smith | | 6 | K Simpson | | 7 | S Folan | | 8 | J Cooper | | 9 | MChapman | | 10 | L Wilson | | 11 | N Jenkins | | 12 | M Ford | | 13 | P Edwards | | 14 | M Hughes | | 15 | S Petty | | 16 | D McCarthy | |
| GB9 - Pro | TOP 16 | 1 | D Appleton | | 2 | J Kay | | 3 | T Drago | | 4 | M Valentine | | 5 | K Boyes | | 6 | P Burford | | 7 | M Gray | | 8 | J Shaw | | 9 | I Majid | | 10 | K Uzzell | | 11 | R Hundal | | 12 | D Peach | | 13 | D Overton | | 14 | A Millership | | 15 | P Williams | | 16 | C Osbourne | |
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Full ranking details can be found here: http://www.gb9balltour.com/rankings.htm
Klaus Zobrekis from tour sponsor Z9 Billiard Cloth poses with GB9 Chairman Lee Rigby.
The GB9 Ball Tour is delighted to announce that Z9 Billiard Cloth has agreed to continue it's sponsorship of the tour for another season and is delighted that it's player's will be treated to the superior playing characteristics of Z9 Billiard Cloth at each of it's 6 events this year.
Z9 Billiard Cloth is a superior quality, high wool content cloth, noted for it's superb appearance and excellent playing qualities. Three years of research and development produced a cloth that is anti-pill, anti-bobble, and hard wearing, and it's unique fabrication process produces exceptional longevity whilst retaining it's sumptious good looks, providing economy via improved lifespan.
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