Rileys American Pool and Snooker - Stirling
57-59 Upper Craigs
Stirling
Stirling
FK8 2DT
www.scottish9ball.com
www.rileysltd.com
www.blackbottle.com
Saturday/Sunday 16-17 May 2009
Black Bottle SAPPA Tour Event 1 runner-up Scott Ross starts
running another rack in his semi final with Clark Smith.
Alexander Takes First SAPPA Title
Arbroath’s Greg Alexander won the first event of the 2009/10 Black Bottle Whisky SAPPA Scottish 9-Ball Tour, which took place at Riley’s Stirling, with an enthralling 10-8 victory over Scott Ross. A total of 55 players came along to test their skills in the new format event, and with the top 16 players seeded straight through to the Sunday, 39 players turned up on Saturday to play for one of the 16 spaces in the draw on Sunday where they would play for the prize fund of over £2,100.
The new format also saw the introduction of the alternate break system to the SAPPA Tour. The introduction of alternate breaks caused a fair amount of discussion both on the SAPPA Forum and at the event itself with players on both sides being vocal about their support for one system against the other.
"Read More..." for the details.
Day one brought few surprise results, with Perth’s Andy Cheuk recording the biggest shock of the day with his 7-4 victory over eventual finalist, and new EBA World Blackball Masters Champion, Scott Ross. At the end of the day, the 16 qualifiers were drawn randomly against the players in the top 16 to give us the matches for the last 32.
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA SCOTTISH 9-BALL TOUR | ||
EVENT NO. 1 | ||
THE LAST 32 (Losers - £30) | ||
Chris Pringle | 10 : 7 | Michael Valentine |
Scott Ross | 10 : 8 | Chris Cowie |
Jayson Shaw | 10 : 2 | Chris Fraser |
Adam Smith | 10 : 1 | Tam Walkinshaw |
Clark Smith | 10 : 6 | Achilleas Chatzitheocharis |
Ian Mackintosh | 10 : 3 | Peter McLanachan |
Fraser Patrick | 10 : 9 | Derek Easton |
Davy Jack | 10 : 5 | Lee Marshall |
Greg Alexander | 10 : 9 | Gordon Bain |
Tam Talent | 10 : F | Iain Greenshields |
Alan Reynolds | 10 : F | Billy Edmond |
Gary Houstoun | 10 : 6 | Darren Murray |
Andy Morris | 10 : 6 | Ryan Davie |
Stuart McPhee | 10 : 6 | Craig Blackstock |
Cameron Bowes | 10 : 8 | Tomasz Waliszewski |
Pat Holtz | 10 : 8 | Remi |
When the draw was made, two matches stood out from the crowd. Scott Ross v Chris Cowie and Chris Fraser v Jayson Shaw. While the Ross v Cowie encounter was a tight affair ending in a 10-8 victory to Ross, the Fraser v Shaw match turned into a potting display from Shaw as he moved easily into the last 16 by 10 racks to 2. The stand-out result from the last 32, however, was the loss by Scotland’s number 2 Michael Valentine to Edinburgh’s number one, Chris Pringle by 10 racks to 7 in a match that could easily have gone either way.
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA SCOTTISH 9-BALL TOUR | ||
EVENT NO. 1 | ||
THE LAST 16 (Losers - £60) | ||
Scott Ross | 10 : 7 | Chris Pringle |
Adam Smith | 10 : 5 | Jayson Shaw |
Clark Smith | 10 : 8 | Ian Mackintosh |
Fraser Patrick | 10 : 9 | Davy Jack |
Greg Alexander | 10 : 4 | Tam Talent |
Gary Houstoun | 10 : 7 | Alan Reynolds |
Stuart McPhee | 10 : 7 | Andy Morris |
Pat Holtz | 10 : 3 | Cameron Bowes |
Fraser Patrick’s match against Davy Jack went one way, then the other with Patrick being 8-2 and 9-3 up before Jack started a monumental fight back. Patrick, however, was not to be denied his place in the last 8 as he scrambled over the line to win 10-9. Another fight back of note was from Clark Smith who came from 6-2 down to win 10-8 over local player Ian Macintosh.
Pat Holtz breaks off in his Semi Final match against Greg Alexander
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA SCOTTISH 9-BALL TOUR | ||
EVENT NO. 1 | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS (Losers - £80) | ||
Scott Ross | 10 : 6 | Adam Smith |
Clark Smith | 10 : 8 | Fraser Patrick |
Greg Alexander | 10 : 4 | Gary Houstoun |
Pat Holtz | 10 : 5 | Stuart McPhee |
Of note in the quarter finals was the Patrick v Smith encounter which turned into a war of attrition due to a series of difficult table layouts after the breaks. This match looked destined to be another hill-hill encounter for Patrick before Smith managed to get over the line, winning 10-8.
Fraser Patrick nears the finish of another rack
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA SCOTTISH 9-BALL TOUR | ||
EVENT NO. 1 | ||
THE SEMI FINALS (Losers - £125) | ||
Scott Ross | 10 : 5 | Clark Smith |
Greg Alexander | 10 : 8 | Pat Holtz |
The Ross v Smith semi final match was, effectively decided by a missed 6-ball by Smith with the scores tied at 5 racks each. This one shot seemed to affect Smith’s concentration and he found himself unable to get back into the match, which Ross won 10-5. The Alexander v Holtz semi final was a much closer affair with no player being able to get too far ahead of the other. In the end, Alexander managed to get himself over the line and into his third SAPPA final.
Clark Smith breaking in his Quarter Final match against Fraser Patrick
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA SCOTTISH 9-BALL TOUR | ||
EVENT NO. 1 | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Greg Alexander | 10 : 8 | Scott Ross |
WINNER - £400 | PRIZE | RUNNER-UP - £200 |
The final was, again, a relatively close affair with no player getting too far ahead of the other during the match. At 8 racks each, it looked very much like the match was going to go the whole way but a dry break from Ross allowed Alexander to clear the table and then he broke and cleared the 18th rack to win the match and his first SAPPA Tour Event title.
Black Bottle SAPPA Tour Event 1 winner Greg Alexander (right) with Sarah Henderson, Duty Manager of Riley's Stirling and Tam Talent, SAPPA Tournament Director
SAPPA would like to thank Black Bottle Whisky, Riley’s Stirling and all the players for making the weekend such a big success.
SCOTTISH AMERICAN POOL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION | |
2009/10 Season Calendar | |
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA TOUR EVENT N0. 1 | Rileys American Pool and Snooker - Stirling |
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA TOUR EVENT N0. 2 | Reardons Snooker and Pool - Southside |
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA TOUR EVENT N0. 3 | Rileys American Pool and Snooker - Edinburgh |
Scottish 9-Ball Championships | Styx American Pool Bar |
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA TOUR EVENT N0. 4 | The Q CLub |
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA TOUR EVENT N0. 5 | Reardons Central |
BLACK BOTTLE SAPPA TOUR EVENT N0. 7 | Rileys American Pool and Snooker - Kirkintilloch |
