Barceló Blackpool Imperial Hotel
North Promenade
North Shore
Blackpool
Lancashire
FY1 2HB
United Kingdom
www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk
www.gb9balltour.com
www.macmillan.org.uk
www.belleza-photography.co.uk - Gallery now online!
Friday/Saturday/Sunday 23-25 April 2010
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
Mark Gray | 9 : 8 | Darren Appleton |
Jayson Shaw | 9 : 7 | Craig Osborne |
Raj Hundal | 9 : 8 | Karl Boyes |
James Kay | 9 : 5 | Ben Moore |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
Mark Gray | 9 : 7 | Jayson Shaw |
James Kay | 9 : 4 | Raj Hundal |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Mark Gray | 11 : 6 | James Kay |
Mark Gray presented with the GB9 Ball Tour Paul Medati Trophy by Cheryl Medati.
Photographs courtesy of Andrew Warden, www.belleza-photography.co.uk
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE CHALLENGE CUP | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
Ben Finch | 9 : 2 | Chris Cowie |
Andy Barnett | 9 : 4 | Matt Lawrenson |
Shane Appleton | 9 : 1 | Neils Cummins |
Mike Rogers | 9 : 5 | Arfan Dad |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE CHALLENGE CUP | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
Ben FInch | 9 : 6 | Andy Barnett |
Shane Appleton | 9 : 7 | Mike Rogers |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE CHALLENGE CUP | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Ben Finch | 9 : 6 | Shane Appleton |
Ben Finch presented with the Challenge Cup by Macmillan's Heather Walkington.
Photographs courtesy of Andrew Warden, www.belleza-photography.co.uk
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE PRO CUP | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
Daryl Peach | 9 : 8 | Kevin Uzzell |
Raj Hundal | 9 : 1 | Matthew Ford |
Michael Valentine | 9 : 5 | Steve Petty |
Craig Osborne | 9 : 7 | Phil Burford |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE PRO CUP | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
Daryl Peach | 9 : 7 | Raj Hundal |
Craig Osborne | 9 : 8 | Michael Valentine |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE PRO CUP | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Daryl Peach | 9 : 4 | Craig Osborne |
Daryl Peach presented with the Pro Cup by Heather Walkington from Macmillan.
Photographs courtesy of Andrew Warden, www.belleza-photography.co.uk
Gray, Finch, and Peach victorious at GB9 Paul Medati Trophy
Mark Gray put in a status-defining shift at the GB9 Paul Medati Trophy to secure his third GB9 Main Event title beating Manchester’s James Kay eleven racks to six in the final. All one hundred and forty-four British based players took their turns in the Blackpool spotlights but it was the Bourne cueist who was left standing centre-stage once again.
The most brutal single knock-out ranking tournament on the planet ran over the two days of Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th April at the magnificent Barceló Imperial Hotel, a stone’s throw away from Blackpool’s famous seaside beauty and thriving nightlife. The Paul Medati Trophy is named after one of our most admired and talented players. Paul Medati was a regular face on the Professional Snooker circuit before turning his hand to American Pool where he proved the fiercest of opposition for established stars and young upstarts alike. Even into his sixties, Paul regularly made the business end of Professional competitions until in 2008, he sadly lost a short battle with Cancer, leaving behind many friends and a wealth of fond memories. The GB 9 Ball Tour wishes to thank Macmillan Cancer Support and the many players and spectators who donated generously to the charity over the three days of play. Paul’s widow, Cheryl was on hand and kindly agreed to present the 2010 GB9 Paul Medati Trophy to our winner, Mark Gray.
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Spectators watching from the balcony.
‘Granite’; ‘The Gentleman’; ‘Shoot-Out King; call him what you will but Mark Gray is gradually perfecting a style and work ethic that could well see him dominate the world’s most successful pool playing nation right now; Great Britain. An assured performance in his fourth consecutive Main Event final over a resurgent James Kay reinforced his national number one status and in the process lined his pockets with another £1200. A 9 – 7 victory over Chris Cowie in the last 32 was followed by a 9- 0 drubbing of Alan Coton in the round of 16. In the player’s bar after that match, Gray recalled that Coton had prevailed in their previous encounter, a school-boyish smile contradicting his, “I never forget”, quote. ‘Dynamite’ Darren Appleton was next sent packing in the quarter final 9 – 8, the two World Team Championship winning team mates serving up a lengthy and tension filled cracker. In another close call, Gray’s prowess saw him through against Scotland’s quick-fire sensation Jayson Shaw, disposed of 9 – 7 in the semi final. To those who are yet to witness a flowing Jayson Shaw in action, the wait will soon be over as he will be out to impress under the Las Vegas lights at the World Pool Masters next month.
James Kay is something of a pool playing bridesmaid. Find me a respected name on our shores who does not agree that Kay has the speed capable of flooring anyone and I will show you either a sore loser or a blatant liar. But much like the bridesmaid, Kay is often seen to be catching the bouquet rather than widely grinning next to the trophy. Some could argue that this is another example of that, admittedly, rather sketchy image but the leap from third place, where Kay is placed more often than not, to second is such a big one that we could start to see a mean streak emerge in James Kay as a consequence. His last 16 win over Daryl Peach, for whom the term ‘in-form’ has never been such an understatement, was pure sporting drama. Sitting on the hill with Peach one behind, Kay found himself at an open table, only needing a steady arm and clear head to see him through. As it turned out, he produced both to beat the latest British Eurotour champion but the battle to keep his emotions in check during that last rack run out was the real success story with every shot seeming to drain an ounce of energy and add another seed of importance. A convincing 9 – 4 win for Kay in the final four over Raj Hundal left India’s number one with two third place finishes for his weekend’s endeavours, losing at the semi final stages in the Pro Cup the day prior. A special note on Hundal and purely for your statistical indulgence, ‘The Hitman’ has not won a main British ranking event since the BPPPA Croydon Open. The date? Sunday 22nd November…2004! Naturally, there is an argument that Hundal is now a global figure and does not compete on a national level with as much regularity as he once did. The counter-punch to that would be that since taking that title in 2004, Hundal has competed in no less than twenty-three British ranking events without success. There is no doubt that Hundal has not lost his magic touch, even in this event he produced some remarkable shot making, particularly in taking out newly crowned WPA Etisalat World 8 Ball Champion, Karl Boyes; but all sports fans love a good stat.
A thirty-second overview then; within two events, the new GB 9 Ball Tour already fits like a favourite pair of shoes upon the players. The custom built Magno Pro tables from SAM Leisure are already being shown no fear, unlike Tour Stop 1 where some players were tentative to say the least when taking on the tournament ‘spec’ pockets. As predicted, two new faces were seen in the Challenge Cup final in Ben Finch and Shane Appleton, both taking out the previous finalists from Buxton along the way. And the BBC paid a special visit to the event. As we were in Blackpool, BBC Radio Lancashire took the opportunity to conduct a live interview from the playing arena with their two home-grown Double World Pool Champions, Daryl Peach and Karl Boyes. And finally, when the GB9 roadshow leaves town, Blackpool will house more World Titles than it does pool tables as the local pool hall closed its doors for the final time recently; but if you’ve ever been to Blackpool after 9pm you’ll already know it’s a crazy old town.
The GB9 British Grand Prix will be held at the Barceló Daventry Hotel and will be played over Friday 16th, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th July. For more information and full results from the events go to www.gb9balltour.com
The GB 9 Ball Tour is supported by Barceló Hotels, SAM Leisure, Mezz Cues, Aramith, Simonis and Flexirest.
GB9 Ball Tour Paul Medati Trophy winner - Mark Gray
Players being interviewed by BBC Radio Lancashire.
Peach and Finch the first to take honours in Blackpool
The GB9 Blackpool Pro and Challenge Cups were played to a finish over Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th April at the sun-soaked Barcelo Imperial Hotel and in a markedly more testosterone-filled playing arena than at Tour Stop One, it was home-town hero, Daryl Peach and Pontefract’s latest up and coming prospect, Ben Finch who took down their respective fields.
In arguably the most dramatic Pro Cups to date, last week‘s EPBF Italian Eurotour Champion, Daryl Peach beat Craig Osborne by nine racks to four in the final match. The final itself will be remembered for the business-like Peach taking nigh on every one of his chances to pocket the lion’s share of the £2500 prize pool but it will be the dogged comebacks of both finalists in earlier rounds that will set tongues wagging. Before turning a semi final against India’s Raj Hundal on it’s head by conjuring a 4 - 0 deficit into a 9 - 7 win, Peach had already clung on for life in beating Kevin Uzzell 9 - 8 in the round prior. Uzzell looked a nailed on semi finalist, leading the match 8 -5, but Peach shirked no pressure pots and when Uzzell scratched off of his break at hill-hill, there was only ever going to be one winner.
A delighted Daryl Peach commented, “I‘m over the moon with my tournament game at the moment, I’m playing as well as I played to win the World 9 Ball Championships. I’m not really practising at the moment as the local club has recently closed down and I’m still waiting to have my table fitted at home. I’m using it as a positive though and it means I’m fresh for all the tournaments.” On the subject of his comeback wins today he said, “Well against Raj, it was four nil until I ran six out of six of my breaks so I’m going to beat most people in that form no matter what the score and against Kev, well Kev should’ve beat me to be honest but he didn’t take his chance. I’m so confident and relaxed at the moment, even when I’m behind”. “The British ranking events used to be my bread and butter but not anymore, there’s eight world champions! Who can better that? No one can, not even the Philippines.” Completing Peach’s ‘home-straight’ to glory in Blackpool was a 9 - 3 win over Si Widlo.
Osborne’s tall comeback tail may even eclipse Peach’s. At 8 - 3 down in an alternate break format, there’s rarely a light at the end of the tunnel. Even less likely when the opposition already on the hill is Scotland’s very own ’Yeti’, Michael Valentine. The pair were team mates for Great Britain II at the recent World Team Championships and the spirit in which the match was played in should have been the talking point. Unfortunately, for Valentine at least, the talking point was without doubt Osborne’s fearless fight back, compounded by a horror shot on a simple eight ball at hill-hill by the Scot, which drew an audible gasp from the spectators. Whole seminars could, and I’m sure do, indeed take place on the subject of pressure within the workplace; I’d venture that a video of Michael Valentine shooting that 8 ball would suffice. Osborne cleared the simple 8 and 9 to book his spot in the final.
In the Challenge Cup, 29 year old Ben Finch got one over on close friend and fellow Pontefract cueist, Shane Appleton nine racks to six. A former English 8 Ball player, Finch has only owned an American cue for eight months and yet is already being touted as a big favourite in the race for promotion from the Challenge ranks to the Pro. On route to his first silverware in 9 ball other than, in his own words, “£5 a man comps”, Finch barged past some heavy hitters in Gary Bullocke 9 - 8, ring-game specialist Jonny Cooper 9 - 6, Chris Cowie 9 - 2 and in a nip and tuck semi final, a 9 - 6 victory saw him through. “It feels unbelievable” said Finch after his victory, “I felt at the start of the season that I was good enough to win one of these and I’ve proved that I can now. I started playing 9 ball because of how well people such as Darren Appleton were doing and I thought, ’what am I doing working 12 hour shifts when I could give pool another go’, so I’m putting in 20 hours a week practise now. Hopefully I can build on this win. It was nice to play Shane in the final as even if he‘d have won I‘d have been pleased for him. He‘s a great lad and is due a win, no doubt.”
Although this was Shane Appleton’s first GB9 final, he in fact becomes the third member of the Appleton family to make the final two of an event, with brother Darren playing a starring role in many a final already and cousin Andy making a Challenge final last season. Shane battled his way past a host of established names including the champion from Tour Stop One, Stewart Colclough and has unquestionably asserted himself as a force to be reckoned with in the coming tour stops.
The biggest cheer of the day came thirty paces down the corridor from the playing arena and shouldn‘t pass without note. In the player’s bar, a crowd gathered around the television to yell, ‘get in there’ in unison as Steve Davis doubled a brown to beat reigning World Champion John Higgins in the last 16 of the Betfred World Snooker Championships. Davis may well have contributed to a large number of current GB9ers players converting to the sport of 9 ball owing to his escapades in the mid nineties against Strickland, Reyes and the like. Romford Slim, as you are only known on the blue baize, American Pool salutes you!
The GB9 Paul Medati Trophy, with a further £6000 to be handed out, is in it’s early rounds as this is written and will be concluded on Sunday 25th April. For Live Scoring from the tournament visit www.gb9balltour.com and for Live Coverage and commentary from the television table go to www.cuesport.tv
GB9 Ball Tour Paul Medati Challenge Cup winner - Ben Finch
GB9 Ball Tour Paul Medati Pro Cup winner - Daryl Peach
GB9 player Paul Morgan in action in Blackpool.
Photographs courtesy of Andrew Warden, www.belleza-photography.co.uk
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | ||
THE LAST 32 | ||
Mark Gray | 9 : 7 | Chris Cowie |
Alan Coton | 9 : 7 | Steven Petty |
Stewart Colclough | 9 : 5 | Michael Valentine |
Darren Appleton | 9 : 0 | Mike Rogers |
Craig Osborne | 9 : 2 | Andy Barnett |
Jason Howard | 9 : 6 | Imran Majid |
Jason Shaw | 9 : 4 | Ben Finch |
Chris Melling | 9 : 4 | Adam Benn Smith |
Raj Hundal | 9 : 7 | Scott Higgins |
Matthew Ford | 9 : 6 | Matthew Lawrenson |
Phil Burford | 9 : 2 | Andy Worthington |
Karl Boyes | 9 : 4 | Louis Callaghan |
Sam Corsby | 9 : 8 | Chun Hao Man |
Ben Moore | 9 : 7 | Chris Buckmaster |
James Kay | 9 : 2 | Simon Widlo |
Daryl Peach | 9 : 2 | Shane Appleton |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | ||
THE LAST 16 | ||
Mark Gray | 9 : 0 | Alan Coton |
Darren Appleton | 9 : 6 | Stewart Colclough |
Craig Osborne | 9 : 8 | Jason Howard |
Jayson Shaw | 9 : 7 | Chris Melling |
Raj Hundal | 9 : 7 | Matthew Ford |
Karl Boyes | 9 : 4 | Phil Burford |
Ben Moore | 9 : 4 | Sam Corsby |
James Kay | 9 : 7 | Daryl Peach |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
Mark Gray | 9 : 8 | Darren Appleton |
Jayson Shaw | 9 : 7 | Craig Osborne |
Raj Hundal | 9 : 8 | Karl Boyes |
James Kay | 9 : 5 | Ben Moore |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
Mark Gray | 9 : 7 | Jayson Shaw |
James Kay | 9 : 4 | Raj Hundal |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Mark Gray | 11 : 6 | James Kay |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE CHALLENGE CUP | ||
THE LAST 32 | ||
Jonny Cooper | 9 : 4 | Colin Rennison |
Ben Finch | 9 : 8 | Gary Bullocke |
Chris Cowie | 9 : 2 | Mark Hughes |
Louis Callaghan | 9 : 8 | Mark Hopgood |
Matthew Lawrenson | 9 : 5 | Luke Rollison |
Gary Anderson | 9 : 7 | Michael Brisley |
Andy Barnett | 9 : 2 | Liam Wilson |
Ralph Winfield | 9 : 7 | Louis Clarke |
Neil Cummins | 9 : 4 | Mark Foster |
Neil Margossian | 9 : 5 | Courtney Symons |
Shane Appleton | 9 : 7 | Stephen Capaldi |
Stewart Colclough | 9 : 6 | Paul Edwards |
Mike Rogers | 9 : 4 | James O'Malley |
Alan Millership | 9 : 8 | Andrew Worthington |
Arfan Dad | 9 : 5 | Lee Brett |
Andrew Appleton | 9 : 4 | Sam Corsby |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE CHALLENGE CUP | ||
THE LAST 16 | ||
Ben Finch | 9 : 6 | Jonny Cooper |
Chris Cowie | 9 : 4 | Louis Callaghan |
Matthew Lawrenson | 9 : 1 | Gary Anderson |
Andy Barnett | 9 : 5 | Ralph Winfield |
Neil Cummins | 9 : 5 | Neil Margossian |
Shane Appleton | 9 : 7 | Stewart Colclough |
Mike Rogers | 9 : 5 | Alan Millership |
Arfan Dad | 9 : 6 | Andrew Appleton |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE CHALLENGE CUP | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
Ben Finch | 9 : 2 | Chris Cowie |
Andy Barnett | 9 : 4 | Matt Lawrenson |
Shane Appleton | 9 : 1 | Neils Cummins |
Mike Rogers | 9 : 5 | Arfan Dad |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE CHALLENGE CUP | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
Ben FInch | 9 : 6 | Andy Barnett |
Shane Appleton | 9 : 7 | Mike Rogers |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE CHALLENGE CUP | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Ben Finch | 9 : 6 | Shane Appleton |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE PRO CUP | ||
THE LAST 32 | ||
Simon Widlo | 9 : 5 | Mark Collins |
Kevin Uzzell | 9 : 7 | Martin Chapman |
James Kay | 9 : 4 | So Shaw |
Scott Higgins | 9 : 5 | David Carter |
Raj Hundal | 9 : 3 | Matt Hyden |
Matthew Ford | 9 : 5 | Jonathan Mathers |
Karl Boyes | 9 : 2 | Rob Jude |
Darren Appleton | 9 : 1 | Damian Massey |
Michael Valentine | 9 : 6 | David Nelson |
Steven Petty | 9 : 4 | Imran Majid |
Mick Hill | 9 : 5 | Jayson Shaw |
Craig Osborne | 9 : 4 | Dominic Clemmens |
Alan Coton | 9 : 3 | Paul Williams |
Phil Burford | 9 : 1 | Tony Weafer |
Mark Gray | 9 : 3 | Adam Benn Smith |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE PRO CUP | ||
THE LAST 16 | ||
Daryl Peach | 9 : 3 | Simon Widlo |
Kevin Uzzell | 9 : 5 | James Kay |
Raj Hundal | 9 : 3 | Scott Higgins |
Matthew Ford | 9 : 7 | Karl Boyes |
Michael Valentine | 9 : 7 | Darren Appleton |
Steve Petty | 9 : 7 | Mick Hill |
Craig Osborne | 9 : 3 | Alan Coton |
Phil Burton | 9 : 6 | Mark Gray |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE PRO CUP | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
Daryl Peach | 9 : 8 | Kevin Uzzell |
Raj Hundal | 9 : 1 | Matthew Ford |
Michael Valentine | 9 : 5 | Steve Petty |
Craig Osborne | 9 : 7 | Phil Burford |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE PRO CUP | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
Daryl Peach | 9 : 7 | Raj Hundal |
Craig Osborne | 9 : 8 | Michael Valentine |
THE GB9 PAUL MEDATI TROPHY | ||
THE PRO CUP | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Daryl Peach | 9 : 4 | Craig Osborne |
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