220 Stewartstown Road
Dunmurry
Belfast
BT17 0DX
Telephone: 028 90625217
www.club9belfast.co.uk
Contact: Sam Gibson
Contact: Joe Mathews Jnr
Saturday 9 September 2006
Open EPT Qualifier report
A Fantastic array of top players from all over Ireland and from all backgrounds turned up for these increasingly popular and exciting events held and organised by Club 9,the superb prizes of flights,hotels and entry fee to Daryl Peach's ever growing and now becoming a household name amongst all the top pro's and players of all skill levels, the tour everyone is talking about the Empire Pool Tour.
Saturday morning doors opened and players of top quality walked into Club 9 Paddy McLaughlin,Gareth Deegan,Manny Byrne,Dean largley,Stephen Johnston and many more, in house players Sam Gibson,Billy Gorman,Paul Canavan Gerard Elliman were looking forward to the challenge,after a few practise sessions it was time to get into the zone and play for the top prizes.
Click on "Read More..." for the details.
The first round saw most favourites squeeze through with Paddy doc, Sam Paddy McLaughlin and Manny,Gareth "the Grinder "Deegan fought a Fantastic battle with in house Club 9 Pro recent all Ireland Champion Sam "the Road Warrior" Gibson,tensions were high as the stakes as they locked horns and pulled out every trick in the pool book to try and out smart there opponent quarter finals Sam was beaten by young Dan Gorman 10-7,Paddy and Manny had no problems with 10-5 and 10-6 wins, semi finals Paddy was on fire and didn't hold back against Dan with a convincing 10-2 win,Manny had a close match with Club 9's top shooter's Paul "the Cannon" Canavan but Paul ran out of fire power or Manny must of had a bullet proof vest on as Manny produced top drawer shots with offensive and defensive all round play to finish Paul off and reach the finals with Paddy "the Ginger Magician" McLaughlin.
The Finals
Manny vs. Paddy ? Paddy had previously won a few tournaments in Club 9 and had the experience behind him,Manny "the Rock" came to event fresh and no fear,the rail birds perched on their spots and the action was hard to call as the odds swayed to and fro from the punters on the side trying to predict their winning outcome,who would it be?
What a Final
The heat was on and the sweat was oozing out of every pour of the players,punters and spectators as they watched nervously as ball after ball rack after rack as the players delivered nailbiting pool worthy of television, offensive play was the buzz word of the day as Paddy and Manny fought tooth and nail on the World Championships gold crown 4 table and simonis 860 TV cloth (the actual table that Alex Pagulayan won the world championship on),this one was too close too call and it went down to the wire at 9-9,what a final, the whole day grinding out results came down to one rack or one mistake,who could hold their nerve,well both did but Paddy crossed the line and added another tournament to his belt,but what a day well done guys you really produced the goods and set a great standard to everyone at the event.
Finals
Paddy McLaughlin 10-9 Manny Byrne
Semi finals
Paddy 10-2 Dan Gorman
Manny 10-7 Paul canavan
Club 9 would like to thank all those who attended the Club 9 EPT Qualifier and look forward to the winners representing Club 9 at The EMPIRE POOL Tour in Birmingham,Club 9 would also like to thank their Sponsors for their support at their events and welcome their positive interest in player's attending the events due to club 9's multimedia exposure via Newspaper's radio etc......
Many thanks
Club 9 sports ed
"keep it real and live the dream"