The St Albans Hurricane Room
Unit 8 Verulam Industrial Estate
224 London Road
St Albans
Hertfordshire
AL1 1JF
www.hurricaneroom.co.uk
www.t9b.co.uk - live stream - live score
Saturday 27 July 2013
Liam Monk - Total9ball Amateur Series Grand Final Winner 2013
Grand Final Time For Total 9 Ball Amateurs
So it was the biggest event of the T9B amateur calendar on Saturday, The Amateur Series Grand Finals. 5 qualifying events have come and gone, it was now time for the show piece event. Hurricane Room in St Albans again played host to 24 of the best amateur players that this country has to offer, we also had in my opinion the best stream team in UK pool, Lee Rigby and Ian Sunderland, so it was sure to be a fantastic event.
Beautiful glass trophies were available to the Winner and Runner Up both engraved in memory of the late Larry Hinrichs.
The draw was completed by the players at around 9.30am. The players names were placed in three pots as this event was seeded, The top eight players on the T9B Amateur Series ranking list were seeded in order on one side of the draw and random placed in the other. The other 16 qualifiers had to play preliminary matches to qualify to complete against the top eight.
At the beginning of the event players knew that the jackpot for the day which is achieved by one player winning both halves of the draw was at an impressive £1000, the prize money began at £100 in the Quarter Finals, it was £150 for any losing Semi-Finalists, £300 for the Runner Up and £550 for the Winner, The £150 roll up pot was added to the Winners and Runners up prize money to give the Jackpot amount.
Matches began at 10am. There was a tense atmosphere with all players desperate to do themselves justice and come away with a pocket full of cash and the title of Total9ball Amateur Series Grand Final winner 2013.
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The preliminary round had some cracking matches including with results and handicaps in brackets… Liam Monk (-3) 7v3 Richard Main (-1), Chris Buckmaster (-2) 7v5 Courtney Symons (-4) and Alan Coton (-2) 7v5 Richard Twomey (-2). There were many matches that went all the way to hill-hill Ken NG (+2) was involved in two, winning one against Mikko Tuomi (+1) and losing one against Dave Nelson (-2) (Ken led 6v1). Courtney Symons (-4) was involved in a great match with Geoff Windeatt (+2) . Symons ran out a 7v6 winner after a twitchy deciding rack.
So now it was time for the top seeds to get involved and just seven of the 16 matches were won by the seeded players, Amateur Series Ranking Winner Tem Dixon (-3) day was cut short by Dave Nelson (-2) 7v3 and Kev Kelleher (+2) 7v1. Phil Wildman (-2) day didn’t start as planned either as he was beaten 7v4 by experienced Mike Roger (0). Liam Monk (-3) followed his earlier win over Rich Main with a 7v5 victory over Mark Parker (-1) a great result bearing in mind the recent winning form of The Essex Panther Mark Parker. Many players have said for a while that the quality of the pool Tom Staveley (-1) plays is right up there with the best amateurs but that they can’t believe his results aren’t better, Tom on Grand Finals day looked determined to really show what he can do as he began with two winning results 7v5 against Jaspal Bamotra (0) and 7v6 over Greg Jansz (0).
Winners of the next round of matches would be guaranteed £100 in prize money and players who were still involved in both halves of the draw (Dave Nelson (-2), Mike Rogers (0) and Tom Staveley (-1)) would cash the amount twice for a double win. Mike Rogers (0) must be sick of the site of Mr Staveley (-1) as they would meet twice within this round and both times Tom dug deep and progress 7-5 and 7v6. Dave Nelson (-2) eliminated Geoff Windeatt (+2) from the event 7v3 but then was shocked by an impressive Kev Kelleher (+2) 7v5. Phil Wildman (-2) moved into the prize money beating the only welsh representative Jonathan Vaughan (-1) 7v5, sweet revenge for Phil as Jonathan defeated him in the Final of Grand Finals last season. Mark Parker (-1) was timing the ball like a dream again beating Al Coton (-2) 7v5 while Liam Monk (-3) was quietly motoring along beating Chris Buckmaster (-2) 7v5.
At this stage of the event there were just 7 players remaining and Tom Staveley still involved in the event twice. A look at the draw sheet is below.
Tom Staveley (-1) 7v3 Dave Nelson (-2)
Liam Monk (-3) 7v3 Luke Rollison (-4)
Mark Parker (-1) 7v5 Phil Wildman (-2)
Tom Staveley (-1) 7v1 Kev Kellerher (+2)
So these results meant Tom Staveley would be involved in both Semi Final matches and therefore was only two wins away from the £1000 Jackpot surely the double win couldn’t be done twice in two weeks, could it? Liam Monk (-3) continues his good form beating Luke Rollison (-4) 7v3, Luke of course won two of the qualifying events so a good results for Liam who also won the final qualifying event. Liam looked hungry to add some more cash to his bank and another beautiful glass trophy to his collection. Mark Parker is the man in top form though and his win over Phil Wildman relegated Phil to the commentary box.
So on to the final 4 and there was still no way you could predict the winner. Up first was Liam Monk (-3) v Tom Staveley (-1). This match is available on the stream and is worth a watch as it swung one way and back the other. Tom reached the hill first and looked to book his place in the Final but Liam battled back to 8v8 to force a Hill-hill decider. Just before this final rack began Liam offered Tom a saver as the final rack was effectively worth £150 difference in prize money, however Tom was there to take the £1000 jackpot and declined the offer. Monk clear up to the 8ball and left himself a thin cut shot along the bottom rail, his cues up with right hand side to try and hold the white for the 9ball but over cuts it leaving the 8ball over the pocket for Staveley. Tom needs to hold his nerve jack the cue up and dig deep to screw the white back for the 9ball, Tom pot the 8ball but fails to get the desired spin to get on the 9ball, he attempts the bank shot but unfortunately misses and the 9ball rolls agonisingly over the corner bag. Liam steps up knowing this shot is unmissable and stokes the ball home to book his place in the final. The question now was could Tom recoup in the second Semi-Final against Total9balls most in form player Mark Parker? This match was off level handicap so a straight race to 7. Parker had a long break off the table and Tom had just lost his first match of the day and the dream double win has gone. Mark was timing was so good all day getting the maximum out of the white ball with little power. Mark held his nerve and booked himself into another T9B final defeating Tom Staveley 7v4. Unlucky Tom but what a great attempt and a nice £300 prize money to take away for the days work.
As the event over ran the final couldn’t be streamed but we all understood that it was unfair to ask Lee to stay bearing in mind he still had a nearly 3 hour drive home in torrential rain. So here we go the 2013 Amateur series Grand Final winner would be either Liam Monk (-3) or Mark Parker (-1)
Liam defeated Mark earlier in the event 7v5 so must have been the more confident player going into this match. Liam controlled the Final after catching the handicap up and Mark never really got close to him. Liam again defeated Mark by 7v5 scoreline and was crowned the winner of this 2013 edition of the Total9ball amateur series.
Well is must be said another brilliant event and a great way to finish the series. Next season is already scheduled with event one at the end of September, before that we have the National Series event 3 in Bristol on Saturday 3rd of August, a one day event at High Wycombe on the 17th August and the Masters at St Albans on August 31st.
Thanks again to The Hurricane Room St Albans for providing the facilities and some sponsorship money towards this event. Also to Lee Rigby and Ian Sunderland for providing the stream, to Nicole for running another brilliant event and to all the players who supported this event and all the qualifying events.
T9B has added another sponsor for next season and there are a couple more deals in the pipeline making next season amateur series the most exciting yet... details to follow soon.
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