Rileys Sports Bar & Bingo Club
15 -19 Queens Road
Clifton
Bristol
BS8 1QE
www.rileys.co.uk
www.t9b.co.uk - chat - live score
Saturday 3 August 2013
Buck Takes away the Bucks at T9B National Series Event 4 in Bristol
James Buck may have come into this event as a underdog but he soon removed that tag. Buck is a regular snooker player who has competed in a few PTC’s and has won every trophy available for snooker in Bristol. After speaking with James yesterday it became clear that this guy needs a challenge and what better way to challenge yourself than competing in a high standard 9ball event with a £20 cue on just 5 hours total practice. James Buck’s event began with a tricky match up against local 9ball superstar Jon Davies. Jon has been off the scene for a about a year but you could still see his class, this match was a battle from start to finish as racks went one way and then the other. James keep his composure and his solid well practiced snooker cue action held up to the pressure as he sunk the final 9ball to win 7v5. This event was run as a 2x double chance comp therefore it wasn’t long before Buck was back in action and he converted another confidence boosting 7v5 win this time over Sean Dracup.
Other results from the first round saw Phil Wildman defeat Rattapol Sassmann 7v5 and Chris Parker 7v6 (from 5v1 down). Jon Davies after losing to Buck got back into winning form after a tight 7v6 victory over Tony Phillips. Clive Bentley won 7v3 against Yuk Chan. Sam Sherwood hit top gear as he won his first two matches 7v4 and 7v5 over Dominic Clements and Ken Ng respectively. Mark Parker's day also began with two wins as Mark looked to continue his fine current form, Parker dropped 7 racks across his first two matching as he advanced to round two 7v3 (Steven Cuthbert) and 7v4 (Rattapol Sassmann).
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So with round one complete the one rack shoot-out side event began, players paid a small £3 entry to compete in this straight knock-out event. It was Penzance’s player Robin Cripps who took down the winner takes all side event and collected the £48 prize fund, Robin confirmed after this win that the prize money would all be spent on beer during his night out in Bristol later that evening.
The second round of matches soon began, James Buck suffered his first defeat… it was at the hands of Mark Parker 7v4 but it wasn’t all bad for Buck as he eliminated Dominic Clements 7v6 in the other half of the draw. Tony Phillips impressed with a 7v0 whitewash of Clive Bentley. Sam Sherwood was whacking the balls home and picking up a few chunks of luck as he ended Robin Cripps events 7v6. Phil Wildman had a smashing game against Sean Dracup winning 7v4 unfortunately Seans cue is no longer in action as it was broken during this match. Phil's next match was against a friend of his Terry Challenger. Terry come along to the event with James Buck and was another player who quickly made the conversion from the snooker table to the American. Terry made a flying start winning the first 4 racks, Challenger really was pot the ball of the lamp shades an awesome display of potting to watch quoted Wildman after the match. Terry ended up a 7v2 victor. Jon Davies was involved in another cracking match this tiem against Mark Parker, again the match was close all the way through and ended up a 7v6 victory for home player Jon Davies.
So the Quarter Final line up was completed and it was good to see eight different players involved. This round saw the battle of the travelling companions, as three of the four matches saw good friends pitted against each other. First up Mark Parker vs Tony Phillips, Tony had the upper hand for the early exchanges leading 5v2 but Parker was in no mood to lose this match battling back to win 7v5. Jim Buck won the battle of the newbies defeating good friend and snooker double partner Terry Challenger 7v4. Jon Davies was nearly pushed all the way by family relative Sam Sherwood but ran out a 7v5 winner (this match was recorded and will be available to view soon). In the Final match of the Quarter Finals Phil Wildman was really motoring as he for the second time during the event he defeated Chris Parker this time by a 7v2 score line.
In good time the Semi-Finals were upon us and there was to be another battle between Buck and Davies. James again won the match but this time by a one rack better result than when they played in the very first match of the day (7v5). The question was who would join Buck in the Final of this event? Mark Parker or Phil Wildman? Mark raced into a 3v0 lead. Parker has defeated Wildman in their last four encounters and this match looked to be following the history. However Phil was playing with a lot of determination and battled back to lead 5v3. Mark then ran the next rack out to apply some pressure but Phil kept his nerve winning the next two racks to advance to the Final 7v4.
Before the Final began the two finalists agreed to split the prize fund with each player gaining £200 and play out the Final for he the gorgeous glass triangular trophy. Phil made a few early mistakes which were punished by Buck as he made some outrageous pots. James seemed to be in full flow and raced away to a 7v2 win. A first at T9B that during the Final Phil played a jump shot and left Buck hooked, Phil then went on to lend his jump cue and teach Jim how to play the jump shot as you can tell the match was played in great spirits.
Well done to James Buck a great performance and a deserved winner.
In summary the event was enjoyed by all players, there was some good feedback about the Rileys club and Total9ball which was fantastic to hear. The club was a bit of a mess when players arrived to practice on the Friday night as it had been a very busy day in the club. Spoke to Jon Davies after the event he said ‘you wouldn’t believe the difference a night can make it was like a completely different club… what a transformation unbelievable’ We thanks Rileys for the use of the club and for cleaning all the tables after closing on the Friday night ready for the tournament. Thanks to Dave for taking some superb photos, to Nicole for running another successful event and to the players who supported this event. This event for me was a big success and hopefully we have given a few new players the 9ball bug and will see them again at future events.
The next T9B event will be held at High Wycombe Hurricane Room on the 17th August and them we are at St Albans on the 31st August for The Masters events, promo and posters should be up by Monday Evening.
The stunning architecture right outside the club's front door.
Mark Parker in fine form in the early rounds of the competition.
Live scoring on site, with today's trophy on display.
A bridge too far in Bristol?
Plenty of familiar faces in action at this event.
Some of the equipment being used in Bristol today.
Total 9 Ball scoreboards - everyone racing to 7, but it's T9B so 9's shown!
Typical selection of house cues with red chalked tips.
A fairly local event for Dominic Clemmens.
I call this masterpiece "Talc on Towel with Chalk".
Several new players at this event - all seemed to really enjoy their day.
MASSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pro9 Plugging!
Jump shot to a 2-9 combo!
The Facebook profile special!
Large tinted windows provide a bright and airy feel to the room.
Sam Sherwood had an immensely successful run all the way to the Quarterfinals.
Great to see super slim Bristolian and 9-Ball veteran Jon Davies making a return!
Some of the weaponry at Bristol.
Watch the interview with Jim Buck - winner of the T9B National Event 4
Click the image to view the larger poster - use "back" to return here.
I hope this link works - I've not done it this way before.