57-59 Upper Craigs
Stirling
Scotland
FK8 2DT
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Sunday 11 May 2008
Jayson Shaw goes to Europe!
A fantastic day was had by all those who participated in the recent EPBF European Championship qualifier organised by SAPPA on behalf of the GB9/BPPPA on Sunday 11th May at Riley’s, Stirling.
Our thanks got to Riley’s for hosting the event at such short notice, the management and staff were superb as usual and the playing conditions spot on. Another big thank you must go to GB9/BPPPA who offered SAPPA the qualifying spot so that all parts of the UK could be represented at the championships.
The event itself was 9 ball, double elimination until the last 16 and then straight KO to find the winner to represent the UK along with Imran Majid, Darren Appleton and Craig Osborne at the finals in Willingen, Germany.
"Read More..." for the details.
Although the turnout wasn’t as high as the organisers expected, the quality of players in attendance made up for it and the overall play was a treat to watch.
The event was an open draw and this threw up some interesting ties in early parts of the double elimination format. Newcomer to 9 ball pool Fraser Patrick caused a few big upsets sending both Scott Gillespie (7-5) and Jayson Shaw (7-3) to the one loss side of the charts. This is by far no mean feat as both are former SAPPA event winners. Fraser is an unknown quantity to most on the 9 ball scene but is a formidable snooker player who was part of the elite World Professional Snooker circuit last season and is hoping to make his mark on 9 ball pool. Prior to this event he has lost in a final and semi-final in his first two SAPPA ranking events, so this young chap means business with his fluent potting skills and is one to watch out for.
Both Gillespie and Shaw made their way through the one loss side to make the last 16 KO stage.
SAPPA regular and top ranked player Darren Murray was making his mark in the event in his usual quiet way playing solid pool. On route to the last 16, he defeated SAPPA top 8 player Andy Morris by 7 racks to 4.
Another SAPPA regular who made the trip from Sunderland Adam Smith, had two fine wins of 7-0 and 7-1 to march into the last 16.
Last 16 KO
The pick of the ties from this round was Darren Murray’s fine 8-2 win over the improving Gary Houstoun. All of the big guns manage to come through unscathed with no close scares to make for a mouth watering quarter-final line up.
Qtr-finals
Andy Morris 8 v 5 Dean Thomson
Both of these players are former snooker players but it was Andy’s experience of playing 9 ball longer that helped him overcome a tough match with Dean. Dean is another newcomer to 9 ball and one to watch out for.
Fraser Patrick 8 v 1 Darren Murray
Darren was upset with his performance in this match passing up a few opportunities to push Fraser closer but the spoils went to Fraser on this occasion with some clinical finishing.
Jayson Shaw 8 v 7 Mark Owens
In a topsy-turvy battle where the lead swung both ways, it was Jayson who edged this tricky encounter with Mark who can count himself unfortunate as Jayson got the rub of the green in the decider.
Adam Smith 8 v 4 Scott Gillespie
Another enthralling match that was hard to call but Adam got the nod on the day with superb all round play. Scott had a few unforced errors which was probably down to lack of 9 ball practice.
Semi-finals
Fraser Patrick 9 v 4 Andy Morris
A fantastic display of potting from Fraser saw him overcome Andy and march into his second final in three events played. Andy has been knocking on the door at these major events for some time and one day his ‘A’ game will shine through to take the spoils.
Jayson Shaw 9 v 7 Adam Smith
On paper this was another belter of a match and both players gave the crowd a great spectacle to watch. Jayson came through with a narrow scoreline and Adam will rue his missed chances. Adam is another player who has been very close in these big events and one day his time will come but today Jayson just edged it.
Final
Jayson Shaw 10 v 8 Fraser Patrick
This was another mouth watering tie to what was turning out to be a great day of pool played by all competitors but these two lads were just striking the cue ball sweeter than most and probably deserved their final berth.
In a match that swung one way and then another, both players were not going to relinquish the first prize easily and so it went down to the wire and the man of the day, Jayson Shaw just pipped Fraser to 1st place and the winners’ podium.
I would just like to wish Jayson and the other three UK lads all the best when competing at the European finals and say thanks once again to all the players and Riley’s for their valuable support.
Cheers, Pat