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GB9 British Grand Prix - Press Release

A Pro9 - Europe's No.1 Pool Player Resource Article

http://www.pro9.co.uk/html/



Date: Friday, September 19 2008 @ 07:26:55 UTC
Topic: GB9



GB9 British Grand Prix
Rileys American Pool and Snooker - Mansfield
Leeming Street
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 1NG
Telephone: 01623 662623
www.rileysltd.com
www.gb9balltour.com
www.gb9balltour.com/latest.htm - For the VERY LATEST RESULTS click here!

Fri/Sat/Sun 19/20/21 September 2008


2008 British Grand Prix Main Event winner, Mark Gray.
Photograph by Big Dave Knight at www.Pro9.co.uk

"Granite" Mark Gray wins GB9 British Grand Prix Main Event

"Obviously I'm well happy to win the last one, and to beat Imran for a change" said Mark Gray from Peterborough after he won the GB9 British Grand Prix - the final event of the GB9 Ball Tour season, beating Tour supremo Imran Majid 11-6 in the final of the Main Event at Mansfield.

"It's a shame it's the last one for me now, because it's my first victory this season, I'm usually one of the winners but the standard this year now on the English circuit is getting so tough, I'm just one of 12 or 14 players capable of winning The Pro Cup and the Main Event."





"Read More..." for further details!


2008 GB9 Grand Prix winner, Mark Gray watched closely by referee Mel Harley.
Photograph by Big Dave Knight at www.Pro9.co.uk

Gray, a former snooker player who has relatively recently converted to full-time American pool, rose to the top of the game at a meteoric pace, and has now "ruled the roost" on the European Rankings seemingly forever!

It's a strange phenomenon that some players can play well on one tour, and not achieve the same standard on another, just like there are good "money players" who struggle to perform well in tournaments, but this isn't the case with Gray. Majid's supreme dominance of the GB9 tour has stifled everyone's ambitions this year, and Gray admits to Majid being his nemesis in pool only beating him once in the last 13 meetings.

The future for Gray however, is bright, as he is hoping to be selected for the European Mosconi Cup Team after staying ahead of Italy's Bruno Muratore in the Euro Tour rankings (Gray is ranked No.1 on the Euro Tour, and has been number one for many months, but is now only 5 points ahead of Muratore).

It's a busy time for "Granite" now, he will shortly be leaving for the Philippines and the World 10 Ball Championships, then he will fly from there straight to the Netherlands for Matchroom's World Cup of Pool, and then after two days at home he will be off to the next Euro Tour event in Switzerland, but Gray says he loves the travelling as there wasn't so much travel when he played snooker, as Gray says, "it's all a great adventure really!"



2008 British 9 Ball Champion, Imran Majid.
Photograph by Big Dave Knight at www.Pro9.co.uk

Maharaja crowned 2008 British Champion after final ranking event of season

Imran Majid, without doubt the most successful British tour player in 2008, has had his dominance of Great Britain's 9 Ball Tour rewarded after his appearance in the GB9 British Grand Prix final this weekend.

Majid, from West London, won the first four consecutive events of the 128 player, six event season, and was also runner-up in the final ranking event, the GB9 British Grand Prix, only succumbing in the final to worthy champion Mark Gray.

The final event of the year, The GB9 British Grand Prix, is the most important event of the year for the UK's professional pool playing fraternity. The rankings after this event determine which 8 players will be relegated from the elite 32 player Pro Cup division, as well as selecting the top 8 for promotion from the 96 player Challenge Cup division. The bottom ranked 24 players from the main rankings will also be relegated, and will now need to enter the open qualifiers in November along with other hopefuls attempting to gain entry into Europe's most prestigious 9 ball tour.



2008 GB9 Mansfield Challenge Cup Winner, Jason Howard.
Photograph by Big Dave Knight at www.Pro9.co.uk

Howard wins GB9 Mansfield Challenge Cup

Jason Howard, a quietly spoken gentlemanly player from Bournemouth modestly accepted his victory in the GB9 Challenge Cup event at Mansfield, whilst his friends and well wishers roared their very vocal support and congratulations from the overlooking raised tier bar area!

This was the first final for the modest 29 year old, who is a Safety Officer for a Solar Energy company, and the 15 ranking points accrued have boosted his ranking into the vital top eight on the Challenge Cup Division and therefore qualifies him for automatic promotion into next season's elite Pro Cup Division.

The eight promoted players are Thomas Ainsworth-Smith, Brad Parker, David Walsh, Andrew Nicholson, Christopher Robson, Jason Howard, Andy Barnett, and Scott Higgins ranked 1-8 respectively.



2008 GB9 Mansfield Pro Cup Winner, Darren Appleton.
Photograph by Big Dave Knight at www.Pro9.co.uk

"Dynamite" wins GB9 Mansfield Pro Cup

A delighted Darren Appleton won The GB9 Mansfield Pro Cup event for the second time of the season, beating Imran Majid with a comfortable 11-5 score in the final.

The timely win promotes the Yorkshireman to the top of the Pro Cup rankings, displacing Junior player Phil Burford from the pole position that he had held since the start of the tour.

Karl Boyes and Tony Drago finished the season ranked 3rd and 4th on the GB9 Pro Cup division rankings, with Imran Majid, Kevin Uzzell, James Kay, Daryl Peach, Mark Gray, Jayson Shaw, Craig Osborne, Raj Hundal, Paul Williams, Damian Overton, Pat Holtz and Michael Valentine filling out the top 16 respectively.



GB9 Officials presented with thank you gifts from the players.
Photograph by Big Dave Knight at www.Pro9.co.uk

Heart-breaking tears of sadness, but tears of joy too!

It was with a heavy heart that Tour Chairman, Lee Rigby, took the microphone after the usual "housekeeping" announcements and began to explain his absence from the playing table at the last two events.

Affectionately known to the players as "Riggers", he explained that nerve damage from an extremely painful and very rare condition has paralysed his upper-right arm from the shoulder to the elbow, effectively making playing pool impossible for the foreseeable future. The nerve will take up to two years to repair, and even then the condition might not be sufficient to ever play pool again.

With his voice cracking with emotion, and stopping to compose himself several times, he assured everyone that nothing would stop him from continuing to run the tour, and vowed that the 2009 season would be better than ever.

Ironically, despite not playing in the last two events and therefore only receiving ranking points from four events, Lee had already secured sufficient points to secure his spot in the elite Pro Cup Division for the 2009 season.

Later on there was another tearful event, but with a much happier tone, as the players awarded gifts to the Tour Chairman, Lee Rigby, and Tour Director, Shirley Ang.

Shir came to the microphone and "blubbed" continuously for thirty seconds, and the only comprehensible words were "thank you" in between the flood of tears... Bless!



Action from the GB9 British Grand Prix.
Photograph by Big Dave Knight at www.Pro9.co.uk



THE STATS




THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE LAST 32

Imran Majid

9 : 3

Caroline Walch

Andy Nicholson

9 : 6

Ben Moore

Matthew Ford

9 : 7

Andy Worthington

James Kay

9 : 7

Jason Howard

Phil Burford

9 : 8

Daryl Peach

Karl Boyes

9 : 6

David Nelson

Adam Clarke

9 : 8

Andy Barnett

Damian Overton

9 : 8

David Walsh

Raj Hundal

9 : 8

Thomas Ainsworth-Smith

Pat Holtz

9 : 5

Stephen Capaldi

Craig Osborne

9 : 8

Martin Chapman

Mark Gray

9 : 6

Gareth Steele

Chris Buckmaster

9 : 8

Brad Parker

Tony Drago

9 : 6

Tony Burton

Damian Massey

9 : 7

Ian West

Darren Appleton

9 : 7

Gareth Esprit



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE LAST 16

Imran Majid

9 : 1

Andy Nicholson

Matthew Ford

9 : 8

James Kay

Phil Burford

9 : 6

Karl Boyes

Damian Overton

9 : 1

Adam Clarke

Raj Hundal

9 : 2

Pat Holtz

Mark Gray

9 : 5

Craig Osborne

Tony Drago

9 : 4

Chris Buckmaster

Darren Appleton

9 : 1

Damian Massey



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE QUARTER FINALS

Imran Majid

9 : 5

Matthew Ford

Phil Burford

9 : 7

Damian Overton

Mark Gray

9 : 3

Raj Hundal

Darren Appleton

9 : 6

Tony Drago



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE SEMI FINALS

Imran Majid

9 : 4

Phil Burford

Mark Gray

9 : 6

Darren Appleton



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE FINAL

Mark Gray

11 : 6

Imran Majid







---






THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE LAST 32

Thomas Ainsworth-Smith

9 : 2

Geoff Edge

Kevin Simpson

9 : 8

Clarke Smith

Scott Higgins

9 : 4

Mark Hughes

Andy Appleton

9 : 5

Lynette Horsburgh

Andy Barnett

9 : 5

Adam Collins

Damian Massey

9 : 2

Lloyd Matining

Dharam Singh

9 : 5

Craig Hirst

Andy Nicholson

9 : 3

Gary Thompson

Gareth Steele

9 : 3

David Walsh

Chris Cowie

9 : 9

Jimmy Carney

Ben Moore

9 : 1

Dean Goddard

Simon Wildo

9 : 5

Lee Hersey

Chris Buckmaster

9 : 7

Jonny Cooper

Jason Howard

9 : 3

Larry Catapang

Craig Dixon

9 : 5

Brett Armer

Brad Parker

9 : 3

Dave Simmons



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE LAST 16

Thomas Ainsworth-Smith

9 : 8

Kevin Simpson

Scott Higgins

9 : 6

Andy Appleton

Damian Massey

9 : 2

Andy Barnett

Andy Nicholson

9 : 3

Dharam Singh

Gareth Steele

9 : 7

Chris Cowie

Ben Moore

9 : 5

Simon Widlo

Jason Howard

9 : 7

Chris Buckmaster

Brad Parker

9 : 4

Craig Dixon



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE QUARTER FINALS

Thomas Ainsworth-Smith

9 : 7

Scott Higgins

Andy Nicholson

9 : 4

Damian Massey

Gareth Steele

9 : 7

Ben Moore

Jason Howard

9 : 4

Brad Parker



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE SEMI FINALS

Andy Nicholson

9 : 6

Thomas Ainsworth-Smith

Jason Howard

9 : 5

Gareth Steele



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE FINAL

Jason Howard

11 : 5

Andy Nicholson







---






THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE PRO CUP

THE LAST 32

Phil Burford

9 : 0

walk over

Pat Holtz

9 : 3

Dave Mackay

Imran Majid

9 : 4

Andy Worthington

Mark Gray

9 : 3

Jonathan Mathers

Tony Drago

9 : 4

Adam Clarke

Raj Hundal

9 : 6

Mike Rogers

Paul Williams

9 : 4

Gareth Esprit

Alan Millership

9 : 5

Kevin Uzzell

Karl Boyes

9 : 0

walk over

Damian Overton

9 : 8

Chris Melling

Jayson Shaw

9 : 4

James Taylor

Daryl Peach

9 : 3

David Jack

James Kay

9 : 4

Ian West

Adam Benn Smith

9 : 7

Craig Osbourne

Michael Valentine

9 : 8

Steve Capaldi

Darren Appleton

9 : 0

walk over



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE PRO CUP

THE LAST 16

Pat Holtz

9 : 7

Phil Burford

Imran Majid

9 : 5

Mark Gray

Tony Drago

9 : 5

Raj Hundal

Alan Millership

9 : 7

Paul Williams

Karl Boyes

9 : 7

Damian Overton

Jayson Shaw

9 : 6

Daryl Peach

James Kay

9 : 7

Adam Benn Smith

Darren Appleton

9 : 4

Michael Appleton



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE PRO CUP

THE QUARTER FINALS

Imran Majid

9 : 1

Pat Holtz

Tony Drago

9 : 1

Alan Millership

Jayson Shaw

9 : 7

Karl Boyes

Darren Appleton

9 : 2

James Kay



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE PRO CUP

THE SEMI FINALS

Imran Majid

9 : 8

Tony Drago

Darren Appleton

9 : 1

Jayson Shaw



THE GB9 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

THE PRO CUP

THE FINAL

Darren Appleton

11 : 5

Imran Majid





Final 2008 GB9 Ball Tour Top 16 Rankings


                        


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