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 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 |