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GB9 Ball Tour 2009 Midlands Classic - Press Release

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

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



Date: Tuesday, January 20 2009 @ 09:03:37 UTC
Topic: GB9



The GB9 Midlands Classic
- also featuring the Solihull Challenge Cup & Pro Cup

Rileys American Pool and Snooker - Solihull
Hobs Moat Road
Solihull
West Midlands
B92 8JN
www.rileysltd.com
www.gb9balltour.com

Friday-Sunday 9-11 January 2009


The ceremonies kicked off with Imran Majid being presented with this truly magnificent
"2008 GB9 Player Of The Year" trophy for his incredible domination of the 2008 season.

The GB9 Ball Tour starts 2009 by praising 2008's Player Of The Year!

The GB9 Ball Tour is constantly receiving plaudits from it's players for the outstandingly professional manner in which it is run, and it's clear to see the unflagging effort that the organisers take to make sure that the events run as smoothly as a well oiled machine.

It could be expected that these tributes would be a rare thing when dealing with 128 discerning players who pay between £500 and £700 ($700 - $1,000US) a year membership fees for the privilege of playing on the tour, 96 of whom are attempting to qualify for promotion to the elite Pro Division of 32 players - and the proof that they are doing something very right and very well is that applications to join the tour have always been over-subscribed.

So it's heartening to see that they have decided to start the 2009 season with a hark-back to the previous one, by rewarding last year's stand out player with a truly beautiful trophy.

Imran Majid's domination of the tour in 2008, winning no less than four of the six main events put him at the top of the rankings with an unassailable points lead, and because of the rolling six event system utilised by the tour, each new event now means that he has to try to defend his maximum points at each of the events he won, knowing that even the slightest slip will see the rest of the pack closing the gap.





"Read More..." for further details!


Mark Gray presented with the GB9 Midlands Classic trophy by tour sponsor Klaus Zobrekis,
who travelled from Germany to represent his Z9 Billiard Cloth company at this event.

Mark Gray beats Daryl Peach in final of GB9 Midlands Classic!

The final of the GB9 Midlands Classic, the main event of this three day tournament, saw an out of sorts World 9 Ball Champion Daryl Peach convincingly beaten by a slick Mosconi Cup potting machine named Mark Gray with a one-sided 11-6 margin.

Both Peach and Gray hail from the same region of the country and are good friends off the table, and even teamed up as partners in Matchroom Sports "World Cup of Pool" event, and the match was played with good humour thoughout, despite Peach being on the receiving end of some particularly frustating rules, dutifully enforced by the GB9 Ball Tour referee Mel Harley.

The tour has adopted a 3 point rule for all breaks to force players to use skill and power on their break, and despite Peach sinking two balls on his well aimed thunderclap break, he was penalised with loss of turn after failing to gain a third point by getting another ball to pass the "head string".

Despite this, the rule is the same for both players and Gray, who also finished top of the European rankings last year, was a graceful and worthy winner as always, and even more pleased to take the title as his parent's had come to support him and had front row seats for the final.


Michael Valentine wins Solihull Pro Cup

Scotland's Valentine triumphs over reigning Ten Ball Champion Appleton!

Saturday evening saw the first two events played to completion - in the Pro Cup semi-finals Darren Appleton beat Imran Majid and Michael Valentine beat James Kay creating a mouth-watering Appleton vs Valentine final.

Appleton had only just returned from the Philippines where he had been getting plenty of match practice and went into the final as the strong favourite. However Valentine knew he had a tough match ahead, and as he has frequently shown before, he rises to the tougher challenges and often plays his best pool under those conditions - and this was the case today as he eventually beat Appleton 9:6.


Steven Petty overjoyed with Challenge triumph

Freshman beats veteran to take Challenge Division title!

Forty new faces appeared on the Challenge Tour and at the end of the season the top ranked player will earn promotion into the Pro Cup. One of these new players has made his mark by winning the Solihull Challenge Cup and is now well on his way to the top of the rankings.

The Challenge Division semi-finals saw Steven Petty beat Matt Ford and Anthony Ginn triumph over Gareth Steele setting up a Petty versus Ginn final.

Once again there appeared to be a strong favourite, and once again the tables were turned as experienced veteran Ginn was edged at the finish line with an 11:9 scoreline from fellow Londoner and GB9 newcomer Steven Petty.


GB9 Referee Mel Harley watching Michael Valentine at the GB9 Midlands Classic.



THE STATS




THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE LAST 32

Steven Petty

9 : 7

Imran Majid

Damian Overton

9 : 7

Kevin Uzzell

Adam Benn Smith

9 : 4

Andy Worthington

Karl Boyes

9 : 8

Gordon Bain

Michael Valentine

9 : 1

Gary Houstoun

Bradley Parker

9 : 5

Andy Nicholson

Phil Burford

9 : 8

Mike Rogers

Mark Gray

9 : 2

Paul Williams

Raj Hundal

9 : 6

Anthony Ginn

Stephen Capaldi

9 : 7

Tony Burton

Damian Massey

9 : 3

Jason Howard

Daryl Peach

9 : 7

Stewart Colclough

James Kay

9 : 7

Chris Cowie

Jonathan Mathers

9 : 3

David Walsh

Martin Chapman

9 : 6

Andy Appleton

Gareth Steele

9 : 5

Tony Southern



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE LAST 16

Steven Petty

9 : 8

Damian Overton

Adam Benn Smith

9 : 3

Karl Boyes

Bradley Parker

9 : 3

Michael Valentine

Mark Gray

9 : 7

Phil Burford

Stephen Capaldi

9 : 7

Raj Hundal

Daryl Peach

9 : 3

Damian Massey

James Kay

9 : 6

Jonathan Mathers

Gareth Steele

9 : 6

Martin Chapman



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE QUARTER FINALS

Adam Benn Smith

9 : 8

Steve Petty

Mark Gray

9 : 6

Bradley Parker

Daryl Peach

9 : 1

Stephen Capaldi

James Kay

9 : 5

Gareth Steele



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE SEMI FINALS

Mark Gray

9 : 6

Adam Benn Smith

Daryl Peach

9 : 5

James Kay



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE MAIN TOURNAMENT

THE FINAL

Mark Gray

11 : 6

Daryl Peach




---



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE LAST 32

Gary Lewis

9 : 8

David Nelson

Martin Chapman

9 : 7

Glenn Winter

Gordon Bain

9 : 6

Philip Wildman

Steven Petty

9 : 3

Andrew Richardson

Matthew Ford

9 : 6

Clark Smith

David McCarthy

9 : 6

Andy Jeronimidis

James Welch

9 : 8

Paul Edwards

James Taylor

9 : 7

Kevin Simpson

Craig Dixon

9 : 8

Luke Rollison

Andrew Bucknall

9 : 5

Dan Lim

Niel Cummins

9 : 4

John Beesley

Gareth Steele

9 : 2

Adam Stevens

Ian West

9 : 5

Chris Stocker

Stephen Folan

9 : 4

Dan Moore

Anthony Ginn

9 : 3

Bartosz Czapki

Adam Benn Smith

9 : 2

Simon Gardner



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE LAST 16

Martin Chapman

9 : 2

Gary Lewis

Steven Petty

9 : 5

Gordon Bain

Matthew Ford

9 : 6

David McCarthy

James Welch

9 : 8

James Taylor

Craig Dixon

9 : 5

Andrew Bucknall

Gareth Steele

9 : 0

Neil Cummins

Ian West

9 : 4

Stephen Folan

Anthony Ginn

9 : 7

Adam Benn Smith



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE QUARTER FINALS

Steven Petty

9 : 7

Martin Chapman

Matthew Ford

9 : 3

James Welch

Gareth Steele

9 : 7

Craig Dixon

Anthony Ginn

9 : 8

Ian West



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE SEMI FINALS

Steven Petty

9 : 8

Matthew Ford

Anthony Ginn

9 : 2

Gareth Steele



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE CHALLENGE CUP

THE FINAL

Steven Petty

11 : 9

Anthony Ginn




---



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE PRO CUP

THE LAST 32

Darren Appleton

9 : 0

Ben Moore

Andy Worthington

9 : 6

Stewart Colclough

Mark Gray

9 : 7

Stephen Capaldi

Chris Cowie

9 : 6

Daryl Peach

Imran Majid

9 : 7

James Carney

Paul Williams

9 : 7

Tony Burton

Damian Overton

9 : 2

Jason Howard

David Walsh

9 : 7

Tony Drago

Karl Boyes

9 : 7

Chris Melling

Michale Valentine

9 : 4

Christopher Robson

Raj Hundal

9 : 2

Chris Buckmaster

Jonathan Mathers

9 : 5

Kevin Uzzell

James Kay

9 : 5

Andy Nicholson

Jayson Shaw

9 : 7

Bradley Parker

Alan Millership

9 : 1

Matt Hyden

Simon Widlo

9 : 8

Phil Burford



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE PRO CUP

THE LAST 16

Darren Appleton

9 : 3

Andy Worthington

Mark Gray

9 : 2

Chris Cowie

Imran Majid

9 : 3

Paul Williams

Damian Overton

9 : 5

David Walsh

Michael Valentine

9 : 7

Karl Boyes

Raj Hundal

9 : 4

Jonathan Mathers

James Kay

9 : 4

Jayson Shaw

Simon Widlo

9 : 8

Alan Millership



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE PRO CUP

THE QUARTER FINALS

Darren Appleton

9 : 6

Mark Gray

Imran Majid

9 : 8

Damian Overton

Michael Valentine

9 : 4

Raj Hundal

James Kay

9 : 5

Simon Widlo



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE PRO CUP

THE SEMI FINALS

Darren Appleton

9 : 4

Imran Majid

Michael Valentine

9 : 6

James Kay



THE GB9 MIDLANDS CLASSIC

THE PRO CUP

THE FINAL

Michael Valentine

11 : 4

Darren Appleton



Updated Rankings

GB9 - Main

TOP 16

1

I Majid

2

M Gray

3

R Hundal

4

D Appleton

5

D Peach

6

MValentine

7

J Kay

8

K Boyes

9

D Massey

10

P Burford

11

J Mathers

12

S Higgins

13

A Worth'ton

14

A B Smith

15

D Overton

16

B Parker

GB9 - Challenge

TOP 16

1

G Steele

2

C Dixon

3

A Appleton

4

D Massey

5

C Smith

6

K Simpson

7

S Folan

8

J Cooper

9

MChapman

10

L Wilson

11

N Jenkins

12

M Ford

13

P Edwards

14

M Hughes

15

S Petty

16

D McCarthy

GB9 - Pro

TOP 16

1

D Appleton

2

J Kay

3

T Drago

4

M Valentine

5

K Boyes

6

P Burford

7

M Gray

8

J Shaw

9

I Majid

10

K Uzzell

11

R Hundal

12

D Peach

13

D Overton

14

A Millership

15

P Williams

16

C Osbourne


Full ranking details can be found here: http://www.gb9balltour.com/rankings.htm


Klaus Zobrekis from tour sponsor Z9 Billiard Cloth poses with GB9 Chairman Lee Rigby.

The GB9 Ball Tour is delighted to announce that Z9 Billiard Cloth has agreed to continue it's sponsorship of the tour for another season and is delighted that it's player's will be treated to the superior playing characteristics of Z9 Billiard Cloth at each of it's 6 events this year.

Z9 Billiard Cloth is a superior quality, high wool content cloth, noted for it's superb appearance and excellent playing qualities. Three years of research and development produced a cloth that is anti-pill, anti-bobble, and hard wearing, and it's unique fabrication process produces exceptional longevity whilst retaining it's sumptious good looks, providing economy via improved lifespan.