Rileys American Pool and Snooker
Hobs Moat Road
Solihull
West Midlands
B92 8JN
www.rileys.co.uk - facebook
www.solihull9ball.com
Saturday 18 May 2019
Colclough comes good at Event 4
Report by: Matt Hawthorn
Photos by: Jan Ibrahim
Second City 9 Ball
Solihull 9 Ball's fourth tournament of the year saw 39 players paid up and ready to claim their place in the Series Grand Final. To qualify for the Grand Final players needed to meet two criteria, to have played in a minimum of 3 events and then finish in the top 16 in the rankings. Based on previous tournament performances the likes of Al Coton, Elliott Sanderson, Benji Buckley and Stewart Colclough were already guaranteed their place. For others, a run in to the money stages could see them sneak in to the top 16 at the expense of some very good competitors. There was also £1,000 prize money up for grabs as well as the conclusion to our straight pool high run competition.
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Thanks to everyone who supported this event, from all the players through to our generous sponsors Rileys, Shark Rack and Taom Billiards. We would also like to express our gratitude to Luke Hart for doing a stellar job running the tournament desk while Andy and Daryl were playing. Top man.
As always the tournament software ignored form and reputation, presenting us with some tasty matches early on. Al Coton progressed to the last 16 with wins over David Hine, Mark Eardley and Luke Hart. Hine and Hart both made it to the last 16 through the loser's side while Mark Eardley was edged out in the loser's qualification round by Kev Simpson. Senior tournament director Daryl Garland had the best result of his two year 9 ball career against Stewart Colclough. Despite squandering chances to win by a greater margin Daryl capitalized on an uncharacteristic miscue by Colclough to win 7-6. The loser's side of the draw was loaded with talent, with Chris Parker, Ryan O'Neill, Mark Stephenson and Stewart Colclough all coming through tough draws to reach the single elimination stage.
Last 16
The stand out result was David Hine's superb 7-2 victory over double event winner Benji Buckley. Both Zoltan Kojsza and Ian McCormick survived hill-hill deciders to advance at the expense of Mark Stephenson and Luke Hart respectively. Kris Kovacs looked close to his best at this event as he proved to be too strong for Jimmy Mole (7-4). Al Coton disposed of his pal Kev Simpson (7-5) while Daryl Garland continued his good form with a win over the impressive Chris Parker (7-4). Elliott Sanderson ended Ryan O'Neill's day while Shaun Johnson, who had progressed to the last 16 undefeated, found Stewart Colclough too hot to handle (both 7-3).
Quarter-Finals
Al Coton lost out in the final at event 1. He was looking to go one better here and kept his title aspirations alive with a 7-4 win over Daryl Garland. Stewart Colclough, himself a runner up at event 2, made light work of Elliott Sanderson, winning 7-2. Ian McCormick inflicted a 7-3 victory over Kris Kovacs while in the remaining quarter final David Hine defeated Zoltan Kojsza 7-2.
Semi-Finals
With Benji and Elliott both eliminated we were guaranteed to have a different winner in Event 4. Ian McCormick had made it to the semi finals undefeated. His opponent David Hine had eliminated two of the tournament favourites to reach this stage. Unfortunately for David it was Ian McCormick who would book his place in the final with a 7-5 victory. On the adjacent table Stewart Colclough faced Al Coton. Colclough handed Coton his only defeat of the day (7-5) and remained on course to win his first Solihull 9 Ball Series event.
Final
Two deserving finalists faced off to see who would be crowned Event 4 winner and pocket the £400 first prize. Despite suffering a shock defeat earlier in the day Stewart Colclough produced the form that has seen him win multiple GB9 tournaments down the years. The final score of 7-3 was perhaps a little harsh on Ian McCormick who had performed brilliantly throughout the day. Well done to both players for their efforts.
Straight Pool High Run
Zoltan Kojsza had one hand on the prize money with his score of 42 still the target to beat. Chris Patient and Kev Simpson both made valiant attempts but it was Benji Buckley who would take the prize pot with an excellent run of 61. Despite finishing outside the money in the tournament Benji stands to collect over £170 for his efforts in the straight pool.
We'd like to thank our host room Rileys Sports Bar, Solihull, for their continued support of our series, and Shane Conroy for supplying the SharkRack racking templates for our events. Also, big thanks to Big Dave Knight & pro9.co.uk for displaying our event reports and getting our name out there. Thanks also to Taom Billiards for their generosity as we began our journey and to GO Customs for agreeing to be title sponsor of our series in 2020. A massive thanks to you players for supporting us in our inaugural season, and to Luke Hart for stepping in to run the tournament desk while we're playing our matches.
Keep checking www.solihull9ball.com for details of our upcoming events.
Our Grand Final takes place on 29th June 2019 - we hope to see you then. Details of start times and format to follow in due course. If you can't make it then be sure to check out our first live streamed event via the link in our website. The qualified players are:
Benji Buckley
Stewart Colclough
Elliott Sanderson
Alan Coton
Dave Evans
Mark Stephenson
Darren Saxby
Daryl Garland
Apostolis Harmas
Luke Hart
Kris Kovacs
Chris Patient
Can Ibrahim
Roy Kimberley
Craig Hirst
Ryan O'Neill
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