Anyway, practice has been going really well, we were going to alternate between my house and Karls but my table has not arrived yet so i have been going up to Karls place. He has a nice tight Dynamic table in his purpose built room, and it makes you knuckle down because anything touching the rail on its way to the pocket wont drop!
We have been mainly focusing on our timing and gelling around the table, because there is a shot clock in this event, speaking though experience its best not to get bogged down with too much talking inbetween shots. It sounds simple enough to do, but when slight doubts come in on certain shots is when it gets hard. Anyway, things are progressing well, and we will be fine tuned ready for this big event. We went out earlier today to pick up our attire for this event, i wont say too much about it, but we could be in with a shout for the $1,000 prize for the best dressed team! lol
Before then, we both have a big event in Finland...the Finland Eurotour. Its more important for Karl and myself than most because we are ranked 1 and 2 on the rankings after winning 3 from the last 6 events between us (Karl 1 and me 2), and the player who finishes number 1 after this event is guaranteed a place on the European team for this years Mosconi Cup.
The only other player who could possibly finish number 1 is Niels Feijen, but both Karl and i would need to have a nightmare event and also niels would need to win it to acheive this. What ever happens in Finland though, all 3 of us are very much in the mix for the remaining places.
Obviously, if we can pull a win off in Manila (World Cup of Pool) then this wouldnt do us any harm towards the call up either!
After the World Cup of Pool in Manila, i will be staying on there for another week to play some golf and basically chill, before moving on to Shanghai for the China Open. This is another major event which was won last year by Thorsten Hohmann. Its an excellent event which also has a seperate Ladies China Open event running along side it, where all of the top ladies are in attendance.
This event is also Televised, so there will be more chance to gain great exposure for my sponsors.
After this i then go onto Sarajevo for the Sarajevo Open (also Televised by local TV). I am very much looking forward to this event as i have heard so many good things about it from other players. There is a ring game which i am in before the main event, and this is held in one of the cities top casinos.
I could go on and on about events after that such as th U.S Open and portugal Eurotour etc, but i will go through those a little nearer the time.
I will also update you on my results in the events mentioned above as i play through them.
So all in all, my preperation is going very well, and i have a pretty busy schedule over the next few months. Its a little like the waiting for a bus......one minute there are none, then they all come at once!
Nothing new in the life of a Professional Pool Player!
