Well, the first event of the new GB9 ball tour season got underway this weekend. As usual the standard of pool was superb, the equipment was great, and the event was ran to perfection by the GB9 team.
Firstly in the Pro Cup, where I was defending my title from last years event, I played some steady stuff. That's about as far as it went really, I never got into full flow and eventually got beat in the semi-final. In the main event On the Sunday though it was a different story, I played some awesome pool, demolishing many very good players along the way by score lines of 9-1, 9-1, 9-3, 9-3. In the semi-final it was more of the same in the first half of the match, but when I was leading by a scoreline of 5-2 I simply hit a brick wall and my energy and concentration disappeared. I made several safety mistakes and was just not with it. I eventually lost 9-7. I simply put this down to the fact that earlier on that morning before I played any matches I had an extremely bad stomach, and I found myself in the toilet for the first 2 hours of the day! I felt ok around midday and the afternoon, but I fell that it caught up with me in my semifinal, and this was the deciding factor in the end. Disappointing really because I felt that I was playing the best pool in the tournament by far, and I really fancied my chances of taking it down. But this wasn't to be, and I now have to look forward to my next event.
One thing that does excite me though, is the fact that I have been working on a few slight changes in my technique/cue action over the past couple of weeks and this was the first event where I have had chance to try it in tournament play.....I was really pleased in general, and I am certain that the changes are for the better, and now I will pound the practice table over the next few weeks to perfect the changes and make it so that I don't even have to think about them.....so that they happen naturally.....they will become part of my games make up.
So all in all, 2 semi-final places this weekend, not a bad result, although I knew I deserved better. But the main thing for me was the fact that the changes I am making to my game have been confirmed to me that they are good ones, and now I have something to work on in my practice sessions.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Monday, 28 February 2011
World 8ball champiinships
Well, could you really call this tournament that? To be honest, it's one of the worst events I have played in for a long time! I hate to say that because the UAE people are great and I wish the tournament was a big success, but in truth, the organisation was well below par, and the format was terrible. The referees were terrible apart from the odd one, and to be honest ALL the players said the same.
I had what was probably the toughest group, every player in the group was capable of beating the others in the group. But I played some solid stuff and came through on the winners side by beating firstly Joven Bustamente and then Francisco Bustamente, both by a score line of 7-6.
Because of the strange format that they decided to use, there were 56 qualifiers for the straight KO stage, but they decided to give 8 byes to the 8players who had lost the least racks in the group stages....all this meant was that the players who had easy groups got rewarded for it, and players who had tough groups like myself were penalised because it was so hard to win heavily against world class players!
So I drew Vilmos Foldes in the last 56 and had 4 dry breaks from my first 4breaks! I was 7-1 down and got it back to 7-5, but made the mistake of asking the ref to remove the breaking tamplate (magic rack)....he mark the 2 balls that were near the rack but then proceeded to drop one and moved the marker on the other! This messed the whole layout up of the balls. This eventually hindered me in running the balls out and I lost the rack, and eventually lost 9-6.
To be honest, the only reason I was disappointed in losing was because this event carried Mosconi cup points. I was glad to get outta there and get home, and now I look forward to my next event......the superbly organised GB9 ball tour!
I had what was probably the toughest group, every player in the group was capable of beating the others in the group. But I played some solid stuff and came through on the winners side by beating firstly Joven Bustamente and then Francisco Bustamente, both by a score line of 7-6.
Because of the strange format that they decided to use, there were 56 qualifiers for the straight KO stage, but they decided to give 8 byes to the 8players who had lost the least racks in the group stages....all this meant was that the players who had easy groups got rewarded for it, and players who had tough groups like myself were penalised because it was so hard to win heavily against world class players!
So I drew Vilmos Foldes in the last 56 and had 4 dry breaks from my first 4breaks! I was 7-1 down and got it back to 7-5, but made the mistake of asking the ref to remove the breaking tamplate (magic rack)....he mark the 2 balls that were near the rack but then proceeded to drop one and moved the marker on the other! This messed the whole layout up of the balls. This eventually hindered me in running the balls out and I lost the rack, and eventually lost 9-6.
To be honest, the only reason I was disappointed in losing was because this event carried Mosconi cup points. I was glad to get outta there and get home, and now I look forward to my next event......the superbly organised GB9 ball tour!
Eurotour France
Hi guys, I played well in this event, qualifying through a tough group on the winners side by beating a stubborn Markus Juva (Finland) in my last match. In the straight KO last 32 I drew Niels feijen on the main match table, not the easiest of draws especially when there were lots of "new players" in the draw. Well what a match....I hardly had a shot in the first 7 racks and found myself 0-7 down, not ideal in a race to 9 with alternate breaks!! But I kept my head on and kept battling and before I knew it I had got the score back to 7-8.....then just when I felt like I was now the favourite win the match Niels broke and ran the final rack to beat me 9-7. The main thing for me is that I can take a lot from this tournament. I was pleased with my general play and at the end of the day it's my first event of the year.....roll on world 8ball.....
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Warmer in Spain
Well, guys, just got back from SpIn where I played the Eurotour and also attempted to defend my title in the international 8ball event.
First the Eurotour, after yet another tough draw with the likes of Dimitri Jungo in the 2nd round, I still came through the early rounds unscathed, playing very well with confidence and style. Then cruised through the last32, and met Marcus Chamat in the last 16. This was the match of the tournament, with Marcus only making 1 error, and me making none!....I came through a 8-7 winner. I eventually lost in the quarters to Darren Appleton, and even though I broke much better, and played to about an identical standard, the balls were against me.....not only off of my break shot, but also because I got 2 massive kicks at big points in the match. So even I couldn't overcome this bad luck, especially when Darren played as good as me. Still a decent result finishing 5th. You just have to take the rough wih the smooth in this game.....good rolls and bad ones......there coming to us all.
In the international 8ball, I didn't qualify, mainly due to feeling very much under the weather.....it seemed to be something going around as I know for a fact that Mark Gray was very I'll also. This was a shame for me, because I rate my 8ball game at the highest level, and thought I was one of the favs, with a real good chance to defend my title.
First the Eurotour, after yet another tough draw with the likes of Dimitri Jungo in the 2nd round, I still came through the early rounds unscathed, playing very well with confidence and style. Then cruised through the last32, and met Marcus Chamat in the last 16. This was the match of the tournament, with Marcus only making 1 error, and me making none!....I came through a 8-7 winner. I eventually lost in the quarters to Darren Appleton, and even though I broke much better, and played to about an identical standard, the balls were against me.....not only off of my break shot, but also because I got 2 massive kicks at big points in the match. So even I couldn't overcome this bad luck, especially when Darren played as good as me. Still a decent result finishing 5th. You just have to take the rough wih the smooth in this game.....good rolls and bad ones......there coming to us all.
In the international 8ball, I didn't qualify, mainly due to feeling very much under the weather.....it seemed to be something going around as I know for a fact that Mark Gray was very I'll also. This was a shame for me, because I rate my 8ball game at the highest level, and thought I was one of the favs, with a real good chance to defend my title.
King of Blackpool......again
I've only just had chance to update my blog due to my travels and being so busy.
On the 26-28th November, GB9 held another superb event at the tremendous Blackpool Royal Imperial hotel. After winning the Pro event there back in March, I wanted to continue my domination in my home town by repeating that performance. Well, after playing some great pool I managed to succeed again. I relatively strolled through the earlier rounds without much retaliation from my opponents, beating the up and coming Dave Nelson 9-6, and ever consistent James Kay 9-3 in the quarters, before defeating fellow "Blackpooler" Karl Boyes 9-6 in the semis. In the final I found myself up against Mark Gray for the umpteenth time. It wasn't the best final that we ever played against each other to be honest, but after I took the lead early on, I always felt really good during the match as I did all weekend, and eventually came through with a 9-8 win.
So yet another title to add to my impressive haul. In the main event I was cursing along nicely until the quarter finals where I met Imran Majid. The match turned out to be very scrappy and not of a decent standard at all, the table played very funky for some strange reason, and Imran seemed to handle it better than I did. But all in all, a very constructive weekend for me, and having my own table in my house is already bringing my game and confidence back up. It's nowhere near the point when I won the world title a couple of years ago, but I am 500% sure it will be there very soon!
On the 26-28th November, GB9 held another superb event at the tremendous Blackpool Royal Imperial hotel. After winning the Pro event there back in March, I wanted to continue my domination in my home town by repeating that performance. Well, after playing some great pool I managed to succeed again. I relatively strolled through the earlier rounds without much retaliation from my opponents, beating the up and coming Dave Nelson 9-6, and ever consistent James Kay 9-3 in the quarters, before defeating fellow "Blackpooler" Karl Boyes 9-6 in the semis. In the final I found myself up against Mark Gray for the umpteenth time. It wasn't the best final that we ever played against each other to be honest, but after I took the lead early on, I always felt really good during the match as I did all weekend, and eventually came through with a 9-8 win.
So yet another title to add to my impressive haul. In the main event I was cursing along nicely until the quarter finals where I met Imran Majid. The match turned out to be very scrappy and not of a decent standard at all, the table played very funky for some strange reason, and Imran seemed to handle it better than I did. But all in all, a very constructive weekend for me, and having my own table in my house is already bringing my game and confidence back up. It's nowhere near the point when I won the world title a couple of years ago, but I am 500% sure it will be there very soon!
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Mosconi Cup here I come.....2011
Well, I ended up missing out in this years Mosconi Cup despite having a pretty good season. I won quite a few tourneys including 2 out of the 7 Eurotours, and I topped the Eurotour ranking in April, may, and June. But after Karl Boyes had a good run earlier in the year he pipped me to the number1 spot on the "mosconi cut-off date", and then Darren Appleton won the US Open meaning that I was the one that had to miss out this year unfortunately for me. There has never been 3players play the Mosconi from the same country in previous years anyway (since 5man teams were introduced), so I sort of knew that I would miss out after Darrens super victory in USA....even though I knew I deserved to be in.
It was a wierd feeling watching Darren win, because I was pleased for him obviously, but at the same time I was gutted for myself because I knew what his win would mean with regards to Mosconi Cup.
....so I put all my own feelings to one side in order to give Darren his deserved congrats, and I was the first person to congratulate him on his win. We had a great night after with all the celebrations etc. Then the next day I felt sick.....and not from the drink lol.
That's how it goes when we have so many great players in the Uk now, and after having chance to weigh it all up, I know this will make me stronger and more determined to get in next years team.
After the US Open, I went to Portugal Eurotour to try and defend my title. I had just about as tougher draw as I could have got......when you think, I am seeded number2 and my draw was koshavoy (very talented Ukranian), followed by Sascha Teige (won German Eurotour this year), followed by Raj Hundal ...... And that was just to qualify for last 32!
Then I draw Darren Appleton in last32 who's is on a high after his win in US the week before, but I play something near to when I won my world 9ball crown and come through a convincing 9-2 winner, only to lose to a lesser known German called Marco Vogel in the last16 early the following day. This was the only match I had played at morning in this event and may have still been a little jet lagged from US....meaning it was still 4am where we had just come from! Still it's no excuse for a player of my experience and I have to give Marco credit as he played some good pool to beat me.
So, GB9 event in my home town next for me, followed by Spain Eurotour. I'll update my blog after these events.
It was a wierd feeling watching Darren win, because I was pleased for him obviously, but at the same time I was gutted for myself because I knew what his win would mean with regards to Mosconi Cup.
....so I put all my own feelings to one side in order to give Darren his deserved congrats, and I was the first person to congratulate him on his win. We had a great night after with all the celebrations etc. Then the next day I felt sick.....and not from the drink lol.
That's how it goes when we have so many great players in the Uk now, and after having chance to weigh it all up, I know this will make me stronger and more determined to get in next years team.
After the US Open, I went to Portugal Eurotour to try and defend my title. I had just about as tougher draw as I could have got......when you think, I am seeded number2 and my draw was koshavoy (very talented Ukranian), followed by Sascha Teige (won German Eurotour this year), followed by Raj Hundal ...... And that was just to qualify for last 32!
Then I draw Darren Appleton in last32 who's is on a high after his win in US the week before, but I play something near to when I won my world 9ball crown and come through a convincing 9-2 winner, only to lose to a lesser known German called Marco Vogel in the last16 early the following day. This was the only match I had played at morning in this event and may have still been a little jet lagged from US....meaning it was still 4am where we had just come from! Still it's no excuse for a player of my experience and I have to give Marco credit as he played some good pool to beat me.
So, GB9 event in my home town next for me, followed by Spain Eurotour. I'll update my blog after these events.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Sarajevo Open
Just got back from sarajevo Open event....one word.....EXCELLENT! The tournament was ran to perfection, and the hospitality was second to none. We were made to feel very welcome, and to be perfectly honest I can't wait to go back there. The people were great and I made lots of new friends which is always a good thing.
The semis and final were played live on Bosnian TV, and the crowds were very enthusiastic.
Ralf Souquet won the tournament beating Raj Hundal in the final. I lost in the quarter final to Raj, who was playing better than I have seen him play for a long time. I had brushed a number of opponents aside unto the semis, but I played a couple of bad safeties in the first few racks, and before I knew it I was 8-1 down....not ideal in a race to 10 with alternate breaks! But I hung in there and started to perform like I can, and got the score line back to 8-9 behind, only to make another silly safety error, and that was my last shot in this event. All in all I am pleased with my overall form and i am looking forward to the US Open which I fly to on Thursday.
On another very positive note, I got my table fitted in my house today, so I now have somewhere to practice for the first time since March when my local club closed down!
So watch out! Lol
I will give an update of the US Open after the event.
The semis and final were played live on Bosnian TV, and the crowds were very enthusiastic.
Ralf Souquet won the tournament beating Raj Hundal in the final. I lost in the quarter final to Raj, who was playing better than I have seen him play for a long time. I had brushed a number of opponents aside unto the semis, but I played a couple of bad safeties in the first few racks, and before I knew it I was 8-1 down....not ideal in a race to 10 with alternate breaks! But I hung in there and started to perform like I can, and got the score line back to 8-9 behind, only to make another silly safety error, and that was my last shot in this event. All in all I am pleased with my overall form and i am looking forward to the US Open which I fly to on Thursday.
On another very positive note, I got my table fitted in my house today, so I now have somewhere to practice for the first time since March when my local club closed down!
So watch out! Lol
I will give an update of the US Open after the event.
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