Having suffered what would be politely described as public humiliation while making a feeble attempt at playing pool at the highest level on the IPA Tour (others would call it getting ripped a new one), the very least I can now do is a write up on the results or as I know it, those who got past the first round.
To try and set the scene, over 150 players had turned up for three days of blackball pool on sixteen tables at the Britannia Hotel in Nottingham, ranging in quality from me at one end through to World rankings number one Gareth Hibbott at the other with the rest of the players in between. New to the tour was young Dylan Emery who deserves more than a passing mention having got to the last 32 of the European Amateur at the tender age of 13 (losing on a deciding frame 4-3), which is more than a touch impressive. His is more experienced than his age makes him sound having played for Wales at the age of seven, but after some time out from the sport a touch of snooker on the TV rekindled his interest, and he returned to the sport again, playing for Kisshot Pool Club in the Pontypridd League –as well as for the full Wales side already. His knowledge of the game suggests he is in it for the long haul this time around (his three favourite players are Gareth Hibbott, his good friend Simon Ward, and Christophe Lambert), and naturally he would like to gain the World Championship one day – and I am pretty sure he has a far better chance than I do. A nice young lad, he used the money left him by his Granddad (a pool fan himself) to buy a hand made Steve Grice cue which he certainly seems to get on with, and as long as I avoid him in Brighton on the next tour, I wish him the very best of luck.
Getting down to the nitty gritty and despite the fact that any player can beat any other given their best game and the rub of the green, the cream do invariably rise to the top and so it proved on Saturday night with the final of the Professional event fought out between Craig Marsh and French raider Christophe Lambert. My view may not be correct but I see Craig as more flamboyant and Christophe as more measured (so sue me if you disagree), but that made for a real cut and thrust final that eventually saw Craig walk off the 9-5 winner after a real battle that had those watching live totally enthralled.
Sunday saw the numbers whittle slowly away in the amateurs (which is a round robin format that gives players more games for their entry fees), as well as the later rounds of the all important European Open both of which reached their natural conclusions late Sunday afternoon as planned (well done Tournament Director Viv Ruscoe for getting that one spot on), though there always has to be a loser which seems pretty harsh after all the hard work of getting that far. The amateurs final saw Drew Hughes and Sean Stebbings go head to head in a real battle, and I assure you, the quality was as good as any of the other matches over the weekend with a little added nerves – understandably. In a race to five neither player could dominate the other leaving a tense deciding frame once the 4-4 mark was reached, before Drew fell over the line for victory after a fantastic match. Meanwhile, those making the most of the free livestream were watching Lee Anderson and Jason Rimington in the Open final in a match that we all looked forward to. On paper it was a tough one to call but the early frames went one way and one way only as Jason built up a commanding 6-0 lead though anyone expecting to watch Lee roll over were in for a bit of a surprise. Starting what his fans hoped was a comeback he won the next three frames in a see-saw battle that eventually saw him succumb 8-5 as Jason Rimington was crowned the new European Open Pool Champion – congratulations to both players for as fantastic match and I hope to see them both for the next event in Brighton next month along with the rest of the best pool players on the planet!