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WAR OF THE WORLDS

When the “Master of the World” meets the “Champion of the World”,  you expect fireworks and that is what we got in the final of the Professional Pool Cup when Ian Kettel (pictured right), current holder of the World Masters met Gareth Potts the current holder of the World Championships.

And as with all good stories the underdog came out on top as Ian took the title with a 9 frames to 6 scoreline against odds on favourite Gareth,  the man in form.

Ironic that they should meet in a the last major event before they both defends their titles during the coming two weeks at Blackpools Imperial Hotel,  the venue for both World events.

Gareth certainly had the harder draw with a first round game win 8-3 against John Waller,  followed by a last 32 match against Jez Graham 8-4 and then into a hard battle against number 12 seed Neil Raybone.

It certainly did not get any easier in the quarters against provisional No. 3 seed Rob Chilton although the scoreline of 8-3 was not a fair reflection of what was a hard game.   Gareth Hibbott was waiting in the semi’s and he pushed Gareth all the way until the final couple of frames when he was eliminated 8-6.

On the other side of the draw, Ian started with an 8-7 win over former World Junior Champion Jordan Church and then a terrific result 8 frames to 3 top notch Phil Harrison.   Last 16 was a win against Gareth Manning and then to finals day with a Black ball into the middle bag decider against Ben Flack 8-7.

Ian’s semi was a hard fought event against newcomer to the final stages Michael Peel,  who although beaten by 8 frames to 6 always looked like he could take the match,  Ian did not agree.

The other semi was a titanic struggle between the Gareths – Potts and Hibbott.   There are no easy games against Mr Hibbott,  as his recent record has shown, but Mr Potts just managed to edge through by using his world level experience to his advantage.

And then the wheels came off,  Gareth was looking confident but could not match Ian who showed how he won the World Masters last year.   The clever money was on Gareth but somehow Ian Kettel saves himself for a couple of important results each year and this was certainly his day.   No arguing about the worth of his 9-6 scoreline,  Ian was brilliant and fully deserved the win.

Next stop Blackpool and the defence of their titles,   and perhaps a War of the Worlds - Mark 2 next year.
Results : Rankings

Hill in Seventh Heaven

Mick Hill continued his dominance of the Professional rankings with a 9-6 victory over James Pheely in the Grand Prix at Vauxhall Holiday Park in Great Yarmouth, securing his seventh Grand Prix title in the process.

A large crowd were treated to a sublime display of potting and tactical play with Hill leading 5-1 and then 8-3. However, a slight roll off in the 12th frame seemed to knock Mick out of his stride and Pheely took advantage taking the next three frames to reduce the deficit to two frames. James broke in the 15th frame and had a great opportunity to take another frame before a crucial miss allowed Mick back to the table to seal victory.
Although disappointed at losing out in the Final, Pheely must have been pleased with his performances disposing of World Champion, Gareth Potts in the Semi finals and Lee Clough in the Quarter finals both by 8 frames to 5.
An out of sorts Potts was very fortunate to come through his Quarter final against Richard Twomey 8-7 with Twomey missing the final black down the side rail allowing Gareth to steal victory.
Hill had a far easier route to the final defeating Kevin Barton in the Quarter finals and Morray Dolan in the Semi finals both by 8 frames to 2. Dolan had earlier seen off a determined challenge from Shane Appleton taking four frames in a row to win 8-6.

Full results

Two out of three ain’t bad

Reigning World Champion Gareth Potts (pictured right) claimed his second successive victory on the International Pool Tour for 2008. He has stretched his already healthy advantage at the top of the rankings and looks assured to finish the season as number one. The Paramount Hotel, Daventry was the venue for the third leg of the flagship Eight ball Pool Tour in the UK, and the world’s best descended on the Midlands to see who could capture the last Tour event before the World Championships in July. It was a strange event with shocks and surprises common place, but it was a familiar face who was the last man standing late on Monday afternoon. Gareth Potts warmed up for the defence of his World crown with his second consecutive Tour win. Gareth was made to work for his victory with final frame deciders needed in both the quarter finals and the final to get passed Scottish number one Darren Matthews and 1998 World Champion Carl Morris respectively. It was some achievement by Morris who only last week became the first deaf man ever to reach the North Pole; he did this by walking a 70 mile journey for the National Deaf Children Society. Having only returned a few days prior to Daventry his preparation must have been less than perfect but you wouldn’t have known. Carl’s route to the final was a mixture of tight games or straight forward victories, pushed twice to the final frame by both Aaron Roberts and Hitan Patel, Morris showed why he is a multiple major winner by taking both deciding frames. It seemed to be a tournament for the underdog with none of Mick Hill, Jason Twist, Keith Brewer, Darren Appleton, Neil Raybone or Phil Harrison reaching the last 16. Twist’s hopes were ended by Tour newcomer Daryl Lovegrove, Lovegrove had come through a tough draw against Tim Singh, Oly Bale, Rob Wilson and the already mentioned Twist. Daryl continued his good form on Monday defeating Paul Dunkey to book a quarter final place against Kevin Barton. Barton came through 7-5 after Lovegrove had recovered from 4-1 down to lead 5-4, but the experienced Barton won through to face Morris in the semi’s. The match didn’t go to plan for Barton as Morris ran out an easy 8-3 victor. There were other noticeable performances by Welsh newcomer Ben Davies, Michael Richardson and James Croxton.  Davies securing a top 64 ranking within his first three events which takes some doing, and Richardson taking advantage of a bye in the last 32 made his first quarter final. Croxton is finally fulfilling his potential and looks as if he could one day follow in good friend Gareth Pott’s footsteps by winning major trophies. This however is in the future for now Gareth is the man who the rest have to beat and who will stop him becoming the first man ever to retain the World Title.
Results

Ben Davies (pictured right) beat Tom Cousins to win Club Open 3.
Results

TV Qualifiers:
Ben Flack, Rob Chilton, Eddie Barker, Gareth Potts, Geoff Campbell, Jason Twist, Adam Davis & Mick Hill.
Results

Gareth ‘Potts’ his way to Tour Two title

Reigning World Champion Gareth Potts claimed the second leg of the International Pool Tour at the Hinckley Island Hotel with an 8-5 final success over his namesake Gareth Hibbott. Potts defeated new professional number one Mick Hill 8-6 in a semi final that swung each way before it was Gareth who wrestled it from Mick. Gareth has now extended his lead over his nearest rivals at the summit of the Tour rankings and will be looking to build on that lead having secured a victory so early in the season. With the standard of the Tour seemingly raising by the event it is becoming increasingly hard to pick up silverware, so Potts will be pleased to have relieved that burden by March. Indeed Potts was never really pushed until his semi final not conceding more than three frames up to that point. His semi final victory over Hill gained  a small piece of revenge for it was Potts that Hill overtook to become the Professional number one. These two players, at this moment in time are unquestionably the top two players in the game and we look forward to their rivalry continuing for some time to come. Hibbott’s route to the final was not as easy as Potts being pushed all the way in the last 64 by Brett Wild before coming through 7-6. His quarter final victory over Adam Davis was also tough as Davis clawed back from 6-3 to within one frame but Hibbott closed out the match 7-5 to book his semi final spot against Aidan Owens. It was Owens first appearance in a Tour semi final and he accounted himself well before going down 8-5 to the man from Blackpool. Aidan recovered from 4-0 down in his last 16 to come through 7-5 against Russell Frame and then accounted for Shane Appleton 7-2 before losing out to Hibbott. I don’t think this is the last time we will see Aidan at this stage and maybe even lifting the trophy one day. This weekend however belonged to Potts and he will be hoping that when the Tour moves to Daventry that he can move another step closer to capturing the number one spot from Chris Melling.

Results

Craig Marsh wins the Barcelo Open
Results

Darren Appleton's Team wins the Barcelo Team Event.
Paul Marubbi, Ben Mackie & Darren Appleton (pictured right)
Results

Stephen Dempsey wins the Club Open
Results

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Hill Tops the Lot!

The journey back to the top of the Professional rankings began for Mick Hill at Vauxhall Holiday park last May with victory in the Vauxhall Grand Prix, so it was fitting that the top spot was secured with a 9-5 win over Phil Harrison in the delayed Professional Trophy event again held at Vauxhall.

After comfortably disposing of Keith Brewer 8-5 in the Quarter Finals, Hill should have set up a clash with current number one Gareth Potts to decide the race to the top spot, however, a resurgent Partab Singh spoiled the party beating Potts also by 8 frames to 5. Hill now sensed the title could be his and easily dispatched Singh 8-4 in the Semi Final.

The other Quarter finals saw Phil Harrison beat Ronan McCarthy in a final frame decider 8-7 and Lee Clough continued with his recent run of form in the Professional events beating James Pheely 8-4. However, that form deserted Clough in the Semi Finals and he trailed Harrison throughout eventually losing 8-5.

The final started out as a one sided contest with Hill racing into a 4-1 lead, Harrison then cut the deficit to one frame with two excellent finishes, Hill then had two break and finishes and a clearance from a Harrison dry break to lead 7-3. There was no way back for an out of sorts Harrison, and the players traded frames for Hill to run out a deserved 9-5 winner.

A clearly delighted Hill received the trophy and a cheque for £2,500 and most importantly regained the number one position in the Professional rankings that he last held in 2003. Results

Rob Chilton (pictured right) continued his incredible run of form by reaching his fourth final in a row at the Hilton Plaza Hotel, at Wembley. The key to his success…….. A break cue. Chilton has, for many years, been more than capable of producing results without being a regular tournament winner, however that all seems to have changed. Since purchasing the cue he has reached three consecutive Professional finals, winning one of them and has now captured the first Tour of 2008. He puts his good form down to the fact that his break has improved with the aid of the new cue and he is giving himself more opportunities than before. Rob came through a fairly tough draw, beating former Professional event winner Tim Singh 7-1, Gareth Manning 7-4, both Ronan McCarthy and Derek Murphy 7-5, along with close friend Hitan Patel 8-5 in the semi-final. Now whilst Chilton is in irresistible form the real story of the weekend came from Rob’s opponent in the final, Russell Burgess. In mid November 2007 Russell underwent heart surgery to replace a leaky valve and didn’t ever imagine he would make the trip to London, let alone make the final. He only picked up his cue a handful of times before coming to Wembley, and most of those were in the week prior. On his arrival in London his aim was to win one match, although he didn’t hold out much hope. In his opening match he was the lucky beneficiary of Ryan Craig’s inability to pot a ball from the break and Russell came through 7-1 and felt he’d achieved what he came to do. Further wins over Steve Petty and Steve Sears meant Burgess had progressed to the last 16, beyond anything he’d imagined. After a good nights sleep Russell carried on from the previous night and reached the last eight after a 7-5 victory against another in form player Morray Dolan. That win set up a meeting with Aaron Roberts, which he came through 7-4. It was now an all Welsh semi, with former PPPO World Champion Ben Davies waiting. Davies is a class act and he will surely win one of these events sooner rather than later but it wasn’t to be Wembley as Russell took his opportunities to move into the final with an 8-1 success. The final was one step too far as Chilton always looked the likely winner indeed he lead from the first to the last eventually claiming an 8-4 success. The Tour is growing from strength to strength with several new additions this year which really enhance the reputation of what already is the leading eight ball Pool Tour in Great Britain.
Results

Peter Mullaney (pictured right) came through what must be the strongest ever field in the first Club Open of 2008. He beat Michael Barron in the deciding frame to take the title.
Results

CHILTON GOES UP A STEP.

After winning through from a Quarter-final group that also included World Champion Gareth Potts, International Masters Champion Darren Appleton and European Professional Champion Mick Hill, you would have thought that the winners cheque was destined to have Lee Cloughs name on it.

But you forgot about Rob Chilton who last weekend was beaten in the Final of the European Professional by Mick Hill and was in no mood to take another second place as he moved up a step to take the Professional Challenge title by 9 frames to 8. However not without a scare as Lee came storming back from a deficit of 8 frames to 3 to take the next 5 frames and move into a decider.   

To be fair both players had been in brilliant form throughout the event and it was fitting that the Final went all the way. After losing his 5 frame advantage, Rob was clearly under the cosh and the initiative was with Lee Clough. But real champions are made of hard stuff and in that final frame, after a bit of safety play, Rob pulled off the “shot of the tournament” to leave himself in perfect position to take the last couple of balls and sink the black.

The new season's starts with the first event on the 8th February and a welcome return to the Hilton at Wembley. With the IPA getting more popular there is an all time high entry of 220 players with a waiting list seeking to join the worlds top English 8ball tour.
Chris Melling (pictured right) is the new Tour number 1, Rankings but he is going to have to produce his best pool to stay there, with the likes of former World Champion's Gareth Potts and Mick Hill hot on his tail.
Complimenting the high standard of the existing tour players, this year sees some incredibly talented newcomers including Tom Cousins the current European Junior Champion plus fellow Welshman Ben Davies who has recently switched ranks and joined the IPA Tour to name just a few.
Add to these the return of former World Champion Carl Morris and Tim Singh previous Professional tornament winner it looks like its going to be a highly competitive season. Good luck to all those involved at the first event.

Chris Melling is the No1 . Rankings

Darren Appleton wins the International Masters 2007. Results

The Tornado’s still blowing

Two time World champion Jason Twist emerged victorious in the final event on the International Pool Tour calendar for 2007. Devon professional Twist had, by his own high standards had a poor season reaching only one quarter final in his previous five tour outings. But as the old adage goes “Form is temporary, class is permanent”. Read more...

Jon Sanders is Club Open 6 champion. Results