Tourneys
Topic: GB9 Midlands Classic

Well I think that went rather well this weekend!

Fantastic result from Imran - absolute class and I was delighted to see Thomas come through at the top of the Challenge division... And what an achievement from Phil Burford reaching the Pro final (take a look who he beat to get there!). ...And a great achievement from me beating in-form Phil the next day to get the all important top 32 spot in Croydon I could go on but I won't.

I must also apologise for not having updated the GB9 website more promptly with news and results. We would normally post these updates much quicker after the tournament is completed but unfortunately I've been very poorly this week and unable to do anything. Thankfully Shir helped get things updated on her day off and all the updates are now posted on the GB9 site along with the all important details of the next event.

I also want to say a big thank you to Ann, Steve and the team in Rileys Solihull. It was a tough weekend for them as, unfortunately due to unavoidable circumstances, they did not have as many staff as they had planned yet they worked flat out all weekend to help keep the players fed and watered and as tournament organisers they couldn't do enough to help us both before and during the tournament. This really is one of the best tournament venues in the UK (if not the best) and Ann and her team are a credit to Rileys.

Now, besides the awesome displays from the Maharaja, Ainsworth-Smith, Burford, Parker, Burton etc., what were the other big stories of the weekend? Who were the surprises?     Andy Appleton reaching the last 16 in his first event was no surprise to me, Dyno and a few others. What were the other big stories?

Gotta say a big well done to Lee,Shiley and the rest of the GB9BT crew for a great comp.

The comp was well run most of the tables were in good condition.

Well done to Thomas for winning the Challenge...i've gotta say i wanted Brad to win buts that's only coz he's a mate, but atleast i can say i lost to the winner...i could and probably should of beat Tom in the first round i was leading 7-6 played a few bad safetys and he dished up so fair play to him.

Nice to meet Dave and i liked to set up of the shop, also it was good to have the cue repair bloke(forgot his name) there too.

Imran was brilliant as usual, i was rooting for Raj against him after seeing him beat Andy Worthington but Imran is class...can't wait till Croyden

Big congratulations to Lee, Shir, Si and everyone involved in GB9 for a fantastic tournament. I have been around the game for a while and haven't been involved in a better run UK Tour tournament.

Well done to Dave and Andy with The Pro Shop, aswell as Pete and Angela with Cuesports TV.

Hurry up Croydon!

Many congrats to Lee (hope you are recovering now!) and Shir for all the amazing effort and hard work put into the event, it's the best comp i've ever played in!!!

Croydon can't happen quick enough for me, I never expected to enjoy myself so much in Solihull, the club is great to play in and it's about the 4th time i've played there but the 1st time i've done well!


Come on Croydon hurry up............

Get well soon Lee!

As a complete novice, I was pleased to have beaten Dharam Singh in Rd1 of the main event. He went on to do very well in the Challenge Cup, so that will give me a bit of confidence going into Croydon.
I am absoloutely desperate to keep my place on the tour if Solihull is measure of the future.
What makes it so much more enjoyable as a novice is the understanding and friendly attitude of the better players.
I lost quite heavily to Andy Nicholson and he was just as respectful as if I had taken him to the wire.
That sort of attitude is great from the opposition when you are learning the game.
I seen a guy called Tom Emes take Mark Gray to the hill only to lose at the final hurdle, very unfortunate. He showed some big balls and he will be one to look out for in the Challenge amongst the other top players.
I personally learnt more from the weekend than I ever would have done back in Cornwall.
I thought it a ridiculous idea after only one previous tournament, to spend so much money to try and learn the game but Solihull has now made the 2 hour round trip to practice in Plymouth a little bit easier to take!
Congrats to all involved, you should be extremly proud of your efforts.
Roll on Croydon, I want to at least win back my hotel money this time round! ha ha

well done to lee and shirley on a fantastically run event

hope the players support them both no matter what tables theyre playing on

was a fascinating experience meeting the faces behind the names and especially big dave didnt realise he was a viking

A viking?

My pick of the day has to be Dal singh getting to the last 8 of the challenge, won 9-8 three times in a row and this was his first main event, big congrats to him. Congratulations to all the team, who did a fantastic job running the event, cant wait for the next one

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Without wishing to stir it up, I thought it was mutually agreed that feedback of this nature was, in the interests of sponsors etc, kept away from the public forum.

Obviously the opinions of the better players need to be heard and respected but despite the field being levelled up by the factors mentioned; Its obvious that the cream rose to the top regardless.

I personally didnt notice that pockets were any bigger than usual and condsider myself well and truly snookered if they get any smaller! lol

yeah ur right forgot about that lol!

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Just watched the pro tube clip of Majid/Burford (second video along), am I right in saying that Imrans brake wasnt legal? He made 2 balls on break but didnt get a ball past baulk line.

I haven't seen it yet but if that's the case it wasn't legal, though it's up to the opponent to stop imran before he continues. Which rack was it in? In fact is the rack score shown as a caption? If not this would be a nice addition.

I think there were a couple of "dry" breaks from Imran ( which went unnoticed by the players) in that match but as Lee says it is up to the opponent to say something.

I did think at the time that at least the finals should have a ref if only for this point.


Please note , I am in no way suggesting that Imran realised they were "dry" and carried on anyway.

I saw a few players get away with it, or not notice anyway. The rule probably needs reinforcing at the next event as there were a few top players not realising. Quite frustrating when you are routing for a friend and you can't say anything, he, he!

yea, thing is alot of players dont want to stop the play. I'm sure some players probably dont say anything because it looks like the opponent has put a lot of effort into the break, and its clearly not a soft break, so dont bother to count.

Play can continue without having it stop and start as well

Everyone should call a dry break if it is not legal. Simple as that. They are the rules and even if you slaughter the break, if you don't score the 3 points, then you should call it.

I remembered after my matches that I had been concentrating so much on the game that I had not really been concentrating on the breaks and whether they were legal. That said, breaks against me were not soft breaks.

The rule did the job whether the players noticed the dry breaks or not as no one was intentionally soft breaking. I agree it would be nice to have a referee for the finals and it's something we had considered. It's really a matter of cost because not only do they need paying for reffing, they also have accomodation and travel expenses to take into account. It's not something we can really afford right now as the finances are very tight in season 1 and we don't want to reduce prize funds.

On:21 , Riggers Wrote:

u can do it lee if i buy u a dinner jacket