World Pool Edition 7

Emma's Euro joy Brew time Shaw fire thing

Just Great-Yarmouth

EPA round-up

Malta puts on

‘best ever’

Euros

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CONTENTS

Editor’s message Page 2

Geoff Wilson – E.P.A. Chairman Page 3

European Eightball Championships Page 4-18

Inter-County Finals – EPA Page 19

Inter-League Finals at Yarmouth Page 24

Scotland Reporting Page 28

UK POOL TOUR

Welcome to Tour Two 2014 Page 33

Report on Tour Five 2013 Page 34

Report on Tour Five Challenge 2013 Page 35

UK Tour & Challenge Rankings 2013 Page 36

World Masters 2014 Page 37

Report on Tour One 2014 Page 38

Premier League update Page 40

Report on Challenge Tour One 2014 Page 44

Tour Rankings after Tour One Page 48

Challenge Rankings after Tour One Page 49

World 2014 – Regional Qualifiers Page 50

Diary of Events Page 52

Administration Office20 South View, Bamford, Rochdale, OL11 5HU Tel: 01706 642770Email: [email protected]

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IT’s good to be back with this new issue ofWorld Pool and for a catch-up on what’sbeen happening on the 8-Ball scene.We make no apologies for heavily featur-ing the 2014 European Championships,successfully staged again in Malta.Some poor souls got left at home but thosein attendance definitely rated one of themost successful major tournaments everstaged. And that’s not just coming from theorganisers, often duty bound to come outwith such platitudes.

The people to really count are the playersand the feedback from them was thatMalta did everyone proud. So, congratula-tions to all the new champions, old cham-pions (no offence, Keith Brewer) and the‘not quite over the line’ champions whoplayed their part in a memorable time.So, no pressure then on the World 8-BallPool Federation when it comes to their turnagain to host the World Championships inBlackpool, now just a little over twomonths away. Ever since the ‘great divide’the Championships have been fascinatingto watch and harder than ever to predict awinner.I’m sure this year’s tournament will beno different, especially with the addedattraction of three former world championsexpected to rock up at Blackpool’s ImperialHotel. Phil Harrison, title winner in 2009, isalready back on the UK Tour after severalseasons away while Mick Hill, champion in2004 and 2010, is also due to return to theChampionships for the first time since2011.

And most recently has come confirmationthat Adam Davis from Stoke on Trent,champion in 2011, will be also be partici-pating meaning every men’s singles winnerfor the past five years will be in attendance.Having canvassed opinion about thereturns of Harrison and Rob Chilton to the

UK Tour this year, it is interesting to notethe overwhelming reaction has beenfavourable.And that response is to the credit of theexisting players who appear to havehappily put out the ‘welcome mat’ withoutanimosity caused by past political issues.Of course, it wouldn’t be pool withoutsome kind of civil war taking place. It reallybeggars belief everyone can’t worktogether for the betterment of the sport.Since last year’s World Championships, thePool Federation of Wales has resigned itsmembership of the WEPF and the EuropeanFederation.I am convinced the vast majority of playersjust want to get on with playing pool. Butunfortunately they pander to the minorityand those who shout loudest drown outeveryone else.However, there will still be strong Welshrepresentation at the ‘Worlds’ after therecent formation and acceptance of thenew Welsh Eightball Federation. For morethan two decades the ‘Tafia’ have beenvocal, passionate and above all verytalented competitors at the WorldChampionships and 2014 looks likely to beno different.Newcomers to the Worlds will be Cypruswhile Reunion Island are back for a secondcrack at the Championships after lastseason’s successful debut. The internationalflavour will be added to by the return ofNew Zealand players in the individualevents.

The Kiwis were involved at the outset of theWorld Championships way back in theearly 1990’s and it’s good to see themre-uniting with the pool fraternity.

Maybe common sense is prevailing afterall! Enjoy World Pool and happy cueing!

Trevor Baxter - World Pool editorEmail: [email protected]

INTERESTING TIMES..............AS ALWAYS

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As we move through 2014 the progress ofthe EPA continues to hit new levels. Ourfirst two National events at VauxhallHoliday Park, Great Yarmouth have alreadybeen done and dusted and were superblysupported by our members.

Firstly, in March was the Inter-County Finals,with sections in Men’s A and B, Ladies,Youth and Seniors.A new format was introduced to thiscompetition last year and players againflocked to the home of English 8 Ball Poolin their droves.

With this being our blue riband event, con-gratulations must go to all the teams thatparticipated, and special congratulations toall the section winners. The weekend alsosaw the England Team trials and all ournew team members can be viewed on theEPA website, www.epa.org.uk.

Since then we have had a new style Inter-league finals in April. This event has beenexpanded to take more teams and whilethere were a few minor teething problems,our team of organisers came through withflying colours and we had another out-standing tournament.

Norman’s Elite, from GMC, were the even-tual winners beating Peterborough in thefinal. With the continued success andsupport of these tournaments the EPA arepleased to report that the prize money hadbeen increased for these events. Indeed, allother events at VHP will also have increasedfunds for 2014.At the recent EPA AGM, the National Sec-retary - Ivor Edwards, Tournament Director– Alan Benton and Assistant Treasurer – SueSmith were all re-elected back into office.

The AGM was again well supported andthough there were 15 motions to debate,

there were no major changes within ourconstitution. Phyllis Sproat, a EPA assistantsecretary for nine years, was nominated forand accepted a place on the roll of honour.

We recently held talks with ‘Ambitions’(formerly Club’s for Young People) lookingto build further on our already extensiveyouth section.EPA will be administering their NationalFinals and in return they will be looking todevelop their players through their clubs toenter into the EPA system. They have over1700 clubs nationwide.

The 2014 European Championships was amagnificent event and EPA congratulatethe Malta Pool Association for hosting it.

England sent a full complement to all teamcompetitions and returned home winningevery event- a really great achievement! Abig thank you goes to all our players andofficials who represented the EPA.

What a start for the Reunion Islandswinning the men’s C team event at the firsttime of asking. We look forward to wel-coming them to the World Championshipsagain in June.Indeed, I am pleased to announce arecord number of teams will be travellingto Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel.We always look forward to seeing our oldfriends from Australia and South Africa,there will be ‘hellos’ for the first time toCyprus plus it will be good to catch up withplayers representing New Zealand.The EPA is always honoured to host theChampionships on behalf of the WEPF andwe believe that this year’s tournament willbe the biggest and best yet. We lookforward to seeing you all in Blackpool.

Geoff WilsonEPA Chairman

LOOKING GOOD IN 2014

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European Championships 2014

With a record number of 360 entries plus

highest prize fund yet of 16,500 euro, the

2014 European 8-Ball Pool Championships

staged by Malta has gone down as the

“best” European event ever staged.

The only down side for the hosts and

organising committee was the disappoint-

ment of missing a title as reward for all

their hard work unlike 2011 when Clayton

Attard celebrated a home tournament by

becoming European singles champion.

But while England claimed most of the

team honours, Maltese players featured in

a highly credible five finals; losing three of

them by a deciding frame only.

Players from French speaking, Reunion

Island, who delighted tournament bosses

with a first ever appearance at last season’s

WEPF World Championships, returned to

their European roots as guests. And they

didn’t turn up just to swell the numbers as

they became the first ever men’s C team

champions.

The Reunion contingent and fellow

invitees, Morocco , helped add a new

dimension to the Championships.

Bristol’s Ben Flack claimed the men’s

individual title with Northern Ireland cue

queen, Emma Cunningham, adding the

ladies equivalent to her world title at

Barbara Taylor’s expense. Golden oldie

Keith Brewer won his first European

Seniors crown.

Irish youngster Jamie Gaffney became the

new European Junior champion whilst

Channel Islander, Ryan Shaw, won his first

major title defeating England star Giuseppe

D’Imperio in the deciding frame of the

Under 21 event.

Away from the action, Vincent Degiorgio

and his brilliant Malta committee, working

witn the EEPF team of Shaun Baker, Stan

Grant and Yvonne Armitage produced a

tournament to remember, all centred

around the Dolmen resort hotel.

From the opening ceremony with its

fantastic laser display, through a week of

outstanding competitive pool, until the

spectacular closing ceremony with dancers

and champions’ reception, the week was

an outstanding and enjoyable time for all in

attendance.

The championships were also “streamed”

live and resulted in more than 25,000 hits

during the competition as well as the hun-

dreds of fans who flocked to the four star

Dolmen Resort Hotel at St Paul’s Bay.

A full report on each event is available in

this latest issue of World Pool Magazine,

downloadable on www.euro8ball.com

MALTA’S 2014 EUROPEAN 8-BALL POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS

‘THE BEST EVER’

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Ben Flack travels to the WEPF World8-Ball Pool Championships in Blackpool thissummer requiring one title to complete thesport's hallowed triple crown.

A former World Masters champion, Bristolbased Flack added the European title to hiscollection, making amends for his finaldefeat two years earlier. All that is nowmissing is the world crown and this 2013UK Tour champion certainly has the gameto complete his hat-trick.

Flack, however, was made to work hard forhis victory, taken to the wire in both hissemi-final and then the final againstexperienced Irishman, Rob Brady. But theEnglish international survived all the scaresto eventually scoop a 4,000 euro first prize.

“I knew I had a favourable draw early onso I hoped to get through those gamesand play myself into the tournament,”explained Flack.

“I knew I wasn’t playing 100 percentbefore I got there and I played really wellafter I got through those early matches.”

Welshman Drew Hughes proved a doggedopponent in the last 32 and Flack onlyedged through courtesy of a deciding 11thframe. Fewer lifelines were used up in thelast 16 as Malta's Ray Caruana wasbrushed aside 6-0. Flack made anotherMaltese cross when he then knocked outKevin Mercieca 7-3 to move into the semi-finals and a show down with Scotland's PatMcCarron.‘I was 2-0 down but then went 6-3 up,”recalled Flack. “Pat played well after thatto get it back to 6-all.

“In the last frame Pat broke, came up dryand I dished up.” Brady took out the dan-gerous Guiseppe D'Imperio, runner-up toKeith Brewer in 2012, in the last four andthreatened to become the Republic ofIreland's first winner since StephenDempsey defeated Neil Davey in 2007.“I could not shake Rob off,” said Flack.“But having lost to Jack Pople in the 2012final, I didn’t want to come this far and loseagain.”Flack led 3-2, 5-3 and 7-5 but couldn't getover the line. “I had two shots to win at 7-5 but made a big mistake,” he admitted.

“I began to think I had missed my chanceas Rob got back to 7-all. In the decider,itwas a bit of a blur.

“I made a good shot towards the end andeventually potted the black. “It’s hard tochoose which one between the Mastersand the European I would put in front ofeach other. But this is certainly right upthere.

“I am just delighted to have won it. Now Ijust need the World title for a full set.

“I am happy with the way I am playing andhopefully I can have a good Tour this week-end.“It’s always been a good Tour and it is ashame what happened in the past.“So, it’s good to have some of the boysback. I am not saying it was devalued butyou know there were players missing,

“You want to win when you are playingthe best and I am sure I’m like a lot ofplayers who just wants the Tour to be asstrong as it possibly can.”

FLACK ATTACK-BEN BAGSANOTHER MAJOR TITLE

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Three years after beating Michelle Rooneyto become European ladies singleschampion in Malta, Emma Cunninghamreturned to the George Cross Island to liftthe trophy again.This time, England cap-tain, Barbara Taylor, opposed the NorthernIreland international as she had done in lastyear’s WEPF World 8-Ball Pool final. Unfor-tunately for Taylor but happily for Cun-ningham, the outcome was the same. Anda 7-3 victory completed a victorious coupleof months for the Newry born star aftercapturing the National Champion ofChampions at Amy Beauchamp’s expenseand also beating Jeanette Baptiste in theLadies’ Midlands Tour Grand Final.“I knew 'Babs' would be out for revengeafter the Worlds,” said Cunningham.“Early in the match she stormed into a 3-1lead and was on a straight forward blackto go 4-1 up. “At that stage I was gettingworried but luckily for me and unexpect-edly she missed. I cleared and don’t re-member missing a ball after that.“I was so happy to have won the title withsuch a strong field of players. With this, thesupport I had from all my Northern Irelandfriends and team mates as well as friendsfrom other National sides, it made for agreat atmosphere and made me moredetermined.“So, huge thanks to them and also Malta.They always organise some of the best andmost memorable events. I love it there!”Emma Wilkinson arrived in Malta asdefending champion but lost 5-2 againstNatalie Bunce in the last 32. Wilkinsonsucceeded Beauchamp as title holder butthe 2012 winner also went out at the samestage.Taylor, champion in 2003, openedher campaign with a 5-0 whitewashof Cunningham’s team mate, DeniseWarrington. The champion elect started bybrushing aside Cecile Ravoisier from Franceby the same margin.

“I cued pretty well after getting my handon the table and Northern Ireland winning12-3 against England Bs the previousnight,” explained Cunningham.“In the second round I faced a good friendand team mate Michelle Rooney. After atwo and a half hour fight to reach 4-4,Michelle gave me a chance to win 5-4 andI grabbed it.“In round three, I had anotherfight on my hands with previous WorldMasters champion Sharon Dickson, an-other good friend and former Kent teammate.“This game was very attacking with fewmistakes and went to the wire. At 4-3 up,I hung up a black leaving the white rea-sonably safe.“However, Sharon pulled off a world classtreble on her last ball for a decider. At 4-4,Sharon broke and went for the clearance.She missed and I cleared up to progress tothe quarter final against another formerMasters winner, Michelle Brown.“After having two very close matches Ibelieved I could win the tournament if Iremained calm and maintained theconsistency I’d shown.“Instead, I went 2-0 down and had to digdeep. After that I never missed a pot,stormed 5-3 ahead in about 20 minutesand eventually won 6-4.“In the semis, I played my former Kentcaptain, ‘Jools’ Fane. She went ahead 2-0and missed a pot for 3-0. I pinched thatframe and had momentum and experienceon my side to win 6-2 and reach the final.”Taylor survived a testing 5-4, last 32 victoryover Sharon Lunn, didn’t drop a frame inher next two outings before squeezing pastLyndsey Roberts 6-5 in the semis.Both finalists attempted to join Kim O’Brienand Carly Smith as two-time winners but itwas Cunningham who got the verdict tomake her the one to beat at this year’sWorld Championships.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS TO MALTA

FOR WORLD CHAMPION EMMA

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Ladies Champion Emma Cunningham and Runner-up Barbara Taylor

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Jamie Gaffney sank the final 8-Ball to clinchthe European Junior title and admitted:“It’s the closest I’ve come to crying for awhile.”The 17-year-old defeated local star, ScottMuscat, 7-6 to finally silence the home fansbut delight his own supporters.“I barely dreamed this would happen,”said the County Leitrim teenager who twoyears ago couldn’t even catch the Republicof Ireland junior team. In succeedingEngland’s Louis Heathcote, he alsobecomes the Republic of Ireland’s first everEuro junior potting prince.Now, he joins a roll of honour that includescurrent world champion, Tom Cousins andformer winners, Adam Davis and GarethPotts“I’ve not played as much pool as years pre-vious so I am really pleased. I just tried tokeep laid back all through the tournamentand didn’t let anything get into my head.“I’ve only been playing pool for about fouryears and this is by far the biggest thing Ihave won,” said Gaffney who combinescollege studies with a part time job as apetrol pump attendant at a local conven-ience store.

Gaffney was certainly not running onempty as the tournament reached its finalstages. After beating Muscat’s compatriotand 2013 runner-up, Ryan Pisani, 6-2 inthe quarters he came up against reigningWEPF World Junior champion, Carl Martin.Martin led 4-3 but claimed two of the nextthree frames to level at 5-all. “The lastframe was really nerve-wracking,” recalledGaffney. “Fortunately for me I managed toget through.“I actually wasn’t as nervous in the final.Neither Scott or me had won a majortournament before so I believed it wasanyone’s game.”Muscat certainly had the majority of thecrowd on his side. But Gaffney was wellsupported by his own team mates plus palsfrom other nations.“I went 6-5 up but managed to snookermyself on the black,” he recalled. “Eventhough Scott made it 6-all I just tried toblank out that miss.“I put it to the back of my mind and notlet it affect me. Thankfully, I didn’t and Iheld myself together. It was a fantasticfeeling to win.”u

GAFFNEY’S ALL PUMPED UP

Finalist - Scott Muscat (Malta) & Junior Champion - Jamie Gaffney (Ireland)

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Of all this year’s European championsfew were more deserving of a title thanChannel Islander, Ryan Shaw.

And the Jersey boy victory over Englandrival, Giuseppe D’Imperio, also ensured hisparticipation at this weekend’s Tour.Few players have shown more commit-ment or invested as much money in thepool cause than 20-year-old Shaw.Just to fly over for this weekend’s Tour andFestival of Pool will set him back the bestpart of £400. His annual travel and accom-modation costs come to around £5,000.“I owe a massive amount to my mum,Sharon, and dad, Mark, who have helpedme through,” said Shaw after a gripping 7-6 win over D’Imperio. “Without them Icouldn’t have done it“I get a little bit of a supplement from acompany over here towards the Europeansand the Worlds,” he explained. “But therearen’t too many over here who will helpout.“Hopefully I might get a bit more after thiswin,” said the new European Under 21champion. “To be honest, I wasn’t goingto come to this Tour because I couldn’t re-ally afford it.“But the prize money at the Europeans hasgone towards my flight and accommoda-tion.”Shaw edged out John Bowkett 5-4 in thequarters before accounting for England’sJordan O’Connor. D’Imperio was certainlythe class act in the field though Callum Sin-gleton made him fight all the way in thelast eight.

Even Shaw, a former long distance War-wickshire County junior prospect, admittedD’Imperio was the man to beat.

“I was the underdog in the final going upagainst Giuseppe,” he confirmed. “Every-one knows he is one of the best cueistsabout.

“To go up against him. I knew I would haveto be at my best to win it. And it is defi-nitely the best thing I have won by a longway.

“It was the biggest Europeans there hasever been as well so to come out winningwas a massive achievement. This was mylast year as an Under 21 so it was the per-fect way to go out.

“Hopefully, too it will encourage a fewmore Islanders with their pool and toknow something like this is possible. Forme, it’s certainly given me a lot of optimismfor the rest of the year.”

UNDER 21 TITLE SHAWFEELS GOOD FOR RYAN

Ryan Shaw (Channel Islands)

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Men’s Singles:Last 32: Nigel Olding (England) bt Michael Harron(Northern Ireland) 6-3, Miguel Falzon (Malta) bt ScottKennedy (Scotland) 6-3, Danny Davies (England) btWayne Bonnici (Malta) 6-5, Robert Brady (Republic ofIreland) bt Anton Cuschieri (Malta) 6-4, Rob Wharne(England) bt Sebastien Ramier (France) 6-3, MattO’Hara (Republic of Ireland) bt Simon Sciberras (Malta)6-0, Giuseppe D’Imperio (England) bt Darren Price(England) 6-3, Johan Attard (Malta) bt Jason Mifsud(Malta) 6-5. Pat McCarron (Scotland) bt Frank Wright(Northern Ireland) 6-1, Keith Brewer (England) btMario Cutajar (Malta) 6-4, Joe Prince (England) btJimmy Moore (Northern Ireland) 6-3, John Roe (Eng-land) bt Willie Reilly (Republic of Ireland) 6-2, MichaelHope (England) bt John Bowkett (England) 6-3, KevinMercieca (Malta) bt Stephen Dempsey (Republic of Ire-land) 6-5, Ray Caruana (Malta) bt Luke Bowry (Eng-land) 6-2, Ben Flack (England) bt Drew Hughes(Wales) 6-5..

Last 16: Falzon bt Olding 6-4, Brady bt Davies 6-5,Wharne bt O’Hara 6-2, D’Imperio bt Attard 6-5, Mc-Carron bt Brewer 6-1, Roe bt Prince 6-1, Mercieca btHope 6-3, Flack bt Caruana 6-0.

Quarter-finals: Brady bt Falzon 7-4, D’Imperio btWharne 7-3, McCarron bt Roe 7-6, Flack bt Mercieca7-3.

Semi-finals: Brady bt D’Imperio 7-5, Flack bt McCar-ron 7-6.

Final: Flack bt Brady 8-7.

Under 21’s:Last 16: Luke Bowry (England) bt Troy Zammit (Malta)5-1, Tom Church (England) bt Niall O’Hare (NorthernIreland) 5-0, Giuseppe D’Imperio (England) bt StephenMilner (Scotland) 5-0, Callum Singleton (England) btAnthony Podevyn (Belgium) 5-2, Dylan Cassari (Malta)bt Cameron Gunn (Scotland) 5-0, Ryan Shaw (Chan-nel Islands) bt John Bowkett (England) 5-4, JordanO’Connor (England) bt Lothar Mallia (Malta) 5-2, MattBarker (Channel Islands) bt Adam Toms (England) 5-4.

Quarter-finals: Bowry bt Church 5-3, D’Imperio btSingleton 5-4, Shaw bt Cassar 5-3, O’Connor btBarker 5-1.

Semi-finals: D’Imperio bt Bowry 6-1, Shaw btO’Connor 6-2.

Final: Shaw bt D’Imperio 7-6.

Junior:Last 16: Scott Muscat (Malta) bt Louis Heathcote(England) 5-3, Morgan Thomas (Republic of Ireland)bt Christ Zaffarese (Malta) 5-3, Jordan Doyle (Repub-lic of Ireland) bt Ben Doyle (Republic of Ireland) 5-1,James Charlwood (England) bt Ryan Falzon (Malta) 5-2, Dejan Grech (Malta) bt Michael Scally (Republic ofIreland) 5-2, Carl Martin (Northern Ireland) bt AdamMaher (Republic of Ireland) 5-1, Ryan Pisani (Malta)bt Kyle Murphy (Republic of Ireland) 5-4, Jamie

Gaffney (Republic of Ireland) bt Jordan Synnott (Re-public of Ireland) 5-0.

Quarter-finals: Muscat bt Thomas 6-4, Doyle btCharlwood 6-2, Martin bt Grech 6-4, Gaffney btPisani 6-2.

Semi-finals:Muscat bt Doyle 6-4, Gaffney bt Martin6-5.

Final: Gaffney bt Muscat 7-6.

Senior:Last 16: Keith Brewer (England) bt Marcel Micallef(Malta) 5-1, Tonio Mifsud (Malta) bt Malcolm Brooks(England) 5-4, Frank Wright (Northern Ireland) btTwanny Mifsud (Malta) 5-1, Alfred Attard (Malta) btShane Robinson (England) 5-4, Noel Stones (England)bt Joseph Aquilina (Malta) 5-4, Stacey Vine (England)bt Tony Kay (England) 5-1, Nigel Olding (England) btPatrick Farrelly (Republic of Ireland) 5-3, Bob Love(England) bt Bill Rigby (England) 5-3.

Quarter-finals: Brewer bt Mifsud 5-2, Wright bt At-tard 5-0, Vine bt Stones 5-2, Olding bt Love 5-0.

Semi-finals: Brewer bt Wright 6-1, Vine bt Olding 6-4.

Final: Brewer bt Vine 7-5.

Ladies:Last 32: Barbara Taylor (England) bt Sharon Lunn(England) 5-4, Sandra Bryan (Republic of Ireland) btKyli Williams (Wales) 5-0, Aurelie Leneveu (France) btSandra Simpson (Wales) 5-4, Rachel Sutton (ChannelIslands) bt Theresa Sheridan (England) 5-4, LeannePearce (Wales) bt Amy Beauchamp (England) 5-3, Lyn-dsey Roberts (England) bt Emma Senior (England) 5-4, Jo Kent (Northern Ireland) bt Sue Osborn (England)5-2, Sharon Wright (England) bt Angela Tidball (Scot-land) 5-2.Kim O’Brien (Republic of Ireland) bt Anne-Louise Arkle (England) 5-3, Julie Fane (England) btCeline Mendes-Soares (France) 5-1, Collette Henrik-sen (Wales) bt Joe Coe (Northern Ireland) 5-0,Michaela Lester (England) bt Karin Burt (Scotland) 5-4, Natalie Bunce (Wales) bt EmmaWilkinson (England)5-2, Michelle Brown (England) bt Jodie Holt (Scotland)5-2, Sharon Dickson (Wales) bt Stacey Hancock(Northern Ireland) 5-1, Emma Cunningham (NorthernIreland) bt Michelle Rooney (Northern Ireland) 5-4.

Last 16: Taylor bt Bryan 5-0, Leneveu bt Sutton 5-2,Roberts bt Pearce 5-4, Kent bt Wright 5-4, Fane btO’Brien 5-1, Lester bt Henriksen 5-4, Brown bt Bunce5-2, Cunningham bt Dickson 5-4.

Quarter-finals: Taylor bt Leneveu 6-0, Roberts btKent 6-1, Fane bt Lester 6-3, Cunningham bt Brown6-4.

Semi-finals: Taylor bt Roberts 6-5, Cunningham btFane 6-2.

Final: Cunningham bt Taylor 7-3.

European Championships Results....

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Keith Brewer completed his collection ofmajor Seniors titles with victory over formerEngland team mate, Stacey Vine.The 52-year-old Poole based star defeatedhis Northamptonshire rival 7-5 in the finalafter beating Northern Ireland’s FrankWright 6-1 in the semi-finals.“I was targeting this one,” confirmed the2013 European champion, adding hisname to a roll of honour including RogerHunt, Tony Kay, Bill Rigby and Alistair Bailie.“I had won the National, the World andevery Senior Tour I had played in.“But I had never won the European - untilnow. And after last season’s WorldChampionships, when I had a terrible time,this victory was really pleasing.”Brewer started firm favourite though Vinealso appears to be getting better with age.And he was certainly determined to addthe Euro crown to his World title.“Stacey still plays an awesomely goodgame,” agreed Brewer. “It’s a shame he isnot on the Seniors Tour.“I think he was going to come on butbecause of work commitments he couldn’tcommit. We enjoy the challenge of playingeach other and our European final was oneof the best matches I have played in for along time.”Brewer is now targeting the return ofhis World Seniors title in Blackpool thissummer. And playing in golden oldiescomps has given him a new lease of life.“Some people were unaware there is sucha huge Seniors scene on the horizon,” heexplained.“But suddenly players are taking interestand coming back to play. It’s good to seesome of the old faces.“My game is in pretty good shape if youtake my age into account, I can still hold

my own with all the top players.“I still go into games thinking I can beat thetop players. If I didn’t think that I wouldn’tplay on it.”Brewer is the most prominent of theveteran players on the UK Tour. And whilethey’re not in the same age bracket,Brewer is pleased to see the Tour returns offormer world champion, Phil Harrison andRob Chilton.“More players are coming back to the Tourwhich I thought would happen,” he con-firmed. “There will be some notable playerswho will never come back but the ones Ithought would come back are doing.“It is a good thing; I am not shocked and Iam sure the other players are not. Theremay be some resentment towards thembut not from me. I haven’t got a problemwith them. I don’t hold grudges.“Everyone has to do their own things. Weall make mistakes. They have come to theirsenses and come back.”

BREWER IS NUMBER ONEEURO’S SENIOR CITIZEN

Keith Brewer (England)

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Mens Team Champions - England ‘A’

Defending champions Malta very nearly re-tained their title won last year in Blackpool,but were beaten by a top class decidingframe winner by England, although eitherteam would have made worthy championsin one of the best matches ever played todecide a European title.

It was that man Ben Flack who completedhis 3rd win in the final match defeating for-mer European Champion Clayton Attardwho himself was seeking a hat trick ofwins. Both players had enjoyed a greattournament in the round robin stages withboth winning 18 frames, which put themin joint 3rd position in the final table.However it was Flack who would take thehonours and win the prestigious 2014Mens “A” title for his country, taking re-venge against Malta who knocked outEngland at the semi-final stage last year.

Ironic that Anton Cuschieri won the framethat took the final tie into decider, defeat-ing 2012 World Champion John Roe. Itwas of course Anton who won the finalframe last year to give Malta the 2013 title.Drew Hughes with 20 wins was “A” TeamPlayer of the Tournament, followed byChrist Tabone of Malta who was only onewin behind.

Malta had defeated Ireland by 8 frames to6 in the semi’s whilst England were victori-ous against Wales by the same score.

In the round robin stages the only gamethat Malta lost was against N. Ireland,whilst England won six of their 8 fixtureslosing to their final opponents Malta by 8frames to 7, before reversing the scorelinein the Grand Final.

ENGLAND SPOIL HOME PARTY

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PRICE IS RIGHT FOR ENGLAND

Mens ‘B’ Team Champions - England

As with the men’s A team final, the ‘B’event ended with a shootout betweenMalta and England.And the match proved to be far closer thanmost observers had predicted after theround robin stages.England had won all nine games in the preknockout stages, including a 12-3 runawayagainst the hosts.So, when favourites England led 4-1 afterthe first session, a repeat score line lookeda distinct possibility. Instead, the rival na-tions provided an outstanding contest.Malta reversed the first session score line inthe second and then won two of the nextthree lines to take a slender advantage.Just when things were looking bleak forthe favourites, Mark Singleton levelled thecontest and Darren Price became the herowith his win in the 15th frame.Malta qualified for the last four after losingonly once-to England-in the round robin

phase together with the Republic of Irelandand France.The French only made it, however, by thetightest of margins, progressing at Scot-land’s expense courtesy of the head-to-head ruling. It was another disappointingevent for the Scots who were defendingtheir trophy.France proved no match for England in thesemis losing 8-1 while Malta defeated Re-public of Ireland 8-7. The Irish had been inexcellent form at the start of the event,winning all six opening games before tail-ing away.The French appear to be showing a renais-sance as they also provided the B player ofthe tournament in Remy Penmellen whodropped only six of his 27 frames. Heshared the award with Malta’s StephenMangion while the next three positionswere all filled by Englishmen: Joe Prince,Darren Price and Mark Singleton.

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Mens ‘C’ Team Champions - Reunion Island

Okay, so Reunion Island isn’t part of Europebut its French speaking population doeslove the game of pool.And its players were popular visitors to lastseason’s WEPF World Championships inBlackpool.So, an invite to compete as guests at theEuropean Championships was never goingto be rejected. However, after their unlikelyvictory in the first ever European men’s Cteam event, Malta, in particular, might nothave been so charitableThere were few signs of the things to comeduring the round robin stages as Malta andNorthern Ireland dominated. Both won sixout of seven games with the home countrytopping the table by virtue of their 10-5win over the Ulstermen.The Islanders, who becameWEPF memberslast year, played steadily if unspectacularlyto register four victories, the same as theChannel Islands.In the first semi-final, Malta made it threeteam finals out of three with an 8-2 suc-cess over the Channel Islanders. However,

the first indication of things to comearrived when Reunion ousted NorthernIreland 8-2 in the second semi-final.When the teams had met earlier in thecompetition, Northern Ireland won 8-7.With three of the top four places in theaverages filled by Maltese cuemen, it was ano brainer to suggest a home win in thefinal.Instead, and inspired by Damien Grondin,Reunion raced into a 5-0 first session lead.The next four frames were shared beforeGrondin defeated Manuel Mallia tocomplete a remarkable 8-2 success.Mallia was the “C” division player of thetournament courtesy of 19 wins in 21frames. Joseph Mifsud finished runner-upwith 16 out of 21, Grondin was third(15/19) with Malta’s Christ Mills fourth with15 out of 21.With eight nations competing, despiteEngland’s absence, the event proved thecurrent strength in depth and appetite forinternational pool.

GUESTS GATECRASH HOME

PARTY TO SEIZE SILVERWARE

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Ladies Team Results:

Semi-finals: England ‘A’ bt England ‘B’ 8-3,INorthern Ireland bt Wales 8-4.

Final: England ‘A’ bt Northern Ireland 8-4

LadiesTeam Champions - England

When the current world champions,Northern Ireland, play the reigningEuropean champions - England - there isevery chance of a titanic match and thefinal of the 2014 European Championshipsproved no exception.England dominated in the round robinstages, winning all nine matches, includinga 10-5 victory over the ‘Nordies.’The Ulster girls finished runners-up withWales A and England B third and fourth re-spectively. The semi-finals duly went to planwith England A proving too strong for a Bside including the likes of Anne-LouiseArkle and Sharon Lunn.Wales lost 10-5 to the world champs in theround robin stage and couldn’t prevent an8-4 defeat in the last four to ensure adream final.Despite their earlier set back, the ‘Nordies’fancied their chances. They dominated theaverages with Michelle Rooney topping thetable with 24 wins from 27 frames. Worldindividual champion, Emma Cunningham,claimed second spot with 22 victories fromher 27 outings while Jo Kent won 21 from27.Collette Hendriksen (Wales B) and SharonDickson (Wales A) were joint fourth with 19

wins while Amy Beauchamp was England’shighest ranked player dropping just threeof her 21 games.A close match always seemed likely and soit proved in the first session as NorthernIreland edged 3-2 in front. Back came thedefending champions in session two withfour of the next five frames.Would the English girls crack underthe pressure as they did at the WorldChampionships last July? The answerwas an emphatic ‘no’ as Beauchamp andformer Euro individual champ, EmmaWilkinson, claimed the next two frames tocomplete an 8-4 win.Next it is the turn of Northern Ireland to puttheir world title on the line. But with otherladies’ sides improving all the time and theWelsh likely to be stronger at Blackpool thisyear, the 2014 World ladies championshippromises to be a fascinating event.

BEAUCHAMP, WILKINSON GIVEENGLAND EDGE IN LADIES FINAL

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Juniors Team Results:

Semi-finals: England bt Malta 8-5,Ireland ‘A’ bt Ireland ‘B’ 8-4.

Final: England bt Ireland ‘A’ 8-2

Junior Team Champions - England

At the 2013 European Championships, theRepublic of Ireland’s juniors registered oneof the biggest shocks of the event bytaking home the team trophy.Their 8-4 victory ended England’s 11-yearreign as junior champions and the Irishprospects arrived on Malta determined todefend their prize.However, on their home tables, the hostsexpected to go one better than 2011 whenfinishing runners-up to England.As for the former certainties, they appearedto be making up the numbers and nothingduring the round robin stage suggested itwas going to be anything but a Maltese/Ireland finale.The Maltese side won all its five gamesincluding an 11-4 win over the English andan 8-7 victory over the Irish.England’s new look squad managed threesuccesses, one more than Ireland B. Inan all-Ireland semi-final, the A teamprogressed courtesy of an 8-4 win leavingEngland trying to avenge their earlier set-back against a powerful Maltese outfit.Aaron Davies was the only English player topenetrate the top seven in the averages

with 12 victories from 15 frames. Other-wise, the table was dominated by Malteseand Irish players.Home star Ryan Pisani was top potter with14 wins from 15, closely followed by DejanGrech (13/15) and Scott Muscat (12/15).AdamMaher (11/14), individual champion,Jamie Gaffney (10/14) and Michael Scully(9/13) were the leading Irish players.However, whatever was said between theround robin and knockout stages to theEnglish team obviously did the trick.Despite the odds stacked against them,they took out the Maltese 8-5 beforemauling the Irish 8-2 in the final.Maher and Jordan Doyle were Ireland’s onlywinners as Louis Heathcote (2), Davies (2),Aaron Cooper (2), James Charlwood andCameron Cunningham powered Englandto a 12th victory in the last 13 years.

BACK ON TOP - ENGLANDREDISCOVER WINNING HABIT

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Under 21’s Team:Semi-finals: England ‘A’ bt England ‘B’ 5-3,Malta bt Northern Ireland 5-0.

Final: England ‘A’ bt Malta 5-1.

Under 21's Team Champions - England A

John Bowkett fittingly guided England A’s‘Dream Team’ to victory in a final EuropeanChampionship appearance before movingto Australia to continue his studies.Bowkett won both his frames as thefavourites defeated Malta 5-1 in the final.Giuseppe D’Imperio, runner-up to KeithBrewer in last year’s main event, also wontwo frames with Tom Church completingthe nap hand.

England’s strength in depth at this level issuch that they could even afford to leaveout Callum Singleton who finished secondin the averages!

England A won all five round robinmatches, one more than their B team ofLuke Bowry, Jordan O’Connor and DannyDavies ,who they faced in the semi-finals.After a 5-4 win in the early stages, EnglandA recorded a 5-3 victory at the penultimatehurdle while Malta whitewashed a muchfancied Northern Ireland outfit 5-0 in theother semi-final.Only Dylan Cassar showed any resistance

in the final to continue his excellent show-ing in the tournament. He was an individ-ual quarter-finalist as well as third in theaverages with 10 wins from 15 matches.

Bowkett also topped the stats, winning allbut one of his 12 frames in the groupgames. Singleton, unlucky to miss out onthe final, dropped only two frames whileChurch was fourth with nine wins from 12frames.

England’s domination at Under 21 level, al-beit not in the individual competition whenChannel Islander, Ryan Shaw, came out ontop, makes them favourites for the 2014World Championships. However, last year’srunners-up Morocco, and mighty Australiamay have something to say in the finalshowing.

TAKE A BOW, SONAUSTRALIA BOUND JOHN’S TITLE FAREWELL

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England’s ascent to become EuropeanSeniors team champions was not a shock.However, the fact it was the ‘B’ team andnot the ‘A’ team-the reigning World 8-Ballchampions-proved the surprise.There was no hint of an upset as thefavourites steamrollered their way throughthe round robin stages winning all eightgames including an 8-1 victory over theirsecond string.The champions elect also lost to Irelandthough they did finish runners-up in thegroup phase.Keith Brewer, who went on to win theindividual title, topped the averages losingjust four of his 21 frames. Home favouriteAlfred Attard also claimed 17 wins fromthree more visits before Tony Kay (16/17)and Stacey Vine (16/19) continued Eng-land’s dominance.Malcolm Brooks (15/18) was England B’shighest ranked cue man in the averages.Ironically then that Brooks lost both hissemi-final frames as Noel Stones (2), ShaneRobinson (2) and Bill Rigby defeatedEngland A 5-3.

Malta reached the final with a 5-4 victoryover the Irish trio of: Patrick Farrelly, PeterLucas and Brian Maguire with Attardclinching the all-important decider.And so to the final. The first session wentto England as Brooks and Stones defeatedMarcel Micallef and Tonio Mifsud whileAttard beat Shane Robinson.Malta reversed the second session asMicallef and Mifsud came good. Brooks’defeat to Mifsud was his last action of thefinal as 2011 and 2012 individual seniorschampion, Rigby, replaced him.It was a brave decision as England stuck byShane Robinson who had lost his two pre-vious frames. And it proved a masterstroke.Stones lost to Micallef but Rigby and thenRobinson took out Attard and Mifsud tocomplete a famous win.

Seniors Team Champions - England B

SHANE SHINES AS ENGLAND BUPSET SENIORS FORMBOOK

Seniors Team:Semi-finals: England ‘B’ bt England ‘A’ 5-3,Malta ‘A’ bt Ireland 5-4.

Final: England ‘B’ bt Malta A 5-4.

For full results visit www.wepf.org

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English Inter-County Finals

Leicestershire are the new Inter CountyMen’s A team champions after a 23-19victory over defending champions,Somerset at Vauxhall Holiday Park, GreatYarmouth.

Somerset made a good start by winningthe first three frames but at halfwaythe champions elect led 12-10. WhenLeicestershire took the penultimate leg 7-4to make it 19-14 the winning line was insight.

The West Countrymen did their best tokeep a grip on the trophy down the final legbut Leicestershire wouldn’t be denied.Indeed, the new champions had to fighteven harder in the semi-final against thepotting powerhouse that is Staffordshire.

A classic game saw Staffs leading 18-15after three legs only for a remarkableturnaround. Seven successive frames gaveLeicestershire a 22-18 advantage beforeStaffs forced a play-off taking four in a row.

LEICESTERSHIRE STUN CHAMPS TO TAKE ‘A TEAM’ PRIZE

BUT WEST MIDLANDS ARE KNOCKOUT IN THE CUP

Inter-County Team Champions - Leicester A

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In the play-off, Tem Dixon and Rob Wharnetraded frames before John Bowkett pro-duced a final clearance to clinch the semi.

Staffordshire enjoyed a comfortable start tothe tournament with a 23-10 win overNorth Yorkshire while Leicestershire tookout Warwickshire 23-16.

Neil Brittain and Ritchie Foxall won twoframes for West Midlands in a play-offagainst Cheshire while Northamptonshireenjoyed a 23-19 win over London.

Gaz Royds, and Mike Giles won two framesfor Lancashire in their play-off with Bristolwhile Somerset also moved forward cour-tesy of a 24-22 play-off victory over Essex.In the quarters, Staffordshire defeated localrivals West Midlands 23-19 while Leicester-shire took out Northants 23-15. Lancashireand Somerset completed the semi-finalline-up.

In the KO Cup final, West Midlands got offto a flyer taking the first leg againstCheshire 10-1.However, Cheshire turnedthe tables by taking the second leg 9-2. Inthe third leg, West Midlands edged home6-5 to lead 18-15 and finally picked up thetrophy with a 23-18 win. Cheshire beatBristol 23-21 in the semi-finals while theeventual champions took out Essex 22-15.

In the men’s B final, Leicestershire pro-gressed to another final with Staffordshireopposing them. This time, the East Mid-lands team could only finish with the con-solation prize as Staffordshire got theirnoses in front early and finally ran out 23-17 winners.In the semis, ‘Staffs’ beat Derbyshire 23-18

and Leicestershire knocked out Warwick-shire 23-16..

The competition threw up some closematches with Marcus Harrison and AlexMolloy winning a play-off for Derbyshireagainst Greater Manchester.

Another play-off was needed to separateLancashire and Warwickshire withStan Makh and James Stokes takingWarwickshire through. They were joined byBerkshire, Staffordshire, Cleveland,Northumberland, Leicestershire andNorthants.

In the quarters, Derbyshire beat Berkshire23-17, Staffs beat Cleveland by the samescore, Leicestershire knocked out Northum-berland 23-19, while Warwickshire ac-counted for Northants 23-20.

In the Knockout Cup final, .Surrey scoredan unlikely win over Cornwall after twoone-sided semi-finals.

The Cornishmen made a first bolt for thewinning post by taking the first leg 6-3.However, Surrey claimed 15 of the next 22frames to lead 18-15. With both sides win-ning five frames in the final leg, Surreyclinched the final 23-20.

The semis saw Cornwall swamp Cleveland23-7 while Surrey defeated Lancashire 23-11.

In the quarters: Cleveland beat Somerset23-19, Surrey had a comfortable 23-11 winover Berkshire, Cornwall edged outNorthants 23-21, and Lancashire defeatedNorthumberland 23-11.

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Kent were in seventh heaven after their lat-est title success at Somerset’s expense.

Somerset defeated Cleveland 23-18 in thesemis while 'Notts' knocked out ‘Staffs.’.Earlier, Polly Almond and Lindsay Lloyd woncrucial frames to give Lancashire a play-offvictory over Leicestershire.

Cleveland beat GMC 23-17, Somerset hada big win over Northants 23-10, Devonbeat Oxfordshire 23-16 while Suffolkedged out West Midlands 23-21.

Hot favourites Kent trounced East Yorkshire23-3, Nottinghamshire beat Hampshire 23-12 and Staffordshire knocked out Cam-bridgeshire 23-13.

In the last eight, Cleveland had a comfort-able win over Lancashire, Somerset beatneighbours Devon 23-6, Kent had an easy23-10 win against Suffolk while 'Notts'beat ‘Staffs’ 23-19.

In the KO Cup, Lancashire defeatedStaffordshire 23-15 after beating Suffolk23-12 in the semi-finals.

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN FOR KENT LADIES

Inter-County Ladies Team Champions - Kent

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22

E.P.A. Inter-County Finals

The absence of 2012 and 2013 champi-ons, Cleveland, paved the way for newjunior champions and it was Leicestershirewho picked up the baton, beating Lan-cashire in the final.

After a tight first leg, Leicester took con-trol winning eight of the next 11 frames,eventually finishing 23-17 victors. The newchampions had to battle much harder toovercome Staffordshire 23-20 in the semi-finals while Lancashire breezed past WestMidlands 23-12.

In the Knockout Cup, Sussex and Bedford-shire produced a rollercoaster final. ‘Beds’made a flying start winning the first session

8-3 but back came Sussex winning 7-4.A 7-4 reverse in leg three gave Bedford-shire a 19-14 advantage only for Sussex todraw level at 20-all after a fantastic effort.However, ‘Beds’ regained their composureto win three of the final four frames totake the match 23-21.

London, Sussex, Northants and Suffolkwent through to the quarter finals wherethey were joined by Bristol, Warwickshire,Bedfordshire, and Somerset.

Bristol, Sussex, ‘Beds’ and Somerset pro-gressed to the penultimate round where‘Beds’ defeated Bristol 23-14 and Sussexedged Somerset 23-21.

Inter-League Team Champions - Leicester A

Inter-County Junior Team Champions - Leicester

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Last but by no means least were the Seniors.There were some close first round matcheswith GMC, Northamptonshire and Stafford-shire all edging through 5-4.

Champions, Dorset also lost by the oddframe in nine to Kent. In the quarter finals,GMC enjoyed another 5-4 win overNorthants, Lincolnshire took out Essex 5-3,Nottinghamshire beat Kent 5-2 whileStaffordshire swamped Surrey 5-1.

In the semi-finals ‘Lincs’ and Notts’ had 5-3wins over GMC and Staffs. Paddy Prince,Nigel Dexter, and Stuart Sahnoune thenproved too good for Shane Robinson, OllyBrooks and Bill Rigby in the final, runningout 5-2 victors.

In the Knockout Cup final, the West York-shire trio of Harris Ali, Yuk San Lee and Dar-ren Whitlock defeated Northumberland 5-1.

Inter-County Seniors Team Champions - Lincolnshire

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Inter-County Results:Men’s A:Quarter-finals: Staffordshire bt West Midlands 23-19, Leicestershire bt Northants 23-15, Lancashire btCambridgeshire 23-18, Somerset bt Humberside23-21.

Semi-finals: Leicestershire bt Staffordshire 24-23,Somerset bt Lancashire 23-12.

Final: Leicestershire bt Somerset 23-19.

Men’s B:Quarter-finals: Derbyshire bt Berkshire 23-17,Staffordshire bt Cleveland 23-17, Leicestershire btNorthumberland 23-19, Warwickshire btNorthamptonshire 23-20.

Semi-finals: Staffordshire bt Derbyshire 23-18,Leicestershire bt Warwickshire 23-16.

Final: Staffordshire bt Leicestershire 23-17.

Ladies:Quarter-finals: Cleveland bt Lancashire 23-11,Somerset bt Devon 23-6, Kent bt Suffolk 23-10,Nottinghamshire bt Staffordshire 23-19.

Semi-finals: Somerset bt Cleveland 23-18, Kent btNottinghamshire 23-11.

Final: Kent bt Somerset 23-14.

Juniors:Quarter-finals: Leicestershire bt Warwickshire 23-17, Staffordshire bt Bristol 23-19, Lancashire btSomerset 23-11, West Midlands bt Bedfordshire24-22.

Semi-finals: Leicestershire bt Staffordshire 23-20,Lancashire bt West Midlands 23-12.

Final: Leicestershire bt Lancashire 23-17.

Seniors:Quarter-finals: GMC bt Northamptonshire 5-4,Lincolnshire bt Essex 5-3, Nottinghamshire bt Kent5-2, Staffordshire bt Surrey 5-1.

Semi-finals: Lincolnshire bt GMC 5-3, Notting-hamshire bt Staffordshire 5-3.

Final: Lincolnshire bt Nottinghamshire 5-2.

Inter-County Knockout Cup Results:Men’s AQuarter-finals: Cheshire bt Northamptonshire 23-17, West Midlands bt London 23-12, Bristol btHumberside 23-21, Essex bt Cambridgeshire 23-21.

Semi-finals: Cheshire bt Bristol 23-21, West Mid-lands bt Essex 23-15.

Final:West Midlands bt Cheshire 23-18.

Men’s B:Quarter-finals: Cleveland bt Somerset 23-19, Sur-rey bt Berkshire 23-11, Cornwall bt Northants 23-21, Lancashire bt Northumberland 23-11.

Semi-finals: Cornwall bt Cleveland 23-7, Surrey btLancashire 23-11.

Final: Surrey bt Cornwall 23-20.

Ladies:Quarter-finals: Devon bt Leicestershire 23-15, Lan-cashire bt Northamptonshire 23-4, Staffordshire btWest Midlands 23-2, Suffolk bt Hampshire 23-18.

Semi-finals: Staffordshire bt Devon 23-14, Lan-cashire bt Suffolk 23-12.

Final: Lancashire bt Staffordshire 23-15.

Juniors:Quarter-finals: Bristol bt London 23-19, Sussex btWarwickshire 23-12, Bedfordshire bt Northamp-tonshire 23-18, Somerset bt Suffolk 23-16.

Semi-finals: Bedfordshire bt Bristol 23-14, Sussexbt Somerset 23-21.

Final: Bedfordshire bt Sussex 23-21.

Seniors:Men’s AQuarter-finals: West Yorkshire bt Essex 5-2,Northumberland bt Northamptonshire 5-1, WestMidlands bt Surrey 5-3, Kent bt Durham 5-2.

Semi-finals:West Yorkshire bt West Midlands 5-4,Northumberland bt Kent 5-4.

Final:West Yorkshire bt Northumberland 5-1.

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Norm

an’sElite-Inter-LeagueWinners2014

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28

Scottish Pool chief, Mike McDonald, haspromised a “fair and open selection policy”to ensure players receive every opportunityto represent their country.

And in a bullish message to the ScottishEightball Pool Federation McDonaldadded:”Our rivals are now so lost they arecopying everything we do which shows weare offering what players really want.”

McDonald, President of the SEPF, wasspeaking at a recent annual general meet-ing and highlighted the great strides madeby the players, executive committee andorganisation within the last three years.

He said the SEPF has expanded into a gen-uinely national organisation, welcomingall new member leagues and regions onan equal level. To help attract a greaternumber of players McDonald confirmedthat there was no charge for the first yearof membership.

McDonald confirmed the SEPF’s member-ship now numbers 31 leagues and clubs,three of which are dedicated solely to jun-ior development.

The SEPF boasts six Region’s runningtours across the whole of Scotland. Over340 players took part in last year’s men’stour which is a 550% increase in playernumbers since 2010.

National tours have also operated for threeyears for juniors, ladies and seniors withmore than 100 active players participating.

McDonald also confirmed all major tour-naments have grown in entries with theScottish Masters doubling its entry over thelast three years.

The SEPF has successfully introducedstreaming at several of its events while newtournaments, such as the SEPF JuniorInterleague, five-man club event and elitesingles have proved great successes. Inaddition, there has been a year on yearincrease with teams competing in theInterleague competitions.

A total of 565 international appearanceshave been made by Scottish players at EEPF& WEPF events with Team Scotland thebiggest travelling side at every internationalevent in the last three years.

Since 2009, the Scottish squad has grownfrom 27 players regularly over 100 playersby 2013. Scottish players have alsorepresented the SEPF overseas on theBritish Lions Tours.

Darren Mathew visited Australia 2011,Matt Brannon visited South Africa 2012and was captain for the 2013 tour back toAustralia.

McDonald paid special tribute to SEPF vice-president, Laura-Ann Sneddon for herwork developing the SEPF Outreach PoolTour for players with additional physical orlearning needs in Region 5. There are nowfirm plans to launch this scheme nationallywith an aim of international adoption inthe future.

FAIR AND OPENIS WAY FORWARD SAYS SCOTTISH POOL BOSS

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McDonald stated:”2013 was a year whenthe SEPF saw major reorganisation withsuccesses and some missteps but nowis the time to build the future of pool inScotland for the next generation to come.”

The AGM voted in sweeping changes toits constitution to protect itself against

competitor tactics and move the SEPFforward.

“Our rivals are now so lost they are copyingeverything we do which shows we areoffering what players really want, “con-firmed McDonald. “They are even holdingqualifiers in England for Scottish events asthey are failing to attract Scottish players.”

He said the policy of giving local playerswho are good enough a chance to play forScotland by maintaining a fair and openselection policy will continue. The days ofpaid promoters are coming to an end inScotland,” he insisted.

*The Scottish Open was held for the firsttime in Region 5, hosted by the Oban PoolLeague in conjunction with main sponsorsBid Oban with the biggest prize fund formany years.

“On behalf of the National Executive can Ioffer congratulations to our new SEPFOpen champions: Neil Armstrong, AngieTidball, Ian Moffat (seniors) and SteveGraham (juniors).

“The Oban League did us all proud obtain-ing sponsorship from Bid Oban and run-ning a great weekend,” added McDonald.

” The venue, the Royal Hotel, was superband went out of its way to assist the team.I hope that the SEPF members voteto return to Oban next year.

“Thanks to all the players who made thejourney and really enjoyed the event. Look-ing forward, I wish all the Scottish teamsgreat success at the forthcoming WorldChampionships in Blackpool and anothergreat year for the SEPF as a whole”.

Neil Armstrong - Scottish National

Singles Champion 2014

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Our venue is the Hilton Metrodome Hotel,Birmingham which is situated close to theNational Exhibition Centre.

In addition to the usual Tour programmeof: Main event, Challenge event and Pre-mier League, we also have the 3-manTeam Classic and World Championshipqualifiers.

The last eight players in the World quali-fiers will progress to Blackpool in June tocompete in WEPF World 8-Ball Pool sin-gles. Accommodation and entry fee willbe paid.

The 3-man event carries an £8,000 prizefund and there is free entry to all Tourplayers. However, the tournament carriesa Tournament Director warning!If you put your name forward for the 3-man team-you must play! ALL Festival ofPool entrants can also have free entry intothe 3 man team draw. Please remember,everyone must register with the top deskto play in the team event.

World Masters-£18,000 prize fundThe official entry form for the 2014 WorldMasters will be sent out with the infor-mation for Tour three. You can have a pre-view of the event by going to Page 37 ofthis magazine.

For a £40 entry fee, all tour players willhave direct entry to the final stages of theWorld Masters to be played in the WorldChampionship arena at Blackpool over theweekend of June 27-29.

World Championship qualifiersThose players attending the World Cham-pionships as members of National teamscannot enter the qualifiers. For all othermembers of the Tour or any Festival ofPool Player, we will hold qualifiers at Tour

2 on April 20 and 21.

There may still be places available for play-ers involved at Tour 2 to be able to enterthe World qualifiers. Ask at the top table.Entry costs £40 and the draw will be madeprior to the start of the Tour.

Lions tour in October 2014.This event will continue to be organisedby the English Pool Association and fulldetails will be circulated on the EPA web-site during the coming months. However,the U.K. Tour will not be running any qual-ifiers for places on the Lions’ tour.

Instead, we will be organising a newevent at Tour 3 with the last four, goingout to Japan or China to compete in acompetition but unconnected to the Lionsevent. Full details will be forwarded to allTour players when finalised.

Entry to the new event will be open to UKTour players which will give our membersa unique opportunity to play in the EPAevent- providing they are EPA members-and the new UK Tour event.

One Day Events – Introduced in 2014We recently introduced a series of one dayevents in four areas of the UK. These willcommence from Saturday, May 3 with fur-ther dates on Saturday July 5 and August30. Originally it was intended to have fourdates but the entry in some areas does notwarrant this and we have now reverted tothe three dates as shown above.

Prize monies for each of the three eventsheld in each area will still be £1,250 event,making an area total of £3,750.

WELCOME TO THE SECOND EVENTOF THE 2014 UK POOL TOUR

TOUR FIVE 2013 REPORT

34

Tour Five 2013 Results:Last 32: Garry Mehmet bt Kyle Edwards 7-5, TomCousins bt James Charlwood 7-4, Karl Sutton btJordan Johnson 7-4, Ben Flack bt Shaun Brearley 7-4, Matt Couch bt Darren Baker 7-3, Michael Hopebt Jack Mann 7-0, Tom Kennedy bt Micky Singh 7-1, Liam Stanley bt Keith Jones 7-2, Danny Davies btJames Murphy 7-5, Tem Dixon bt Eddie Barker 7-3,Lee Kendall bt Darryl Fallows 7-6, Craig Wadding-ham bt Adam Foyster 7-0, Lee Howitt bt RobertWharne 7-4, Russell Burgess bt Colm Evans 7-6,Marc Fleming bt Scott Anderson 7-3, Joe Prince btChris Gill 7-6.

Last 16: Cousins bt Mehmet 7-1, Sutton bt Flack 7-4, Hope bt Couch 7-3, Stanley bt Kennedy 7-5,Dixon bt Davies 7-1, Kendall bt Waddingham 7-2,Burgess bt Howitt 7-0, Prince bt Fleming 7-3.

Quarter-finals: Cousins bt Sutton 7-4, Hope btStanley 7-5, Kendall bt Dixon 7-4, Burgess bt Prince7-5.

Semi-finals: Hope bt Cousins 8-7, Kendall btBurgess 8-0.

Final: Kendall bt Hope 8-5.

UK Tour Roll ofHonour for 2013

Tour OneJack Pople bt

Gavin Lomax 8-5

Tour TwoTom Cousins btBen Flack 8-7

Tour ThreeBen Flack bt

Mark White 8-4

Tour FourDarryl Fallows btBen Flack 8-7

Tour Five Winner - Lee Kendall

Long serving England captain Lee Kendallended 2013 on a high note with victory in thefinal tour of 2013.And if you fancy a decent bet, wager on the‘Fox’ to take the spoils in this season’s final Touras this date in the calendar always appears tobring the best out of him.In 2012, Kendall won Two Tours including, yes,you guessed it, the last one, beating Chris Gill8-6. This time Michael Hope was Kendall’svictim after the pair had played two contrastingsemi-finals.Hope, who finished last season’s Tour rankingsplaced ninth, knocked out world champion,Tom Cousins, 8-7 while his Stoke on Trent rivalwhitewashed fellow veteran, Russell Burgess,8-0.Kendall also accounted for 2013 World runner-up, Craig Waddingham, (7-2) while Ben Flack’sbid for a fourth successive UK Tour final endedagainst Karl Sutton in the last 16. Despite hisearly exit, Flack topped the rankings by 10points from Cousins.

MICHAEL HAS HOPE BUT KENDALL TAKES GLORY

CHALLENGE FIVE 2013 REPORT

35

Challenge Five 2013 Results:Last 32: Jack Pople bt Partab Singh 5-3, Ian Corlessbt Andy Barber 5-1, Shane Balding bt JulesGoodyear 5-2, Ben Swinnerton bt Craig Wadding-ham 5-3, Phil Naylor bt Ryan Fleming 5-4, KeithBrewer bt Jamie Turner 5-3, Lewis Roberts bt JoePrince 5-3, Matt Couch bt Gary Southern 5-1, TemDixon bt James Murphy 5-4, Lee Pickard bt GazRoyds 5-4, Robert Wharne bt Tommy Jones 5-2,Scott Carpenter bt Richard Gifford 5-2, Sam Jeffreybt James Charlwood 5-2, Colin Evans bt MichaelBeeston 5-4, Darryl Fallows bt Andrew Herriott 5-4,Adam Griffiths bt Tom Cousins 5-4.

Last 16: Pople bt Corless 5-0, Balding bt Swinner-ton 5-1, Brewer bt Naylor 5-3, Roberts bt Couch 5-4, Dixon bt Pickard 5-2, Carpenter bt Wharne 5-1,Evans bt Jeffrey 5-0, Fallows bt Griffiths 5-2

Quarter-finals: Pople bt Balding 5-3, Roberts btBrewer 5-4, Dixon bt Carpenter 5-1, Evans bt Fal-lows 5-2.

Semi-finals: Pople bt Roberts 5-3, Dixon bt Evans5-1.

Final: Pople bt Dixon 6-3.

UK Challenge TourRoll of Honour for 2013

Tour OneShane Balding bt

Guiseppe D’Imperio 6-3

Tour TwoJack Whelan btTom Cousins 6-5

Tour ThreeJohn Roe bt

Craig Waddingham 6-3

Tour FourTom Cousins btBen Flack 6-3

Challenge Five Winner - Jack Pople

Jack Pople became the fifth different winner ofthe Challenge event on last season’s Tour withvictory over Tem Dixon in the final.Indeed, the Challenge event has become everybit as tough to win as the main event. Formerworld champion John Roe and current titleholder, Tom Cousins, had won earlier in theseason.And Pople is also a class act as he showed in2012 by winning the European title, beatingFlack in the final, and the World Masters,defeating Australian, John Wheeler.Both Cousins and Waddingham bowed out inthe last 32, beaten by Adam Griffiths and BenSwinnerton respectively.Their exits opened the door for Pople to takecontrol. Dixon, a member of Leicestershire’s2014 Inter-Counties winning squad and 2013’snumber one ranked county player in thecountry, was a worthy final opponent. But hisKent rival was always in command to claim a6-3 victory.

JACK-POT

POPLE PICKS-UP CHALLENGE PRIZE

36

2013 FINAL STANDINGS

Posn Name Rank

1 Giuseppe D'Imperio 342 Tom Cousins 323 Jack Pople 304 Darryl Fallows 265 Ben Flack 266 Craig Waddingham 267 Keith Brewer 248 Shane Balding 249 Matt Brierley 2010 Scott Carpenter 2011 John Roe 2012 Shane Thompson 2013 Scott Anderson 1814 Matt Couch 1815 Martin Power 1816 Mark White 1817 Robert Wharne 1818 Gavin Lomax 1619 Adam Toms 1620 Sam Jeffrey 1621 Phil Naylor 1622 Josh Riddaway 1623 Glyn Crook 1424 Tom Church 1425 Colm Evans 1426 Stuart Green 1427 Michael Howe 1428 Gaz Royds 1429 Luke Bowry 1230 Lee Pickard 1231 Neil Toms 1232 Michael Beeston 1233 Ryan Fleming 1234 Marc Fleming 1235 Michael Hope 1236 Jake-Dylan Newlove 1237 Joe Prince 1238 Lewis Roberts 1239 Partab Singh 1240 Temujin Dixon 12

FINAL CHALLENGE RANKINGS 2013

Posn Name Merit Rank

1 Ben Flack 0 502 Tom Cousins 0 403 Giuseppe D'imperio 6 344 Lee Kendall 0 345 Robert Wharne 0 306 Jack Pople 1 267 Craig Waddingham 0 268 Russell Burgess 4 249 Michael Hope 3 2410 Darryl Fallows 0 2211 Gavin Lomax 9 2012 Mark White 5 2013 Karl Sutton 1 2014 Liam Stanley 0 2015 Kris Hampson 3 1816 Harjeet Singh 3 1817 Frank Costello 5 1618 Adam Foyster 0 1619 Ollie O'Boyle 0 1620 Marc Fleming 9 1421 Jason Bates 8 1422 John Roe 8 1423 Joe Prince 6 1424 Cory Rees 0 1425 Shaun Brearley 0 1426 Scott Carpener 0 1427 Lee Howitt 0 1428 Jamie Moray 9 1229 Stuart Green 7 1230 Matt Couch 6 1231 Lee Grout 6 1232 Aidan Owens 5 1233 Jake-Dylan Newlove 4 1234 Paul Riley 3 1235 Keith Brewer 3 1236 Jim Ryan 2 1237 Eddie Barker 1 1238 Danny Davies 0 1239 Partab Singh 11 1040 Dylan Leary 10 10

FINAL TOUR RANKINGS 2013

FESTIVAL OF POOL

PLEASE DETACH AND RETURN

COMPETITION ENTRY FORM2014 World Eightball Pool Amateur Masters

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Complete the entry form and send with a Cheque/Postal order for £40 (payable to the UK Pool Tour) send to:-

Tournament Office: 20, South View, Bamford, Rochdale, Lancs. Tel. 01706-642770

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES – TUESDAY 27th MAY 2014

WORLD EIGHTBALL MASTERS

£19,000 PRIZE FUND27th-29th JUNE 2014

WORLD EIGHTBALL MASTERS

£19,000 PRIZE FUND

FINALS – IMPERIAL HOTEL, BLACKPOOLENTRY FORM FOR THE USE OF UK POOL TOUR MEMBERS ONLY

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: TUESDAY 27th May 2014

This is your opportunity to gain direct entry to the Grand Final 27th - 29th June 2014.

Entry: This entry form is for the use of UK Pool Tour members only, Open to Amateur player onlyEntry forms to be sent, with a cheque/postal order, payable to UK Pool Tour, to the address below.Direct entry to the Grand Finals starting on Friday 27th June (6 p.m.) – ENTRY FEE £40.

Rules: Played to World 8-ball Pool Rules.Play: Grand Final limited entry, play commences 6 p.m. on Friday 27th June with the Final stages on

Sunday 29th June.No denims or trainers please. E.P.A. Dress code will be enforced.

Venue: Imperial Hotel, Blackpool, North Promenade, Blackpool, Lancs. England.Regulations: All players must agree to abide by the Rules and Regulations of the event. The Tournament

Directors decisions will be final.Members of the UK Pool Tour can only enter via the UK Pool Tour.

Prize Fund: Champion £5,000 – Runner-up £2,000 – Semi-finals £1,000 each – Quarters-finals £500 eachLast 16 £300 each – last 32 150 each – Last 64 £80 each --- PLUS Plate event £1,100.(optional entry)

AMATEURAMATEUR

TOUR ONE REPORT

38

Craig Waddingham made a happy returnto Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel to register amaiden UK Tour victory.Last July, the consistent Scunthorpe lefthander reached a first ever WEPF World 8-Ball Pool Championship singles final.However, after a thrilling match,Waddingham went down 11-10 to TomCousins after fighting back from 5-2 and8-4 down.And history almost repeated itself as hetook on Gavin Lomax for the title. “It wasnip and tuck all the way,” agreedWaddingham. “And he should really havewon it 8-6.“Gav had three or four reds left and gotdown to the black before missing theblack. Fortunately, I managed to scrapemy way back in it and get over the line.“But I had played really well all weekendand had some good wins.” Lomax wascertainly the first player to really testWaddingham’s resolve after a string of im-pressive victories including a 7-3 quarter-final victory over soon to be crownedEuropean champion, Ben Flack and an 8-4 victory over Shane Balding in the semi-finals.“I got a new cue from Stu Green at GreenBaize cues about a month before theTour,” explained Waddingham. “And itmade a big difference.“It’s just a firmer cue and I seemed to taketo it straight away. Hopefully, I can play aswell this weekend. ““With the likes of Harrison, Chilton andMurphy on the Tour now, it is really toughand hard to win. So, I was really pleasedwith this one.”Certainly many eyes were on the returnsof former world champion Harrison andChilton. However, Chilton went out earlyagainst Warrington’s Phil Naylor whose re-ward was a meeting with Harrison!This time Naylor finished off second best

as Harrison progressed serenely throughto the last eight. His match against ShaneBalding proved a cliff hanger with Baldingwinning through 7-6.Balding had already taken out a host oftop players including current PremierLeague champion, John Bowkett, formerEngland U21 Richard Twomey and 2013European champion Jack Pople.Others making a name for themselves onthe first Tour included newcomers Murphyand Steve Martin, who met in the quarterfinals.Both had tough routes through thoughMartin had arguably the toughest, de-feating 2012 world champion, John Roe,and former National Amateur championRob Wharne. Martin won the encounterwith Murphy 7-4 before losing out toLomax 8-6 in an entertaining semi-final.Lee Kendall, a winner of the final Tour of2013, reached the last 32 before losing 7-4 against Lee Howitt.

Tour One Results:Last 32: Lee Howitt bt Lee Kendall 7-4, Derek Mur-phy bt Neil Wren 7-2, John Dunne bt ReeceTownsend 7-1, Steve Martin bt John Roe 7-4, GavinLomax bt Kris Hampson 7=2, James Brookens btRyan Milson 7-0, Matt Couch bt Keith Jones 7-1,Dylan Leary bt Adam Griffiths 7-6, Craig Wadding-ham bt Shaun Chipperfield 7-3, Luke Bowry bt ChrisGill 7-3, Adam Foyster bt Liam Stanley 7-5, Ben Flackbt Mark Rollins 7-5, Jack Pople bt Tom Cousins 7-6,Shane Balding bt Richard Twomey 7-5, Michael Hopebt Warren Hodgson 7-1, Phil Harrison bt TemujinDixon 7-1.

Last 16: Murphy bt Howitt 7-4, Martin bt Dunne 7-2,, Lomax bt Brookens 7-5, Couch bt Leary 7-6,Waddingham bt Bowry 7-0, Flack bt Foyster 7-2,Balding bt Pople 7-3, Harrison bt Hope 7-4.

Quarter-finals: Martin bt Murphy 7-4, Lomax btCouch 7-4, Waddingham bt Flack 7-3, Balding btHarrison 7-6.

Semi-finals: Lomax bt Martin 8-6, Waddingham btBalding 8-4.

Final:Waddingham bt Lomax 8-7.

WADD AN EFFORT!CRAIG HITS TOUR HIGH NOTES AGAINST G-LO

GAVIN LOMAX - Tour One Runner-up

40

PREMIER LEAGUE

John Bowkett has handed over his hard wonPremier League title without potting a ball.Bowkett won 12 of his 14 matches to edgeout England skipper Lee Kendall by just onepoint.But the Leicestershire County cue man isheading Down Under to further his studiesthis year and won’t defend his crown.Bowkett was one of three players still in witha chance of clinching top spot on the finalday of the 2013 programme.For the second year running the PremierLeague went to the wire with three playerscompeting for the title on the last day. Andan 8-5 victory over Chris Gill ensuredBowkett top spot.But he’s not back in 2014 and the PremierLeague’s loss is Australia’s gain. We wish himall the best with his studies.As in 2012, Kendall finished runner-up with12 victories and two defeats in his 14 gameswhile Jason Bates claimed third place afterdropping only three of his 14 appearances.Kendall was again “king of the clearances”with 24 whilst Nigel James topped the con-secutive 8 Ball clearances with five frames inone match.After only two years, the Premier League hasbecome very competitive featuring the cur-rent World and European champions in atop class field, full of international level play-ers.The prize fund for 2014 is increased to £14,800 with the winner taking £ 3,000whilst the lowest ranked player will collect £500 provided they complete all of their fix-tures.However, it isn’t just the top players who cangain entry into the Premier League. With itsopen draw format, there are many countylevel players capable of gaining one of the

top 16 places available.Without doubt the Premier League is be-coming the pinnacle of the pool calendarwith many new Tour players working hardto get to the top of the main Tour rankingsand secure one of those 2015 Premierplaces.After the first fixtures of the 2014 seasonworld champion Tom Cousins and GiuseppeD’Imperio lead the field with maximumpoints from their three games, followed byEuropean champion, Ben Flack and ShaneBalding, both on seven points.Tucked in behind the leaders are Kendall,2013 world championship runner-up CraigWaddingham and Michael Hope. But thereis plenty of time for everyone to show theirmettle and take the top spots.The 2014 Premier League champion willhave the right to defend his title next year inaddition to pocketing a £ 3,000 winners’cheque.

(Final Positions) P W D L FD Pts

1. John Bowkett 14 12 1 1 44 252. Lee Kendall 14 12 0 2 50 243. Jason Bates 14 11 0 3 27 224. Chris Gill 14 9 1 4 28 195. Cory Rees 14 8 2 4 24 186. Chris Back 14 6 2 6 -3 147. Russell Burgess 14 6 1 7 -3 137. Ian Duffy 14 5 3 6 -8 139. Andy Cross 14 5 1 8 -2 119. Nigel Meal 14 5 1 8 -15 1111. Jamie Moray 14 5 0 9 -21 1011. Paul Riley 14 4 2 8 -12 1013. Andy O'Hara 14 3 2 9 -30 814. Rich Mallard 14 3 1 10 -44 715. Steve Thompson 14 2 1 11 -35 5

Premier League 2013

Total Consecutive..8ball Clearances..

Name Total

Nigel Meal 5

Chris Gill 4

Nigel Meal 4

Andy Cross 3

Russell Burgess 3

Rich Mallard 3

Lee Kendall 3

Name Total

Lee Kendall 24Andy Cross 18Cory Rees 18Nigel Meal 17Chris Gill 17John Bowkett 14Jason Bates 11Steve Thompson 11

2013 Final Total 8ball Clearances

Name Total

Paul Riley 11Ian Duffy 11Chris Back 10Andy O'Hara 9Jamie Moray 8Rich Mallard 8Russell Burgess 8Shaun Payne 5

KING JOHN’S BRIEF PREMIER REIGN

41

PREMIER LEAGUE

Tom Cousins 8 v 3 Frank Costello

Giuseppe D'Imperio 8 v 4 Harjeet Singh

Lee Kendall 8 v 5 Kris Hampson

Ben Flack 7 v 7 Play Off Winner

Jack Pople 7 v 7 Karl Sutton

Craig Waddingham 8 v 4 Gavin Lomax

Michael Hope 8 v 2 Darryl Fallows

Robert Wharne 7 v 7 Liam Stanley

Session 1Matches for 08/02/2014

Kris Hampson 5 v 8 G. D'Imperio

Liam Stanley 8 v 3 Lee Kendall

Frank Costello 6 v 8 Ben Flack

Harjeet Singh 2 v 8 Tom Cousins

Darryl Fallows 6 v 8 C. Waddingham

Play Off Winner 8 v 2 Michael Hope

Karl Sutton 7 v 7 Robert Wharne

Gavin Lomax 5 v 8 Jack Pople


Lee Kendall 8 v 2 Karl Sutton

Ben Flack 8 v 1 Harjeet Singh

Tom Cousins 8 v 5 Kris Hampson

Giuseppe D'Imperio 8 v 6 Liam Stanley

Frank Costello 6 v 8 Play Off Winner

Robert Wharne 8 v 5 Gavin Lomax

Jack Pople 4 v 8 Darryl Fallows

Craig Waddingham 6 v 8 Michael Hope


Kris Hampson v Ben Flack

Liam Stanley v Tom Cousins

Karl Sutton v G. D'Imperio

Gavin Lomax v Lee Kendall

Darryl Fallows v Robert Wharne

Michael Hope v Jack Pople

Play Off Winner v C. Waddingham

Harjeet Singh v Frank Costello


Tom Cousins v Karl Sutton

Giuseppe D'Imperio v Gavin Lomax

Lee Kendall v Darryl Fallows

Ben Flack v Liam Stanley

Jack Pople v C. Waddingham

Frank Costello v Kris Hampson

Harjeet Singh v Play Off Winner

Robert Wharne v Michael Hope


Darryl Fallows v G. D'Imperio

Michael Hope v Lee Kendall

Karl Sutton v Ben Flack

Gavin Lomax v Tom Cousins

Liam Stanley v Frank Costello

Kris Hampson v Harjeet Singh

Craig Waddingham v Robert Wharne

Play Off Winner v Jack Pople


Lee Kendall v C. Waddingham

Ben Flack v Gavin Lomax

Tom Cousins v Darryl Fallows

Giuseppe D'Imperio v Michael Hope

Kris Hampson v Play Off Winner

Robert Wharne v Jack Pople

Frank Costello v Karl Sutton

Harjeet Singh v Liam Stanley


Darryl Fallows v Ben Flack

Michael Hope v Tom Cousins

Craig Waddingham v G. D'Imperio

Jack Pople v Lee Kendall

Play Off Winner v Robert Wharne

Gavin Lomax v Frank Costello

Karl Sutton v Harjeet Singh

Liam Stanley v Kris Hampson


Tom Cousins v C. Waddingham

Giuseppe D'Imperio v Jack Pople

Lee Kendall v Robert Wharne

Ben Flack v Michael Hope

Harjeet Singh v Gavin Lomax

Kris Hampson v Karl Sutton

Liam Stanley v Play Off Winner

Frank Costello v Darryl Fallows


Robert Wharne v G. D'Imperio

Play Off Winner v Lee Kendall

Craig Waddingham v Ben Flack

Jack Pople v Tom Cousins

Gavin Lomax v Kris Hampson

Karl Sutton v Liam Stanley

Michael Hope v Frank Costello

Darryl Fallows v Harjeet Singh


Frank Costello v C. Waddingham

Ben Flack v Jack Pople

Tom Cousins v Robert Wharne

Giuseppe D'Imperio v Lee Kendall

Karl Sutton v Play Off Winner

Harjeet Singh v Michael Hope

Kris Hampson v Darryl Fallows

Liam Stanley v Gavin Lomax


Robert Wharne v Ben Flack

Lee Kendall v Tom Cousins

Play Off Winner v G. D'Imperio

Jack Pople v Frank Costello

Craig Waddingham v Harjeet Singh

Michael Hope v Kris Hampson

Darryl Fallows v Liam Stanley

Gavin Lomax v Karl Sutton


Tom Cousins v G. D'Imperio

Frank Costello v Robert Wharne

Harjeet Singh v Jack Pople

Ben Flack v Lee Kendall

Liam Stanley v Michael Hope

Karl Sutton v Darryl Fallows

Gavin Lomax v Play Off Winner

Kris Hampson v C. Waddingham


Lee Kendall v Frank Costello

Robert Wharne v Harjeet Singh

Giuseppe D'Imperio v Ben Flack

Play Off Winner v Tom Cousins

Michael Hope v Karl Sutton

Darryl Fallows v Gavin Lomax

Jack Pople v Kris Hampson

Craig Waddingham v Liam Stanley


Kris Hampson v Robert Wharne

Ben Flack v Tom Cousins

Frank Costello v G. D'Imperio

Harjeet Singh v Lee Kendall

Darryl Fallows v Play Off Winner

Liam Stanley v Jack Pople

Karl Sutton v C. Waddingham

Gavin Lomax v Michael Hope


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JOHN BOWKETT - Premier League Winner

44

CHALLENGE ONE REPORT

Nick Gillett was a cut above the rest as hemade a winning debut on the 2014 Chal-lenge Tour.The 36-year-old warehouseman fromMaidstone defeated Chris Gill 6-4 in thefinal to announce his arrival on Tour.A decent century break snooker amateur,Gillett only turned to the 8-Ball pool scenein the last couple of years.

But he looks more than a useful acquisi-tion to the game on the evidence of hisdisplays at Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel.“I didn’t expect to win and I would havebeen happy with the last 16,” said themodest new champion. “But I playedquite well and I just carried on going andmanaged to win it in the end.

“I’d lost in the first round of the Main Tour(7-5 to Ryan Milson)and didn’t play toowell even if I didn’t get much run.”Gillett certainly showed his credential inthe Challenge event defeating 2012 WEPFWorld 8-Ball Pool champion, John Roe 5-4, in the last 32, edging another 5-4against Cory Rees in the last 16 and thenholding his nerve for a third successiveround to account for Derek Murphy by thesame score.

“John and Derek are both great playersand I got a bit lucky in those,” admittedGillett. “Sometimes you need a bit of luck“But considering it was my first event, Ihave got to be pleased. I only have beenplaying for about 18 months to two years.“It took me about six to 12 months tofully learn the rules. It was the ‘DS’ thatcaught me out.“Coming from a snooker background itwas hard to get my head round deliberatesnookers.

“I didn’t understand you could deliber-ately foul. But you watch the top playerswhat they’re doing and you can learn howto use the rules to your advantage“When I first started pool I did quite wellin the Kent area,” added Gillett, who nowplays Inter-League for Rochester and lo-cally at Dukes in Maidstone and Jordan’sin Medway. ”From there, I decided to giveit a go on the Tour.

“I was always into snooker and played alot around Kent and South East London. Iwasn’t a professional but I regularly madecentury breaks.“I never really thought about pool be-cause snooker was really all I had knownsince I was about eight.

“But a friend asked me to play for histeam and I thought I would give it a go. Ithas all gone on from there.”

Challenge One Results:Last 32: Jamie Turner bt Jamie Galt 5-3, Derek Mur-phy bt Adam Bassoo 5-4, Nick Gillett bt John Roe 5-4, Cory Rees bt Kev Smith 5-4, Myles Deleuse bt RonSharpe 5-1, Mark Wood bt Tom Kennedy 5-2,Michael Beeston bt John Lord 5-3, Keith Brewer btShaun Chipperfield 5-0, Robert Harmston bt ChrisBowron 5-4, Jimmy Carney bt Des Smith 5-2, LeeShepherd bt James Brookens 5-2, Lee Washbrook btSteve Martin 5-4, Steve Thompson bt Josh Riddaway5-0, Chris Gill bt Carl Rowe 5-0, Ian Ali bt JamesCharlewood 5-2, Adam Foyster bt Mark Rollins 5-4.

Last 16: Murphy bt Turner 5-1, Gillett bt Rees 5-4,Wood bt Deleuse 5-3, Brewer bt Beeston 5-3, Harm-ston bt Carney 5-4, Shepherd bt Washbrook 5-4, Gillbt Thompson 5-1, Ali bt Foyster 5-0.

Quarter-finals: Gillett bt Murphy 5-4, Wood btBrewer 5-2, Shepherd bt Harmston 5-2, Gill bt Ali 5-1.

Semi-finals: Gillett bt Wood 5-3, Gill bt Shepherd5-3.

Final: Gillett bt Gill 6-4.

RAZOR SHARP GILLETTMAKESWINNING TOUR DEBUT

NICK GILLETT - Challenge One Winner

FOR YOUR FREE BROCHURE CONTACT:

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Wilson Park, Monsall Road,

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TROPHY WORLD

CHRIS GILL - Challenge One Runner-up

UK POOL TOUR RANKINGS 2014

Pos Name Merit Rank

1 Craig Waddingham 0 16

2 Gavin Lomax 0 12

3 Shane Balding 0 10

4 Steve Martin 0 10

5 Ben Flack 0 8

6 Matt Couch 0 8

7 Phil Harrison 0 8

8 Derek Murphy 0 8

9 Jack Pople 0 6

10 Michael Hope 0 6

11 Luke Bowry 0 6

12 Adam Foyster 0 6

13 Lee Howitt 0 6

14 Dylan Leary 0 6

15 James Brookens 0 6

16 John Dunne 0 6

17 Tom Cousins 0 4

18 Lee Kendall 0 4

19 Liam Stanley 0 4

20 Kris Hampson 0 4

21 Temujin Dixon 0 4

22 Chris Gill 0 4

23 Adam Griffiths 0 4

24 Keith Jones 0 4

25 John Roe 0 4

26 Mark Rollins 0 4

27 Neil Wren 0 4

28 Warren Hodgson 0 4

29 Ryan Milson 0 4

30 Richard Twomey 0 4

31 Shaun Chipperfield 0 4

32 Reece Townsend 0 4

Pos Name Merit Rank

33 Robert Wharne 0 2

34 Karl Sutton 0 2

35 Lakesh Badhan 0 2

36 Simon Baker 0 2

37 Eddie Barker 0 2

38 James Charlwood 0 2

39 Danny Davies 0 2

40 Myles Deleuse 0 2

41 Jules Goodyear 0 2

42 Stuart Green 0 2

43 Andrew Herriot 0 2

44 Tommy Jones 0 2

45 Tom Kennedy 0 2

46 Nigel James 0 2

47 Cory Rees 0 2

48 Lewis Roberts 0 2

49 Partab Singh 0 2

50 Des Smith 0 2

51 Adam Toms 0 2

52 Jamie Turner 0 2

53 Ian Ali 0 2

54 Nick Bell 0 2

55 Jamie Gibson 0 2

56 John Lord 0 2

57 Dave Preece 0 2

58 Alex Rambert 0 2

59 Zak Shepherd 0 2

60 Tony Gear 0 2

61 Abdelate Riad Ameur0 2

62 Alex Lewis 0 2

63 Ben Clayton 0 2

64 Neil Goodyer 0 2

48

Pos Name Rank

1 Nick Gillett 16

2 Chris Gill 12

3 Lee Shepherd 10

4 Mark Wood 10

5 Keith Brewer 8

6 Robert Harmston 8

7 Ian Ali 8

8 Derek Murphy 8

9 Michael Beeston 6

10 Myles Deleuse 6

11 Adam Foyster 6

12 Cory Rees 6

13 Steve Thompson 6

14 Jamie Turner 6

15 Jimmy Carney 6

16 Lee Washbrook 6

17 James Charlwood 4

18 Tom Kennedy 4

19 Josh Riddaway 4

20 John Roe 4

21 Mark Rollins 4

22 Des Smith 4

23 Ron Sharpe 4

24 Adam Bassoo 4

25 James Brookens 4

26 Jamie Galt 4

27 John Lord 4

28 Carl Rowe 4

29 Kev Smith 4

30 Shaun Chipperfield 4

31 Chris Bowron 4

32 Steve Martin 4

CHALLENGE RANKINGS 2014

Pos Name Rank

33 Mark Astbury 2

34 Lakesh Badhan 2

35 Craig Bailey 2

36 Darren Baker 2

37 Luke Bowry 2

38 Steve Bridgwood 2

39 Scott Carpenter 2

40 Matt Couch 2

41 Temujin Dixon 2

42 Stuart Green 2

43 Adam Griffiths 2

44 Lee Howitt 2

45 Keith Jones 2

46 Tommy Jones 2

47 Dylan Leary 2

48 Nigel James 2

49 James Murphy 2

50 Jake-Dylan Newlove 2

51 Partab Singh 2

52 Shane Thompson 2

53 Andy O'Hara 2

54 Nick Bell 2

55 Wayne Corless 2

56 Neil Davey 2

57 Phil Harrison 2

58 Warren Hodgson 2

59 Joshua Kane 2

60 Darren Mccarthy 2

61 Dave Preece 2

62 Andrew Tobin 2

63 Sam Reynolds 2

64 Lee Batsford 2

49

50

???

World Eight-ball

Pool Championships

WINNING PLAYER(S) WILL GO FORWARD FROM EACH

VENUE TO PLAY AT THE WORLD FINALS IN BLACKPOOL

PLAY FOR THE TITLE OF

WORLD 8 BALL POOL CHAMPIONat the Grand Finals in Blackpool June 2014

Terms and conditions: (1). Over 18s only, excluding employees of this outlet, employees of the Sponosr; and anyoneprofessionally connected with this competition and their immediate families. Restricted to UK residents only. (2). ENTRY FEEOF £20 PER PERSON. Ask bar staff for Entry Forms, (or from www.epa.org.uk). Complete the form and send with acheque/postal order, made payable to the chosen venue. All entries to be sent to venue prior to the qualifier date. (3). Gameswill be played toWorld 8 Ball Pool Rules (see www.epa.org.uk). (4). Play will commence at 11am on date given for each venueand the event will be completed on that day, with a minimum of 1 player from each venue, going to play at the World Finals inBlackpool, where they will compete if successful from 24th June to 27th June, and if they progress to the Semi-Final stages 1st& 2nd July. Those who win the ‘Qualifiers’ will receive an information pack about the World Finals. (5). Only 20 venues, see‘Entry Forms’ for venue details and date played. (6). Each venue requires a minimum of 16 players. One winner will go throughto theWorld Finals. Limited to a maximum 16 players per venue. Winning players from the ‘Qualifier competition’ go forwardto Blackpool and have B&B accommodation and entry fee to World Championships paid for. There is no cash alternative. (7).All players must agree to abide by the Rules and Regulations of the E.P.A. – Tournament Directors decisions will be final. (8).Winner details will be available at www.epa.org.uk within 7 days of each qualifying event. (9). The promoter reserves the rightto cancel or amend this competition due to circumstances outside its control.

2014 FINAL QUALIFIERS - VENUES

Venue details with contact names &

phone numbers will be available from

Monday 21st April 2014 on the EPA website

www.epa.org.uk

World Eight-Ball

Pool Championships

2014

COMPETITON ENTRY FORM

PLEASE COPYAND RETURNALL OF THIS COMPLETED FORM, INCLUDINGVENUE CHOSEN.

2014 World ChampionshipsNational Qualifier

NAME ............................................................... SIGNATURE ............................................(BLOCK CAPITALS)

ADDRESS ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................. COUNTY….........……………………....

E-MAIL ...................................................................................................................................

POST CODE ................................................... TEL. No. …………….................………

ENTRY FORMS RETURNED MUST HAVE A CHEQUE/POSTAL

ORDER FOR £20 PAYABLE TO VENUE

SEND IN THE COMPLETED FORMTO THE CHOSENVENUE, RINGVENUE FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

NOTE THAT ONLY THE FIRST 16/32 PAID ENTRIES FOR EACH VENUEWILL BE ACCEPTED.

SHOULD LESS THAN 16 PLAYERS APPLY AT A VENUE, THATQUALIFIER MAYBE CANCELLEDYOU WILL BE REFUNDED IN FULL

Promoter: English Pool Association, World Championship Pool Office,

20 South View, Bamford, Rochdale, Lancs. OL11 5HU. Tel. 01706-642770

WORLD EIGHTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS – FINAL NATIONAL QUALIFIERS 2014

DIARY OF EVENTS

52

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

2014

DATE EVENT TITLE VENUE

APRIL 18th - 21st UK POOL TOUR 2 HILTON METROPOLE18th - 21st PREMIER LEAGUE BIRMINGHAM HOTEL19th - 21st FESTIVAL OF POOL HILTON METROPOLE

MAY 3rd 1st ONE DAY EVENT SERIES 4 AREA VENUES.

9th - 10th GOLDEN CUE FINALS VAUXHALL HOLIDAY PARK

30th -1st JUNE UK POOL TOUR 3 DAVENTRY30th -1st JUNE PREMIER LEAGUE DAVENTRY

JUNE 22nd WEPF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IMPERIAL, BLACKPOOL27th - 29th WORLD MASTERS IMPERIAL, BLACKPOOL

JULY. 1st - 2nd ARENA FINALS IMPERIAL, BLACKPOOL5th 2nd ONE DAY EVENT SERIES 4 AREA VENUES

AUGUST 30th 3rd ONE DAY EVENT SERIES 4 AREA VENUES

SEPTEMBER 5th - 7th UK POOL TOUR 4 HINCKLEY HOTEL5th - 7th PREMIER LEAGUE HINCKLEY HOTEL

OCTOBER 2nd - 5th INTER-LEAGUE K.O. VAUXHALL HOLIDAY PARKENGLISH AMATEUR SINGLES VAUXHALL HOLIDAY PARK

24h - 26th UK POOL TOUR 5 PARK INN, HOTEL24h - 26th PREMIER LEAGUE NORTHAMPTON

NOVEMBER 7th - 9th CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS VAUXHALL HOLIDAY PARK

Documents

World Pool Edition 7