The Maharaja trounces the field at gb9ball tour!!!

Yipeeee!! Was nice to win the main event at the Daventry tour stop. It was a good final between me and the young gun from Scotland Jason Shaw who looked to be in great form. I started slow and Jason took a good lead running most of his racks at the beginning of the race to 11. He looked very confident and in good stroke after beating Mark Gray from being behind in the semi finals. I knew I had my work cut out and had to play well to keep up with Jason because he was breaking very well sometimes making 3 to 4 balls thus getting easy runouts. Luckily I kept up with him and pounced on a few of his mistakes during the middle of the set. Once I got in front I think it was 8-7 I always manged to keep a 1 to 2 rack advantage prevailing with a 11-9 final scoreline. At 10-9 to me, I hook Jason and he kicked out of the snooker well and left me a long 7ball which barely went past the 8 into the top left hand pocket. As I got down on the shot I knew this was for the title so I got back up and realligned my shot just to make sure of the seven because it was a difficult shot and just about went past the 8. The pressure was on and I  put everything into that 7 ball hitting it perfect and leaving me plum on the 8 to get to the 9. Phew!!! it was over but a gallant effort from the young Scot. Overall a solid performance from me and was nice to hit some good form again winning another main event title to add to my other four which I won consecutively in 2009. Sorry had to boast about that lol!!!

Congratulations to Phil Burford for winning the pro event and Shane Appleton for winning the Challenge. Both looked to be in good form especially Phil who beat the likes of Mark Gray 9-4 and Raj Hundal with the same scoreline in the final.  
A big thanks goes to the Gb9ball tour and all its helpers for putting on another great event at the Daventry Barcelo where the venue is top notch and the staff are very friendly and helpful. Guess I like Daventry, two  trophies in two stops...not bad eh! Looking forward to the next event in Blackpool which is a nice venue aswell.
Back to 10 ball now because am training for The Sarajevo Open which starts next week in Bosnia. It was a good tournament last year with an excellent venue and perfect equipment. I lost in a close match in the semi-finals so am looking to go one better this time around. A couple of  days after Sarajevo I fly off to the US Open in Virginia so its back to 9 ball. The US Open is an important event for me because if I win it I most likely will be selected for the Mosconi Cup team in December. Am in good form so look to put in a good performance at both events....if not win them.......keep you posted.

Remember........the more tournaments you play........the easier they will become!

The Maharaja.................Back to winning ways!!!!!!

Played the Swiss Open this weekend. It was a good event played in Gstaad with a tough European field. I came third place losing 9-8 to the eventual winner Dominic Jentsch an up and coming German player. Gotta say he was luckier than me but played solid overall. Feel that it was my event after Souqet and Feijen were out but missed an easy 3 ball taking my eye of it at hill hill in the semi finals.........ouch!!! guess I took it for granted and rushed it a little.......ugh!!!! Valerie next door could have made that ball lol!!  Anyway I like to take the positives out of any bad situation and overall a pretty good performance but dissapointed not to get to the final. However showed some very good form on the table and won some tough matches with prolific scorelines.
Was suppose to be in China right now for the China Open but a sponsor let me down so had to alter my plans.....gutted!!  I will now be attending the GB 9ball tour event in Daventry this weekend and hope to do some damage!!

Played in two competitions lately. Both were handicap tournaments where I was playing off -3 which means I have to win 3 extra racks than my opponent. The first one was the New Total 9ball tour and I came 5th place. Not bad but not great. Playing in a handicap tournament is a different mind set than playing off level. I feel that my opponent feels much stronger when recieving a handicap rather than playing a top player on level terms. This obviously makes it harder for me but is good match practice so I dont mind. The only thing that was mind boggling was the lack of entries. Now the tournaments are more open because of a handicap system being implemented we seem to be getting less entrants whereas in effect it should be the other way around. Come on guys lets support these tournaments a little more.....they can only help your game.

The other tournament was the Predator 10 ball masters at Barnsley. Its always a good event at Barnsley because the staff are very friendly and helpful plus the equipment used always pretty good. I came 5th place in the event but had some pretty close tough matches along the way and the guy who beat me played very good.
My next tournament will be the Swiss Open in Gstaad and is a 10 ball event which has a tough European field. I think the smaller events I have been playing in have put me in good match play mode so hopefully I will put in a good performance at the event if not win it.
Gotta go now because as you might know from my previous posts its Tuesday and its babysitting day and my baby nephew is fast asleep....thank god!! Have found a secret weapon when babysitting my nephew which is Rap music especially 50 cent or Snoop Dog. The little devil is as good as gold if I pump some rap tunes...dont ask why, maybe hes a rapper in the making. Valerie the oap next door gets a bit angry when the music is too loud so have to be careful.  Am getting better at nappy changing by the way. There is a system for everything.....just like playing a bank shot or a kick. Practice makes perfect as they say just like a pool player.
Shoot well guys and may the Rolls be with you!!!!!

 The Maharaja.................Elephants are ready to trample and crush and the tigers are hungry to attack!!

You learn something new everyday and yesterday I learnt that when you are swimming, if you keep your head under water you can go alot faster. This has increased my swimming speed substantially and am alot more aerodynamic in the water........watchout Nemo!
Anyway back to pool. I played a few sets with a friend yesterday and won 4 sets giving up some weight. I was cueing pretty well and only missed 1 ball that I shot at in 4 sets....not bad.
Have some big events coming up such as China Open and US Open so am trying to play as much as I can.
Taking a break from pool is also important now and then because one can get exhausted and almost bored from the game. However on the other hand not playing enough also has its effects so it is important to find a nice balance between the two. If you dont play for a couple of weeks you can lose muscle memory where the muscles in your arm forget how to execute certain shots so it is important to stay in stroke on a pretty regular basis.
Going to Solihull tomorrow to enter the first event of the Total 9ball series. The event is handicapped and I would be on -3 racks racing to 8. I think I will be giving most players a handicap but it will be good match practice and am looking forward to it. Let you know how I get on.
Playing tournaments wether big or small can only help your game. The more tournament experience you have under your belt, the better.
How many times have you heard ' Oh I was flying in practice and did'nt miss a ball but when I got to the tournament the wheels fell off '. Its beacause he was'nt used to playing in tournaments or needs to play alot more of them. You will find that the more tournaments you play in, the easier they will become. The pressure of playing in tournaments will become less and less and you can eventually let your natural and best game come out when you have alot of tournament experience behind you.