I attended the first Gb9 ball tour event in Daventry where I finished 5th in the Pro event and 3rd in the main event. To be fair I know a 5th and a 3rd are pretty consistent results but I expected to get to atleast one final out of the two events if not win one. I actually lost to the winners of each tournament who were on fire but have to say was very unlucky in the main events semi final. However it is not that easy thesedays as we all know. The tour now has alot of great cueists from all over the U.K and everyone has to be treated with respect. The Pro event especially has the countries finest players and there are no easy draws so you have to be on your game to do well. Anyway I cant complain, I was told that I was the highest money earner on the GB 9 ball tour since it started so that brought a little smile to my face.
The tournament itself was plain sailing as usual with no problems along the way apart from 1 or 2 tables having a slight roll on them but apart from that the conditions were perfect with the new cloths added the tables were a pleasure to play on. Some people dont realise how much time and effort goes into organising a tour of such magnitude and we should appreciate the hard work that the GB9 team does for us. What I like is that there is always slight improvements made from tournament to tournament and the team always have an open mind asking players what they want and how they could improve the tour. Hats off to you guys!!!
My next event will be the Euro tour in Italy. Its in Treviso in Venice and it is a beautiful venue I heard. I seem to play good in Italy most of the time after all its where I won my first Euro tour. I dont know maybe its the pizza and ice cream that gets me excited lol!!! Memories of that first Euro tour always stick with me because I came through a very tough field. I think I beat Fabio Petroni first then Nick Van den berg then Niels Feijen then Thomas Engert then Ralph Souqet then Thorsten Hohman then I cant remember but it was something crazy like that.
Theres a good pointer for all you pool players out there. When going through a bad patch or preparing for a big match try to visualise and remember the times when you have played exceptionally well or had a great scalp. If you recreate this scenario it should help you perform alot better.
Shoot good guys and as always.........May the rolls be with you!!!!
