The Belfast player was in superb form throughout the day when he overcame several close encounters beating Mark Mc Donald in the Last 16 in a superb match 7-6.

In the ¼ Finals Sean Judge dug deep to overcome Paul Strawbridge on a 7-6 scoreline while new tour member Bob Watson had a comfortable win over Billy Gorman 7-2.

Sam’s next opponent was the recently returned player Willie ”The Wizard” Dines from Bangor and this proved another tough test for Sam going 4 – 0 down in the match, but experience proved vital in the end with “The Road Warrior” showing some good tactical play and digging deep to come back and win 7-5.

In the other side of the draw Aidan Finnerty caused a major upset when he overcame one of the tournament favorites Gareth Deegan on a 7-5 scoreline.

In the first Semi Final Sean Judge was up against tour debutant Bob Watson from New York City but on this occasion it was Bob who came out the eventual winner on a 7-5 scoreline in a very tense affair. Bob is a former BCA instructor and is the Author of the book Painting On Green Canvas.

In the second semi final Sam Gibson was up against the in form Aidan Finnerty who earlier knocked out Irish Number 2 Gareth Deegan.

Again Sam proved his class and vast experience winning on 7-5 scoreline to advance to the Final to play newcomer Bob Watson.
Sam yet again as he did all day when his matches went to the wire showed his true class and fight to come out a worthy champion on a 9-7 scoreline.

Thanks to all the players who came today and I look forward seeing you all at the next event.

A big Thank You must also go to Frames Complex who are very kind to let us hold our events there.

Paddy Mc Loughlin IAPPT STAFF

Irish American Professional Pool Tour 2010

These two prestigious All Ireland 9-Ball championships will take place on Saturday 31^st August 2010 at the beautiful and superb playing venue in Cork City situated at Planet Leisure situated at Fitz’s Boreen, Old Mallow Road, Blackpool, Cork City………..

This fantastic venue consists of 12 World Championship Brunswick American Pool Tables with a fully Licensed Bar in the finest surroundings……..

PAST CHAMPIONS:—–(Open Event)
2003: Kevin Smith (England)
2004: John Wims (Kildare)
2005: Pat Holtz (Scotland)
2006: Sam Gibson (Antrim)
2007: Paddy Mc Loughlin (Down)
2008: Declan Hughes (Armagh)
2009: Jason Power (Waterford)

PAST CHAMPIONS :——(Under-21)
2004: Paddy Mc Crory (Down)
2005: Peter Doherty (Derry)
2006: Mark Mc Donald (Antrim)
2007: Tony Burton (England)
2008: Mark Mc Donald (Antrim)
2009: Tony Burton (England)

TOURNAMENT ENTRY:—– everyone is reminded that all entries must be pre-entered on or before Wednesday 28^th July as know entries will be accepted on the day of the tournament with the open event starting at 10am while the under-21 event will start at 12noon……..

ENTRIES / INFORMATION:—– for all information regarding both events and what way to go about entering both tournaments contact 07917887147 or from Rep of Ireland (0044) 7917887147 or by emailing irelandsamericancuesports@yahoo.co.uk or visit the following website www.rballsports.com

Details of both events is as follows:

Name of Tournament: All Ireland Open 9-Ball Championship

Date: Saturday 31^st July 2010

Venue: Planet Leisure, Fitz’s Boreen, Old Mallow Road, Blackpool, Cork

Closing Date: All players must pre-enter by Wednesday 28^th July —– no entries on the day

Number of Tables: 12 World Championship Brunswick American Pool Tables

Current Champion: Jason Power (Waterford) 2009 champion

Format: Straight knockout —– Race to 9 —– Handicap Event

Entry Fee: £25 or 30 euros

Tel: 07917887147 or from Rep of Ireland (0044) 7917887147

Email: irelandsamericancuesports@yahoo.co.uk

Website: www.rballsports.com

Name of Tournament: All Ireland Under-21 9-Ball Pool Championships

Date: Saturday 31^st July 2010

Venue: Planet Leisure, Fitz’s Boreen, Old Mallow Road, Blackpool, Cork City

Closing Date: players has up to 11am the day of the tournament to enter

Number of Tables: 12 World Championship Brunswick American Pool Tables

Current Champion: Tony Burton (England) 2009 champion

Format: Straight knockout —– Race to 7

Entry Fee: £15 or 20 euros

Tel: 07917887147 or from Rep of Ireland (0044) 7917887147

Email: irelandsamericancuesports@yahoo.co.uk

Website: www.rballsports.com

PLANET LEISURE:
This fabulous venue in Cork is a €20 Million facility and is the flagship of the group which is the latest addition to the Leisure World and Peak Physique family of centres.

The Planet Entertainment opened in November 2005 and includes 14 lanes of Ten Pin Bowling with its spider glow in the dark lanes.

It also has Cosmo’s, a 10000 square foot indoor play centre.

There is a fully licensed bar encompassing 12 World Championship Brunswick American Pool Tables in the finest surroundings.

It also includes The Apollo diner and Galaxy Games.

Planet Health Club opened its doors in December 2005 and is one of Cork’s most exclusive health clubs.

It offers its members the complete package from the finest gym facilities to heated pool, outdoor hot tub, sauna and steam and beauty treatments.

PLAYERS:
These tournaments are open events to any player………if it happens that any player or players don’t agree with the rules which is set in place by Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour, the organizers has the right to refuse any entry if need be……

NOTE:——–Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour hasn’t been organizing any events in 2010 due a busy schedule on other sports and the lack of playing venues in Ireland, which has seen a lot of  players returning back to play other cue-sport games, but Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Tour are still searching to find new playing venues for its tour, and will still be trying  to help promote all American Cue-Sport games throughout the 32 Counties..………

Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Tour has been organizing events throughout Ireland since 2003 and the organizers believes the only way forward is to start promoting the game in all counties throughout Ireland which is hard at the present time because a lot of counties doesn’t even have one American table in venues but Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Tour are still willing to keep trying…..

On the other hand there are probably venues out there with American tables that the tour doesn’t know about so if players could let the organizers know of any venues the tour will make contact with the venue owners even if its only one table…….

TOURNAMENTS:

The tour has secured a new playing venue in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal and will be holding a new 9-ball tournament there shortly………

A new invitation £1,000 champion of champions is being planned.

A new invitation 2,000 euros players league is also being planned which will be played over a weekend of  Saturday & Sunday.

Entry Fee: £25.

Tour registration is £25, and goes towards the posters, tour cards, trophies and administration costs.

The game is 9-ball, and there will be no dress code for first event, but after that there will be a dress code to help attract sponsors.

Players should to be at the venue by 11am, with play starting at Noon.

Anyone who is interested in playing in the first event should call Sam on 07597640625 (ROI: 0044 7597640625) or sign up on the relevant thread on the Irish 9 Ball forum.

Prize money:

All entry fee money will be paid out. 25% of the field will get paid.

Example (32 player field):
1st £250
2nd £150
3rd £100
4th £100
5th – 8th £50

The number 1 player at end of year will also win a cue.

The tour dates for the rest of the year are:
2nd May
6th June
4th July
1st Aug
5th Sept
3rd Oct
7th Nov
5th Dec

Any interested sponsors, please contact Sam on 07597640625 (ROI: 0044 7597640625). Sponsors names will be put on posters and in newspapers. Sponsorship of £50 will get the sponsor’s business card on the tour poster. The larger the sponsorship the bigger the logo with be.

There will also be tour shirts for sale in future, with some of the money being added to the events.

The prize fund for this initial appearance and in 2011 in Qatar is $250,000 and will increase to $300,000 for both 2012 and 2013. Invitations will be done according to WPA rankings, and via the WPA members. Invitations will be done according to WPA rankings, and via the WPA members and should commence during the spring of 2010.

Teenager Liu Shasha of China defeated Ireland’s Karen Corr 9-5 to claim the title and set her career in motion in grand style. When the last day of the Kappa 2009 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship in Shengyang, China began there were four undefeated players all seeking the same prize. The two semi-final matches could not have been closer. First, Karen Corr defeated Fu Xiofang of China 9-8 to earn her berth in the final set. Then Liu Shasha edged her fellow Chinese citizen Pan Xiaotang by the same 9-8 margin to get her ticket punched for the honor of playing Corr in the finals.

Before the final match a playoff was held between Pan Xiaotang and Xiaofang to determine our third place finisher. Pan controlled this match throughout and took that spot with a very convincing 9-1 victory. Then a crowd of over 1,000 very excited fans took their seats to watch the final battle.

It appeared that Corr would walk away with the title. She was the master of the table early on and rarely gave Shasha a glimpse of daylight. At one point she led our race to nine games by the score of 5-1. Shasha was obviously nervous and off her game. But then, assuming that she had to be aggressive to have a chance at victory, she put her nerves down and began her march. She won the next game to make the score 5-2, then broke and ran five racks in a row to lead 7-5. The penultimate rack had a bit of back and forth but Shasha won that as well and then on the final break she made four balls on the snap and easily made the clearance to take her 6th break and run of the match and earn the gold!

This event has been advertised all year on the 2009 tournament diary along with all other events at the top of the main page on the following website www.rballsports.com.

Entry fee is £25 with all entries accepted and information received by calling 07917887147 or from the Rep of Ireland (0044) 7917887147.

NOTE:
Only players that pre-enters on or before Thursday 19th November will be notified of all details regarding this event.

Format:
9-Ball
Single Elimination (Straight Knockout)
Race to 9
Alternate Breaks
Handicap

Entries:
Entry Fee: £25 or 30 euros.
Any player not signed up for the Pro Tour can play in the Challenge Tour. All players must pre-enter on or before 29th October by calling Tour Director Ronnie Boyle on 07917887147 or from Rep of Ireland (0044) 7917887147 or by emailing irelandsamericancuesports@yahoo.co.uk.

Date: Saturday 10th October 2009

Venue: Planet Leisure, Fitz’s Boreen, Old
Mallow Road, Blackpool, Cork

Closing Date: All players are asked to pre-enter
on or before Thursday 8th October

Number of Tables: 12 World Championship Brunswick
American Pool Tables

Format: Straight knockout —– Race to 9 —–
Handicap Event

Entry Fee: £25 or 30 euros

Tel: 07917887147 or from Rep of Ireland (0044)
7917887147

Email: rbirish8ball@yahoo.co.uk

Website: www.rballsports.com

PLANET LEISURE:
This fabulous venue in Cork is a €20 Million facility and is the flagship
of the group which is the latest addition to the Leisure World and Peak Physique
family of centres.

The Planet Entertainment opened in November 2005 and includes
14 lanes of Ten Pin Bowling with its spider glow in the dark lanes.

It also has Cosmo’s, a 10000 square foot indoor play centre.

There is a fully licensed bar encompassing 12 World Championship
Brunswick American Pool Tables in the finest surroundings.

It also includes The Apollo diner and Galaxy Games.

Planet Health Club opened its doors in December 2005 and is one
of Cork’s most exclusive health clubs.

It offers its members the complete package from the finest gym
facilities to heated pool, outdoor hot tub, sauna and steam and beauty treatments.

The next round of Ireland’s 9-Ball Pro and Challenge Pool Tours takes place on Saturday 29th August 2009. The Pro event is open to Ireland’s 16 professionals, while the Challenge tour is open to everyone else. The Challenge tour gives a wide range of players a chance to progress in the sport and maybe win a prestigous event, without having to contend with professional players.

The next event takes place in Frames in Belfast, the home of the All Ireland Pool Championships. The Pro 9-ball pool event is up for grabs after it was announced that Paddy McLoughlin would not be competing.

All players that are interested in taking part (including any new players) are asked to contact the Tour Director, Ronnie Boyle, on (NI: 07917887147) (ROI: 00447917887147) or Email: rballsports@yahoo.co.uk, before 27th August.

]]> http://www.irish9ball.com/next-pool-tournaments-saturday-29th-august/feed/ 0 http://www.irish9ball.com/predator-international-10-ball-tour-is-coming-to-europe/ http://www.irish9ball.com/predator-international-10-ball-tour-is-coming-to-europe/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:01:06 +0000 admin http://www.irishpool.com/?p=21 After much anticipation, the Predator International 10-Ball Tour is coming to Europe. The first event will take place at the Sport Complex in Anadia, Portugal from September 10-12, 2009. With players from all over the world competing on 21 tables, this inaugural event promises to be the largest ever on European soil. The top two finishers will automatically qualify for the World 10 Ball Championship, scheduled for November 25-30, 2009 at the World Trade Center in Manila.

The event is sanctioned by the European Pocket Billiard Federation and WPA rules will govern all matches. Assuming 64 or more entrants, players will compete for a guaranteed prize fund of 50,000 euros (more than $70,000).

Predator’s tour web site, www.Predator10Ball.com, will stream live video, offer a video magazine and provide real-time scoring. In addition, ESPN STAR Asia and Eurosport International will air the final and semi-finals in high definition. The first channel reaches 150 million households throughout Asia while the latter represents the largest viewing audience in Europe with more than 116 million households. According to Karim Belhaj, CEO of Predator Group, “an estimated 500 million people will tune into this event.”

Predator Group’s partner, the multimedia Kozoom Corp. that also produces the Tour’s official web site, shares Mr. Belhaj’s enthusiasm. Xavier Carrer, states that “It is our goal to bring pool & billiards to the widest audience possible; it is an achievement in itself to see that this Tour has enough assets for Eurosport to show it on their main network.” Masterpool and Bilhares Carrinho have also been heavily involved in setting up the Anadia tour stop.

“This is a seminal event and we’re excited to see it take off,” says Belhaj. “We’re committed to promoting our sport, increasing interest in the game and making billiards more of a household word. This tour represents a giant step in that direction.”

Stay tuned to www.Predator10Ball.com for additional news and live-play coverage.

A young man from Co. Waterford called Jason Power produced a dazzling display at the weekend past (Saturday 25th July) to write himself into the history books on Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour becoming the youngest poolplayer in the seven year history of the All Ireland Open 9Ball Championships to be crowned champion at the age of 19 years-old.

Not only does Jason make history by coming the youngest player to be crowned All Ireland Open 9Ball Champion but the Co. Waterford cueist has also been inducted into Ireland’s Hall Of Fame on Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour, going alongside some fantastic champions on the roll of honours list that has secured the All Ireland title down through the years.

Jason who was playing in his first ever official ranking tournament on Ireland’s American 8 & 9 Ball Pool Tour at the weekend past stormed through a qualify field of players to be crowned champion overcoming the challenge from top Irish poolplayers enroute to the final he played the 2006 past champion Sam Gibson (Antrim) who he defeated in the last-16 on a 9-8 score-line with his other victories coming against Mark Hall (Fermanagh, last-32, 9-1), Sam Gibson (Antrim, last-16, 9-8), Paul Canavan (Antrim, ¼-finals, 9-8), Coilean Massey (Antrim, semi-finals, 9-2).

In the final itself he put in an awesome performance against highly ranked player Manny Byrne (Down) in the final getting over the winning line once again on a last rack decider to be crowned 2009 All Ireland Open 9Ball Pool Champion.

England’s Tony Burton who travels across the Irish sea each year to play in the annual All Ireland Open & Under-21 9-Ball Championships has added his name for the second time on the All Ireland Under-21 roll of honours list defeating the former 2007 European English 8Ball Champion Stephen Dempsey in a brilliant final with Tony getting over the line on a 9-7 victory to be crowned champion.

This young player has achieved other major success at junior level down through the years such as the northern & southern junior championship and twice runner-up in the British junior championship has now added another All Ireland Under-21 9Ball Championship title to his CV going alongside his 2007 victory when he defeated his friend Matt Lawrenson (England) 10-6 on that occasion a few years ago.

Tony, who is otherwise known as the Basildon Bomber overcame a host of top junior pool players from Ireland on route to victory in this years event which was one of the strongest field of players in the six year history of the tournament with the Basildon Bomber in top class form right from the start recording fantastic victories over the following top underage players listed below from the last-16 onwards to claim the title.

The 31-year-old Yang has a long list of 9-ball titles to his name during an illustrious career, winning gold in the 2001 World Games and the 1998 and 2002 Asian Games, but he was desperately hoping to clinch a major international title at home and seemed poised to fulfill his dream Sunday.

Germany’s Ralf Souquet, however, had little interest in sentimentality. Showing the same clinical form he displayed throughout the World Games, Souquet dispatched Yang with relative ease, 11-4, to win the gold medal.

Yang, who said Saturday he had never been as nervous at any tournament in his career as he was at the World Games, looked shaky from the start and failed to raise his level of play throughout the match.

He made a mistake in the very first game and quickly trailed 2-0.

Down 2-1, he was given a temporary reprieve when Souquet made his only mistake of the day, a scratch on the break, to pull even, and then cleared the table on his break to take a 3-2 lead.

But in the sixth game, Yang committed a foul while trying to pot the 1 ball, a mistake that was the beginning of the end.

He scratched off the break in the seventh game, scratched when trying to sink the 2 ball in the eighth game, played a bad safety shot in the ninth game, and didn’t pot any balls on his break in the 11th game.

Souquet took advantage of those mistakes and his own clinical breaking and shotmaking to win seven straight games and take a 9-3 lead.

Yang broke the run by potting a nine-ball off the break in the 13th game, one of the few times he broke well on Sunday, but it had little effect in derailing the 1996 9-ball world champion, who won the final two games and the tournament.

“The key was the sixth game,” a disappointed Yang said. “If I had sunk the 1 and cleared the table, I might have had a chance to widen the lead. It was just one mistake, but it decided the match.”

Yang acknowledged that Souquet was a tough, experienced foe against whom he could ill afford to make any mistakes, and he knew that once the German opened a sizable lead, the match was over.

The Kaohsiung native, nicknamed the “Son of Pool, ” also bemoaned his own troubles on the break. “I played my breaks too conservatively, and they didn’t turn out well.”

In the women’s 9-ball final, Allison Fisher of Great Britain won gold with a dramatic win over Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan 9-8.

Ouschan had actually pulled even after trailing 8-6 and had the break in the final game, but she scratched, giving Fisher momentum.

Fisher later was forced to play a safety shot, but when Ouschan missed the resulting opportunity, the British “Duchess of Doom” lowered the boom on the Austrian.

In the final of the men’s carom competition, Dick Jaspers of the Netherlands had a relatively easy time with Torbjorn Blomdahl of Sweden 40-18 to take the gold medal, while Nigel Bond beat David Grace 3-0 to win the snooker gold in all British affair.