There was a tinge of sadness in the air at the Wheelchair Cuesports Academy in Aylesbury, for the BWPPA Predator British 9-ball Championship. A few weeks before the event everyone involved with the British Wheelchair Pool Players Association heard of BWPPA stalwart Nick Oliver’s passing. As the first scheduled matches lagged for break there was a clear sense that there was an atmosphere in the air that it was appropriately the end of another season on the worlds largest wheelchair pool tour.
The action got underway following the observation of 30 seconds of applause in memory of Nick, nicknamed “The Great N.O”. Daniel Lee had a tough opening match, he was pushed all the way by his Great Britain Nation Continental Cup team-mate Dave Beaumont before Lee came through a 7-6 winner. In his previous match Beaumont beat Ifty Hussain 7-2, Hussain from Birmingham was returning to wheelchair cuesports for the first time in a number of years.
BWPPA veterans Danny Luton, Roy Kimberley and Tony Southern all had solid performances in their opening matches of the weekend. For Kimberley, Southern and Lee it was significant as a few days after this event they travel to Finland for the wheelchair World 9-ball Championship in Tampere. Chris Brown, the oldest player on the BWPPA tour returned for his second event of the season, following defeats to Matthew Lester and Beaumont, Brown would be back to compete in the Challenge Cup the following day.
As we approached the close of the first days play, on the losers’ side of the draw there was a tense encounter between Newport’s Craig Welsh and Luton. It looked like it was going all the way to a decider, but Luton, who was sent to the losers side following a 7-3 defeat to Lee sunk the 9 in the penultimate rack to take it 7-5. As if that wasn’t enough the drama was cranked up a notch in the other losers’ qualifier. Beaumont taking the hill-hill decider against Southern 7-6, from 4-6 down, after Southern had lost 7-3 to Kimberley.
In the semi-finals Lee booked his place in yet another final with a classy 7-1 win over Beaumont. In the 2nd semi-final between old rivals Kimberley and Luton, it was Kimberley who came through a 7-4 winner.
The final lived up to all expectations. The match went all the way to a tense hill-hill finish. Kimberley missed a combination on the 9, which allowed Lee off the hook; he cleared the table to complete a hat-trick of main event titles.
In the Challenge event Brown (+3) beat Lester (+2) 5-4 to book his place in a BWPPA event final for the first time. Brown met Southern, who came through a hill-hill semi-final with Welsh 5-4. It was Southern. In the final, with Brown receiving 3 racks start. There was yet another decider in this drama filled weekend, with Southern taking it 5-4.
Lester was confirmed as the no.1 in the Challenge rankings following Beaumont’s 7-6 win over Southern in the main event, thus making him ineligible for the Challenge Cup.
A video of the main event final is available to watch here. Pictures of the event can be found here in the BWPPA gallery.
The latest BWPPA ranking list can be found here.
All the players were given goody bags from our tour sponsors Kamui. Daniel Lee collected the beautiful Predator Bk3 cue as the no.1 player in the main event rankings. Matthew Lester collected a Poison Strychnine Cue as the no.1 in the challenge cup rankings.
Further prizes of a Predator Roadline cue, Predator BK3 break cue, Predator Sport cue case and a Predator Blak cue case were won by players who ended the season in the top 6 in the main event rankings.
Daniel Lee and Matthew Lester would both like to dedicate their performances to Nick Oliver.
Everyone at the BWPPA would like to congratulate Daniel Lee, Roy Kimberley, Tony Southern and Matt Duffy on their performances at the recent wheelchair World 9-ball Championship in Tampere, Finland. All four players demonstrated the quality of the tour, and did us all proud. Especially Roy and Dan who collected bronze medals as semi-finalists.
The BWPPA would also like to extend our congratulations to former BWPPA no.1, Ireland’s Fred Dinsmore. 2017 wheelchair World 9-ball Champion, beating Kurt Deklerck 9-4 in the final.
Results and videos of the matches can be found here.
The BWPPA would like to thank all of our sponsors:
World Pool Series, Gentlemen’s Night Out, Simonis cloth, Aramith billiard balls, Kamui, Predator Cues, Talisman Billiards, Escape Pool Bar in Barnsley, Tiger Cues of Warrington, Cheqio, Ultimate Team Gear, A.B Wallace Trophies, Gosport Pool Arena and Fred Dinsmore Billiards
We also are always looking to expand the sponsorship side of the tour, so if you or your company would like to become one of our sponsors, please visit our contact us page.
You too can be a part of the world’s largest wheelchair pool tour; please keep checking on http://www.bwppa.com and http://www.pro9.co.uk for further information. In addition to our national tour stops there is also the possibility of representing Great Britain in international tournaments such as the EPBF European Championship and WPA World 9-ball Championship for wheelchair players.
We hope to see you all on the BWPPA tour in 2018. Event details will be announced in due course. All of the BWPPA players and committee would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
