17 players arrived at Aylesbury for the 2018 GNO Players Championship. Among them were a number of players returning from a few years away from the BWPPA tour, and Fred Dinsmore. Competing in his first tournament since being crowned the wheelchair World 9-ball Champion.
The early stages through up some great clashes. A dramatic encounter between local cue man Chris Brown and Adam Pearson, which saw Pearson clinch the decider for a 7-6 victory. Frankie Gillen returned to the tour after 3 years as a recipient of the BWPPA’s new sponsorship scheme. His campaign got off to a dream start with a 7-0 win over Lee Woodward.
Among the heavyweights “the Sandman” Roy Kimberley survived an early scare against Gloucester potter Darren Staddon, Kimberley came through 7-5. UK no.1 Daniel Lee started the season with a 7-0 win over Iffy Hussain, while Dinsmore beat South Yorkshire’s Darren Taylor 7-2.
In the winners qualification round Danny Luton beat Dinsmore 7-5. In the losers side there were a few surprises. Taylor beat Gillen 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals on his return to the BWPPA tour. In a result that sent ripples around the Wheelchair Cuesports Academy the potter from the Potteries Dave Beaumont beat Dinsmore 6-3 to knock the World Champion out of the main event.
The quarter-final draw for the main event took place early the next morning, and we were back underway. No doubt boosted by his exploits the day before Beaumont came through a hill-hill thriller against Luton for a place in the semi-finals of the main event for the first time. The South Yorkshire duo of Gary Swift and Taylor faced tough opponents in Tony Southern and Roy Kimberley respectfully. With Southern and Kimberley heading into the semis. Lee continued his dominance with a 7-1 win over Craig Welsh, to keep his hopes of a fourth straight BWPPA title alive.
It was to be Lee and Kimberley who would meet in the final, for the second successive time after both recording comprehensive wins over Beaumont and Southern respectively. As expected the match was a dramatic encounter between 2 of the greatest wheelchair pool players ever in the UK, which eventually saw Daniel Lee win 7-5 for his fourth BWPPA tour victory on the spin.
A partial video of the main event final is available to watch here (first 10 racks only due to technical issues). Pictures of the event can be found here in the BWPPA gallery.
Full results of the main event can be found on our new tour sponsors cuescore’s site here.
The latest BWPPA ranking list can be found here.
The Challenge Cup sponsored by the World Pool Series was open to all players who didn’t reach the quarter-finals of the main event. Players also receive handicaps based on their playing ability and disability. Dinsmore who had been suffering from a migraine beat Gloucester’s Staddon 5-3 to meet Gillen in the semi-finals. Staddon who hadn’t played on the BWPPA tour for many years before the GNO Players Championship really impressed, as a recipient of the new BWPPA sponsorship scheme, he could be one to watch.
Another recipient of the sponsorship scheme Keith Hance faced last years Challenge no.1 Matthew Lester. In the end it was Lester’s experience that saw him through to the final. Hance who mainly plays UK 8-ball is another player with a lot of potential. Former BWPPA Challenge no.1 Gillen lost 5-3 to Dinsmore in the other semi-final.
The Irishman went on to take the Challenge Cup with a 5-3 victory over Lester.
Full results of the challenge cup event can be found on the cuescore site here.
The BWPPA would like to thank all of our sponsors:
Gentlemen’s Night Out World Pool Series, Simonis cloth, Aramith billiard balls, Kamui, Predator Cues, Cuescore, Escape Pool Bar in Barnsley, Tiger Cues of Warrington, A.B. Wallace Trophies and Fred Dinsmore Billiards
We would also like to thank long time BWPPA supporter Mike Murphy from www.easycue.info for his support and great donation of 3 rests, and to Big Dave Knight from www.pro9.co.uk for his great support including providing our event posters.
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.
See you all at the 2nd event of the year ‘Simonis 9-Ball Grand Prix’ at the Escape Pool Bar in Barnsley from 12-13 May 2018.
