The BWPPA tour returned to Escape Pool Bar in Barnsley over the sunny weekend of 12-13 May, as 15 players did battle for the Simonis Grand Prix title. The tour welcomed Great Britain shooter Jonathan Bates, who was making his BWPPA debut in his hometown.

The first round threw up some thrilling matchups including two dramatic hill-hill battles. Fred Dinsmore had to use all of the experience that helped him win the wheelchair World 9-ball title last November, as he pipped Craig Welsh 7-6. Elsewhere having lead 3-0, Adam Pearson survived a hill-hill encounter with Matthew Lester to take the match 7-6. Stoke’s Dave Beaumont beat Frankie Gillen 7-4, which sent ”Hotwheels” into the one-loss bracket. Gillen was to fall victim to another hill-hill drama, this time at the hands of Darren Taylor who came through a 6-5 victor.

Daniel Lee began his campaign with a 7-3 win over Danny Luton to keep his hopes of a fifth consecutive BWPPA title alive. Dinsmore continued to progress, this time by a much more comfortable scoreline as he beat Adam Pearson 7-2.

One of the highlights from the tournament was a terrific clash between Beaumont and Roy Kimberley. Beaumont who has recently had a table installed at his home beat “the Sandman” 7-5. That defeat sent Kimberley over to the losers side of the draw where he beat “the Spokesman” Keith Hance 6-0. Earlier in the day Hance had recorded his maiden win on the BWPPA tour with a 6-4 win over Iffy Hussain.

Also in the one-loss side Jonathan Bates beat Pearson 6-3, after an earlier 7-3 defeat to Danny “Lucky” Luton. Unfortunately for the debutant this set up a clash with Kimberley who beat Bates 6-1. Bates is without doubt a prospect, many of the tours top players talked of the potential in him.

As the event moved into the qualification rounds for the semi-finals Lee beat Tony Southern 7-2 and Dinsmore beat Beaumont 7-4.

In the qualification round on the losers side of the draw, Beaumont beat Welsh 7-3 and Kimberley beat Southern by the same scoreline.

The semi-finals were jam packed with stories. The first semi-final saw Beaumont achieve arguably his biggest win on the tour to date as he defeated Lee 7-3 for a place in the main event final.

In the second semi- final Dinsmore beat Roy Kimberley 7-0.

The Final

Dinsmore took the first 2 racks. In the third Beaumont attempted a 4-9 combination, unfortunately for him the 9 stayed in the jaws of the pocket, which enabled Dinsmore to play a simple billiard to stretch his lead to three racks.

Beaumont came back to narrow his deficit to two racks at 5-3. At the beginning of the 9th rack the cueball got kicked into the corner pocket from Beaumont’s break. That was the catalyst to Dinsmore closing out the match beating Beaumont 7-3. This was the Irishman’s first title since being crowned as the wheelchair World Champion last November.

A video of the main event final is available to watch here ,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 WPS Challenge Cup saw 9 entrants. The largest field for a number of years. The event began with a preliminary match between 2 heavyweights of the Challenge Cup, which saw Gillen (+2) defeat Lester (+2) 5-3.

In the quarter-finals Darren Taylor kept his good run of form going as he beat Southern 5-1 after receiving a +2 start. Bates (+1) came through a hill-hill decider with Luton to win 5-4.

Both semi-finals saw experienced BWPPA tour players pit against newcomers to the tour. Experience came through in both matches as Welsh beat Bates 5-3, and Gary Swift edged Taylor 5-4 in a South Yorkshire derby.

The Final

It was the Sheffielder Swift (on RHS) who was to take the title with a 5-3 win over Newport’s Welsh.

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 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.

In August we will be hosting a new event for all disabilities.

KAMUI 9-BALL OPEN DISABILITY EVENT

11-12 August 2018
Wheelchair Pool Academy, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Stoke Mandeville Stadium
Guttmann Road, Stoke Mandeville
Buckinghamshire
HP21 9PP

You can find more information about this event here http://bwppa.com/calendar/ or here

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.