KIMBERLEY WINS FIRST EVENT OF THE 2007-08 SEASON.

 

Two time European 9 Ball Champion Roy Kimberley came to Riley's Stretford this week, to strengthen his position as No.1 on the British Wheelchair Tour and he did just that with some impeccable performances over two days, showing the true skill of a champion.

This event was the first event of 6 in the 2007/08 season.

Kimberley took apart a skilful field of 13 players including victories over current US National champion Karl Read 7-4 and Matt Gleaves 7-1, which took him into the semi final to meet Karl Read again; Karl had come through the ‘losers’ side under the double elimination format. The one-sided score-line probably does not reflect how close the game really was but is indicative of Kimberley's killer instinct in crossing the winning line. He defeated Read 9-3 to guarantee him a place in the final against Gary Swift who had disposed of both Craig Welsh 7-4 and the current no 2 ranked player, Matt Duffy 7-4, before being part of an outstanding semi-final against Gleaves who arrived at the semi final after a 7-2 win over Tony Southern.  The lead changed on no less than 10 occasions and at 8-6 ahead, Swift looked to be sailing into the final, however ‘the Mole’ (as Gleaves is nicknamed), dug deep and squared the match at 8-8, before Swift clinched the final frame early with a 1 – 9 ball combination.

The final was a closer affair than the 9-4 score to Kimberley suggests, and Swift, currently no 3 in the rankings, was 3-4 down before Kimberley stepped up another gear in the final and won 5 of the next 6 racks to claim his first 9-ball crown on the tour in 12 months.

There was a very competitive air about the weekend’s events as once the main tournament was almost complete, the process of selecting the GB team for the 25^th European Championships in Germany in 2008 could be finalised.

There were 7 spots up for grabs, 2 reserved for Kimberley and the absent Danny Luton (Current European 8-ball Champion), the next 2 spots had been previously been secured by Duffy and Swift based on their rankings, that left 2 automatic spots up for grabs and 1 spot to be played for in a qualifying event.

Going into the weekend the rankings positions were very tight with Tony Southern just ahead of Gleaves and Read.  To qualify for the British squad, Read would need to secure a place in the final.  However, despite a valiant battle, Read’s loss in the semi-final sent him to the qualification event for the last place on the squad.

In the qualifying event Read was up against players, all hungry for success and he sailed through the field, beating Welsh in the final 5-1 after his semi-final victory over Nick Oliver (4-1), Welsh beat Colin Draper (4-1) in the second semi-final.

The GB team will send a formidable line-up to the finals next summer, aiming to retain both the 9-ball and the 8-ball championships.

During the weekend’s proceedings the timetable for the rest of the season was announced, with events to be held in Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and Norwich.

The British Wheelchair Pool Players Association is the largest wheelchair tour of the American pool disciplines in Europe and grows larger with every event.

Tony Southern BWPPA Press Officer