Wow what a month i seem to love october :-)
Hi, I am finally back home with a chance to update after couple of days rest..
What can I say about October? It started with winning the Beassy 9ball Open in Hungary. I headed to US Open 9 Ball Championship in great confidence, form, and happy about everything. Mentally, I felt great when I arrived
I love the venue and everything about the US Open, so I actually didn’t feel any added pressure about defending my title.. I think I probably played better this year than last.
During the first week of the tournament, myself and few other Brits–Chris, Karl, and Jayson, played golf everyday. We did same last year, it seems to help take your mind off of pool 24/7. It definitely works for me. And of course, I took the money off of Chris Melling at golf haha..
The tournament caught fire for me in round 3 of the winners’ side bracket. I played Jason Klatt, who is always tough to beat. He beat me a few times this year, so I was really up for this one… especially in the Accu-Stats arena where I feel at home. The start of the match was great, I was up 2-0 but then I broke dry. Before I got back to the table, I’m 7-2 down… great lol. I took my timeout came back, still a little punch drunk, and made a mistake at 7-2. Then, Jason missed the 8 ball and that changed the whole game from there. I played great but so did Jason. The score was 10-6 and my back was against the wall.
10-6, Jason got me in trouble, but I played a great kick shot and snookered him..
10-7, I played a great combo bank onto the 9 ball..
10-8, I ran the next 2 racks…
10-10, last rack, I played a good snooker on Jason. He made a good hit and snookered me. I kicked the 2 ball in and made a good shot on the 3 ball, and ran out. Wow, what a match… probably one of the greatest matches ever, certainly one of the best matches in the US Open, and in my career–probably the best win.
From that moment on, my confidence was high. From round 6 winners’ bracket, I felt in the zone and played great against:
Johnny Archer, another great match 11-9
Putnam, to be 10-3 up I played perfect.. 11-7
Alex Pagulayan, 11-6, down 6-5–another great match
In the final, I was really nervous but ready. There was so much at stake: history and future invites, and sponsorship. The match got delayed due to Barry hugging the microphone for 30 minutes haha. Eventually the final started and I’m up 6-0. I played perfect and came home a comfortable winner, 13-6, to retain my title.
Thanks to all the wonderful messages that followed, what a feeling, I’m so grateful..
Only downside in this event is that it’s a WPA event–the biggest and toughest field in the world… but because there was only $50k added in prize money (even though the total prize is probably as big as any other tournament) they only gave me 417 ranking points
At the World 8 ball earlier in the year, there were only 64 players. The winner received 900 points (Dennis Orcullo) and in the end, it made huge difference. I finished World No. 3 for the year, but if I received the proper amount of ranking points, I would be World No. 1. Rankings been a curse for me. Last year, I won the US Open and didn’t receive ANY ranking points, which if I have, I would have also seen me finish World No. 1. Oh well, maybe next year, 3rd time I’ll be lucky
) I am still No. 3, I’m happy enough after another consistent year.
Straight after the US Open, I headed to the International Challenge of Champions at Mohegan Sun. This will be televised in December on ESPN. It’s a 4 player invitational event, $25,000 winner take all, 2 sets races to 5 and a sudden death rack decider. I kept my form and beat Yukio (World 9 ball champion) 5-2, 5-2. Huidji See beat Mika in a sudden death rack. In the final, I lost the first set 5-2. I didn’t do much wrong, Huidji caught some great rolls. But in the 2nd set, I came back strong to win 5-2… and another sudden rack for the title. Huidji won the lag for the sudden death rack. After some safety exchange, he jumps the one ball in and I feared the worst, because the layout was perfect for him. He sort of lost position on the 4ball, made it, but left a tricky 5 ball and missed it by a long way. I held myself together good to take the title and cap off an amazing week and look forward to defending title next year..
But I didn’t get to rest there, I flew to Sarajevo the next day in Bosnia where I was invited to play a 256 player field tournament. I got to be honest… I was drained, jet lagged and jaded, however; I got through to last the 8 and was up at 7:15. My opponent Nikos from Greece, strong player but never gave me another chance so I lost 8-7. Well done to Mark Gray who beat Ralf in the final.
Finally time to rest and I put on a party at Riley’s Barnsley in England. It was a great night and great to share my success with friends, family and my wonderful girlfriend Angie, who also just turned 25
So it was a great night and I owe lot of my success to Angie. She been great support and keeps me calm and happy… thanks Angie
Lastly, I finished 2nd in Mosconi Cup rankings. Not bad, especially after missing a ranking tournament earlier in the year. Europe v USA will be my 3rd consecutive Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas, Dec 8-11th. It was a big goal at start of year to win a major and make the team. Mission accomplished
Dynamite
The whole team played strong and everybody played a big part. We outplayed them in every department and afterwards watching some of the matches back, the scoreline flatters them. Final rack score was around 90-67.
After celebrations with my baby and close friends 
