PFW grand prix 5 report

The fifth and final event of the season got underway at Potters bar, Cardiff, last weekend, and as usual there were plenty of surprise results.

Last 32

We start with the tie of the round as Russell Burgess took on the in form Ben Davies. Russell playing in his first competition for 2 months after a big heart operation looked out of sorts, and Ben took full advantage of every mistake winning a comfortable 7 – 1.

Jon Bushnell made short work of the young Dan Lewis with a 7 – 4 victory. Alan Llewellyn was next to go through as he defeated Josh Craze 7 – 5. Tom Cousins was in fine form as he defeated Darren Selvey 7 -1.

The next match went all the way as Michael Howe took on Jamie Moray. Michael taking the victory after Jamie failed to clear in the decider. Simon Ward was next to go through as he beat Phil Hoskins 7 -1 with Phil having no run at all. Andy Macdonald made short work of Wayne White as he won 7 – 2.

Ryan John looked in good form as he beat Jason Toovey 7 – 0. Dave Roblin also looked in good form as he defeated Nick Core 7 – 1. Event Four winner Craig Marsh beat Dan Bishop 7 – 3. Martin Goddard beat team mate Tom Price 7 – 6. Paul Penhale was a comfortable winner over Marc Evans as he won 7 – 3. Shane Virgin looked good in his defeat of Ben O’brien 7 – 4. Emilio Pulambo went through 7 – 6 in a close match with Joe Eljerrard. Wayne Smith went Through 7 – 1 against a steady looking Vince Dawes.

Last 16

Ben Davies again looked good as he defeated good friend Jon Bushnell 7 – 2. Alan Llewellyn had a good win against the young Dean o’connell by 7 – 4. Tom Cousins had a tough encounter against Michael Howe, but came through by        
7 – 4. Another great match up as Andy Macdonald took on the in form Simon Ward. The match was always close but simon run out a few racks to end the match as a 7 – 4 winner. Ryan John again looked good as he beat Dave Roblin by a comfortable 7 – 3. Craig Marsh went crashing out to Martin Goddard, as Martin dished from every where to win the match 7 – 4. The young Shane virgin beat Paul Penhale 7 – 3 for his first appearance in a Quarter final. Wayne Smith beat Emilio Pulambo 7 – 2 with Emilio not having the best of run in the match.


Quarter / Finals

Ben Davies started off the quarter finals in blistering fashion as he defeated Alan Llewellyn 7 – 0. The next match went all the way as Simon Ward took full advantage of an error by Tom Cousins for a close 7 – 6 win. Martin Goddard was looking good as he edged out Ryan John 7 – 5. Wayne Smith beat Shane Virgin 7 – 4 in a tight match.

Ben Davies         7 – 0         Alan Llewellyn
Tom Cousins     6 – 7         Simon Ward
Ryan John        5 – 7        Martin Goddard
Wayne Smith     7 – 4         Shane Virgin


Semi / Finals

The semi finals brought some great pool as Ben Davies took on good friend Simon Ward. Ben always seemed to have the upper hand in the match and eventually run out an 8 – 5 winner for his Third final of the season. Next up was Martin Goddard against Wayne Smith. Wayne started the stronger and took a 3 – 1 lead. The match was always tight but Wayne missed four black balls in separate frames to leave martin back in. The match was all square at 6 – 6 when Wayne took advantage of Martin’s mistakes to edge the match 8 – 6.


Ben Davies        8 – 5     Simon Ward
Wayne Smith     8 – 6     Martin Goddard

Final

The final was for more than pride as the winner would finish top of the one year rankings. The match turned out to be a classic as the first four frames all went with break to 2 – 2. Ben then cleared off Wayne’s break and his own to take a
4 – 2 lead. Wayne then broke and cleared to pull a frame back but only to watch Ben do the same as he took a 5 -3 lead. Wayne then broke and cleared of his own break and did the same off Ben’s break to level the match at 5 – 5. A scrappy frame then went Ben’s way for a 6 – 5 lead. Wayne then cleared off Ben’s break to level the match at 6 – 6. The next frame proved costly for Wayne as he fouled and gave Ben a free ball when in full control of the table. Ben used his two shots to clear the table and take a 7 – 6 lead. Ben then broke and took out a clearance from nowhere to win his first ever PFW grand prix title after many defeats in the final.


Wayne Smith    6 – 8    Ben Davies

Rankings    

In the one year ranking list the top eight were as follows:

1)    Ben Davies
2)    Wayne Smith (World Singles spot)
3)    Tom Cousins (World Singles spot)
4)    Russell Burgess (World singles spot)
5)    Micheal Howe
6)    Andy Macdonald
7)    Martin Goddard
    Craig Marsh

As you can see, the top three PFW team players to qualify for the last 64 of the World singles in Blackpool in July are Wayne Smith, Tom Cousins and Russell Burgess.

In the two year ranking list the top eight seeded players for 2008 are as follows:

1)    Wayne Smith
2)    Russell Burgess
3)    Andy Macdonald
4)    Ryan John
5)    Tom Cousins
6)    Martin Goddard
7)    Ben Davies
    Tom Price

The above eight players will now be seeded into the last 32 of every draw for 2008.

Once again it was great to see so many quality players from both rules playing together in what turned out to be a fantastic day of pool. The Grand prix Tour will start again in April 2008. Entry forms will be on line soon, so let’s hope we can continue the ever increasing amount of interest in World Rules Pool in Wales.



Look forward to seeing you all at tour one in April.