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5 June 2008
Magical 3 out of 3 for Majid as he takes London Classic
to maintain 100% record in GB9.
After three days of
play, with a full field of 128 elite quality players in the Main Event
at the GB9 event in Harrow, Imran Majid has done the
unthinkable and won for the third time in a row. It shouldn't be
possible should it? There's too much luck needed in nine-ball to have a
dominant champion isn't there?
Well... Apparently not, but
the journey wasn't without hiccups, not least the final match which went
hill-hill with both players missing the final nine ball once, after
Majid left himself too straight on the eight to get good shape on the
nine. He missed a long thin cut playing from near the rail, then Hundal
missed the only shot available to him, a table length bank into the
opposite corner pocket!
Both shots were very makeable, but nine ball
is all about the pressure, and these were the hero shots, the ones that
count, the "make or break" shots, the ones that nine ball is all about -
these two shots made this the best GB9 final so far... After three days
of play the title, the money, the ranking points, the glory - everything
hung on this one last 21/4 inch yellow striped ball. Majid executed a
perfect cut down the opposite rail to send the nine into oblivion and
his star into orbit. Nine ball pool at it's best - absolutely
thrilling!!!
In an interview before the final Imran said, "Well I think
to start off with I've got a big advantage playing on these tapped in
conditions, I use a cut break and it works very well."
 "Most
of the time I'm getting a shot on the one and I'm never going to
scratch, whereas other people are putting it down to luck to get a shot
on the one ball and scratching a lot of times, you know hitting the ball
hard and they don't really know where the cue ball is going sometimes so
I think I'm three racks up before I start any match."
Three wins out of three tournaments and only six events in a season, is
it too early to be mentioning the possibility of a Grand Slam? Well...
Majid is already looking forward to the next GB9 event, the GB9
Yorkshire Cup to be held at the beautiful seaside town of Scarborough.
"The club looks very nice", he said!
Appleton beats Boyes in Pro Cup!!!
The English Pool converts are beginning to stamp their authority in the
9 Ball World as Yorkshireman Darren Appleton beats fellow former English
Pool player Karl Boyes in the final of the GB9 Pro Cup event this
weekend.
Despite being no stranger to televised matches, Appleton admitted that
he was more than a little jealous of Boyes' upcoming IPT Ultimate 8-Ball
challenge versus Alex Pagulayan, but also said, "at the same time I'm
very happy for him because he finished third in the World Championships
last year and he's been invited to nothing... He's been very unlucky
because Mark Gray is ranked one in Europe and Daryl Peach winning the
World Championships, the chances of that happening for the two of them
in the same year is like a miracle really, but it happened."
"Any other year, Karl would have got invited to the World Masters or the
World Cup and stuff like that, but he's just a bit unfortunate and he's
missed the boat a little bit and things haven't really gone his way and
I don't think he's got the rewards he should have got, and I'm really
happy for him that he's got the opportunity to play Alex (Pagulayan) on
the IPT."
"I think the IPT have looked at that and thought he deserved something
from it as well and I'm really happy for him, he's a great guy, he's my
best mate and he's a great player."
Appleton is already looking forward to the next GB9 event, The Yorkshire
Cup, it's quite local to his home in Pontefract and he said, "I've been
there lots of times, it's a great place, the night life is very good,
people are really good, it's very quiet, really clean, I think it's
going to be the best of them. I haven't been to the club but apparently
the club is really, really nice, but what I will guarantee is that the
nightlife is awesome, so if you get beat you have a good night, and the
people there are really, really nice. It's a nice place, very, very
clean and the sites are really nice."
David Walsh triumphs in Challenge Cup!!!
Two players from London earned their chance of fame and glory by
reaching the final of The GB9 Challenge Cup this weekend. It was battle
of East versus West, as David Walsh from Shepherd's Bush in West London
beat Andy Nicholson from Mile End in East London at Rileys Wealdstone.
It had been noted earlier in the tournament that both players were in
excellent "form", Nicholson's break received particular mention, and
this result has really placed him "on the pool map" for a lot of players
and spectators alike, but in the final it was Walsh who triumphed with a
competent 11-5 to take the trophy, the title, and the all important
ranking points.
Walsh's biggest hurdle was his quarter-final battle with Challenge
Division numero uno Thomas Ainsworth-Smith who has won both previous
events and currently sits at the top of the leader board. "He's been
doing everyone over in the last few tournaments", said Walsh, "he's been
playing really well and it seemed like he deserved it, he seemed like he
was cueing better than anyone else in the Challenge Division so you have
to give it to him really, I'm just pleased that I could show him that he
can be beaten."
Walsh admitted that he had let his game and practice regime slide a
little but has announced that he's back with a new hunger for the game,
playing almost every day if he can. This win should earn him a well
deserved promotion into the exclusive top 8 on the Challenge Division
rankings.
27 May 2008
Snooker star, Drago joins GB9 as
the tour heads to Wealdstone!
Tony Drago will be permanently added to the GB9 Pro Division starting at
Wealdstone on 30 May, taking the vacancy made available by Steve Brown
who has relinquished his spot for personal reasons. Drago has seen his
pool profile ascending to stratospheric heights after notable wins at
international standard 9 ball and 10 ball events, and has won fans
around the world with his no nonsense approach and quick-fire style
which appears to be more suited to the world of professional pool.
The "Disher" - Tommy Donlon will be making his first appearance as a
reserve - in for Andy Richardson who cannot make this event. Donlon
could be a big threat if he brings his "A" game with him, he was one of
the UK's most dominant players in previous years - this tour HAS to be
the toughest in Europe - and it just got tougher!
(Article by 'Big Dave Knight' of
www.pro9.co.uk)
The rise of UK pool and particularly the standard of players signed up
to GB9, Europe's most prestigous national pool tour, has been met with
astonishment and envy around the pool world. The Euro Tour is
widely believed to be the toughest test of pool on the planet right now
and after the Paris event in February GB9 players had won no less than 5
out of the last 7 events and filled 4 of the top 5 European ranking
positions including the coveted number one spot (Gray, Drago, Majid &
Peach). This is a remarkable fact given the long time
domination of nations like The Netherlands and Germany.
As the tour heads to Wealdstone this weekend an exciting weekend is in
prospect as UK Number One, Imran Majid looks to keep his compatriates
quiet and make it 3 out of 3 main event victories.
As always the tough Pro event looks wide open but on paper number one
ranked Phil Burford, 17 from Darlington, has a great draw in the top
half and a chance to cement his position at the top of the rankings.
Karl Boyes is the other man coming in to the event in red hot form with
a recent semi final in the Euro Tour, Germany. But who would dare
predict the winner from names like Boyes, Donlon, Peach, Gray, Hundal,
Majid, Uzzell, Appleton and Drago?
The Challenge Division is not without it's excitement either.
Youngster, Thomas Ainsworth-Smith has dominated the first 2 events but
Parker, Jenkins, Barnett, Dixon and Burton will all be looking to take
him out and earn their first wins.
You can see the full draw and learn more about tour stop 3
here.
13 April 2008
Scarborough preview
The
GB9 Team called at Scarborough this weekend, not for a weekend at the
seaside, but to visit Rileys Scarborough; hosts of the GB9 Yorkshire Cup
this coming July. We visit all host clubs a few months prior to
the tournament to help us and Rileys staff prepare for the event.
Since this will be the first time an event of this kind will have been
held in this new club in the North Yorkshire seaside resort we thought
we'd wet your appetite with a few photographs of what lies ahead for GB9
players.
This beautiful new club, which opened 2 years ago in the heart of the
bustling town centre boasts 17 American tables, which are in superb
condition.
The
club is just a few minutes walk from the stunning North Yorkshire
coastline.
The GB9 Yorkshire Cup along with the Scarborough Pro Cup and Scarborough
Challenge Cup takes place from Friday 11th to Sunday 13th July 2008.
More details of the event will be provided after the London Classic
which takes place in Rileys, Wealdstone on 30 May.
5 April 2008
Majid tops the rankings after clinching GB9 Southern
Masters
Imran
Majid has cemented his position at the top of the British rankings after
taking the GB9 Southern Masters.
Champions,
challengers and fans all enjoyed another fantastic GB 9 Ball Tour of
non-stop action, and it was a weekend full of shock exits for the 128
player field as the pool stars fell to the diamonds-in-the-rough.
Reigning EuroTour No.1 Mark Gray exited the Pro Cup event in the first
round after a 9-6 loss to relative newcomer Alan Millership from
Reading, and reigning World Champion Daryl Peach also fell at the first
hurdle with a 9-6 victory for rising star Neil Raybone.
Events worsened in the Main Event as tears were shed when three players
were actually disqualified after two days of gruelling qualification
when they arrived more than 20 minutes late for their matches after the
clocks were advanced by one hour due to the official start of British
Summer Time.
No.1 ranked GB9 player Imran Majid had a close shave and had to give his
opponent a three rack start when he arrived 19 minutes late for his
match in the Pro Cup. Majid found this penalty too much to overcome as
he added his name to the growing list of top players exiting the first
round of this alternate-break format tournament after his opponent, Adam
Clarke, broke and dished the first rack to take what proved to be an
insurmountable 4-0 lead in the race-to-9 match.
However, all was not lost, as the "Maharajah" once again won the all-important
128 player Main Event beating close friend and fellow
Londoner Raj Hundal 11-9 in the final. Having also won the first tour
stop in Solihull Majid’s position in the number one spot of the main
British rankings is already looking unassailable with 4 events to go.
He won the event in some style too, breaking and running out an
astonishing 59% of his 40+ breaks.
The Tornado thrills the spectators to
seal the GB9 Croydon Pro Cup.
The Pro Cup event, exclusively for the
32 elite players on the tour, was won by Tony "The Tornado" Drago after
a thrilling quick-fire run through
 the
field of superstars culminating in an 11-8 win over Kevin Uzzell.
Watching Drago run balls and racks at break-neck speed is exciting stuff
and it was a real treat for the spectators at this event. Playing
against Drago can be a very daunting
affair but Uzzell did well, especially when he had to dry the soaked
tips of his cues under the washroom hand-dryer immediately before the
tournament started, after accidentally dropping his cue case in a
puddle. 17 year old Phil Burford
had another impressive run in the Pro Cup reaching the semi final after
a nail-biting 9-8 win over Darren Appleton, a victory that has earned
the youngster the number one ranking in the 32 player pro event.
Ainsworth-smith makes it 2 from 2 in the
GB9 Challenge Cup
The 96 player Challenge Cup, which
excludes the 32 elite players was
once again won by youngster Thomas Ainsworth-Smith. ‘The Tommy Gun’, as
he’s affectionately known, won a tense final against established senior
player, Neil Jenkins. At 9-9 had Jenkins converted a tricky 7 ball to
lead 10-9 he would have had the all important break should the match
have gone all the way but it wasn’t to be and from 10-9 Ainsworth-Smith
produced a brilliant clearance to seal his second successive GB9
Challenge Cup victory.
Watch the action on Cuesport TV
 As
always Cuesport TV were in attendance to record all the best match ups
including the finals of all 3 events which will be available for viewing
over the coming weeks. Check out
www.cuesport.tv for more details.
21 March 2008
Tornado to hit Croydon!
The GB 9 Southern Masters welcomes Tony Drago to the impressive line up
of talent competing in Croydon between 28-30 March. Tony, the
current Euro Tour French Open Champion, is known to many as 'The
Tornado' for his exceptionally fast play.
Drago has been keen to join GB9 right from the start but unfortunately
was unable to commit to the scheduled dates before the application
process closed last November. Since then he's been waiting
patiently with others on the reserve list and is now able to take his
place in the line up for the Pro Cup and Southern Masters events in
Croydon following the withdrawal of one of the pro division tour
players.
Although this is a one-off spot rather than a permanent 2008 tour place
GB9 are obviously delighted to welcome one of the worlds most
entertaining and charismatic players and we look forward to seeing Tony
take his place on the tour permanently in the next season.
21 March 2008
Press release for tour stop 2
128 of the UK’s best players will descend on Croydon between 28-30 March
as Britain’s biggest and best 9 ball pool tour ever hits London for the
second tour event of the season. You can download a copy of the press release
here.
24 February 2008
Potential date changes
We wish to warn GB9 tour players that there is a possibility we will
need to change the dates of one or more tour stops towards the end of
the year. This is to avoid date clashes with major world events.
The WPA calendar now shows the World 10 Ball Championships clashing with
our last tour stop in Mansfield, though we understand from our sources
that this date may move again. Additionally some major tournaments
usually played around that busy time of year (September, October and
November) have yet to be scheduled, including Matchroom's World Cup Of
Pool.
For this reason we will wait until the WPA Calendar becomes more stable
before announcing any changes to GB9 dates but we felt it prudent to
warn our players that a change in our dates is looking likely. At
this stage tour stop 6 will most probably be affected and there is a
small possibility that tour stop 5 could be impacted too, though we feel
this is much less likely.
We will monitor the situation closely and let all our players know as
soon as any date changes are confirmed.
7 February 2008
GB9 Midlands Classic – One Long Weekend - Three Ranking
Tournaments
This was the inaugural event of Britains new official 9 ball tour,
actually three tournaments in one long weekend with a
 prize
fund totalling over £11,000 (US22000 or EUR160000) at each event – the
Main Event (consisting of all 128 tour players), the Challenge Cup (for
the 96 players aiming for promotion to the Pro Cup next year), and the
Pro Cup (the elite top 32 UK professionals). The event was held in the
beautiful Rileys Pool & Snooker Club at Solihull in the heart of
England.
Double delight for Majid as GB9 gets under way
 London's
Imran Majid started the tour in commanding fashion winning the GB9
Solihull Pro Cup on Saturday night followed on Sunday with victory over Mark Gray in the coveted main tournament; the GB9
Midlands Classic. Imran showed no mercy as he ploughed his way
through the high quality 128 player field beating reigning World
Champion, Daryl Peach and former World Pool Masters Champion Raj Hundal.
But his toughest test came in the final against newly crowned European
Number 1, Mark Gray who was cheered on by a partisan crowd including
close friend, world number 2 on the ladies circuit, Karen Corr. In a nail-biting finish
to a great weekend of pool it was the Maharaja who emerged the victor in
the hill-hill final frame to take the title and seal his place at the
top of the rankings.
Ainsworth-Smith shows strength of young UK talent
It was also a great weekend for the younger players as the Challenge Cup
trophy was won by 18 year old Thomas Ainsworth-Smith from
Macclesfield, one of our brightest young talents and hot favourite for
promotion to the Pro Division. And another rising young star, 17
year old Phil Burford, showed his true class in reaching the Pro Cup
final overcoming World Semi-Finalist Karl Boyes and the reigning World
Champion Daryl Peach, eventually losing to Majid on his way to a £500 runner up prize in the 32
player Pro Cup.
If you were not able to attend the event and missed some of the great
pool on display do not despair as Cuesport TV recorded all 3 finals.
These will be available shortly on
www.cuesport.tv along with the last 16 match between Chris Melling
and Craig Osborne and some great interviews with many of the players.
Check out the results page for all
the match results, statistics and rankings from all 3 events at GB9 Tour
Stop 1 or for more news, photographs and discussion about the event
visit www.pro9.co.uk.
You can download a copy of the official press release
here.
20 January 2008
Press release for tour stop 1
The excitement is building as we approach the first tour stop for GB9.
You can download a copy of the press release
here.
1 January 2008
Pro Division and full list of players announced
GB9 is delighted to announce the full list of
players accepted onto the tour for the 2008 season including the
much sought after 32 Pro Division places.
48 players applied to join the Pro
Division in season 1 for which there were only 32 places available.
Consequently the GB9 Tour Committee had the task of selecting the best
32 players with the remainder being offered a place on the Challenge
Division. As you can appreciate this was no easy task when
there is no reliable data or ranking system available to compare players.
However, between us we came up with what we believe was a very fair and
effective selection criteria and looking at the 32 players selected the
quality of the field speaks for itself.
We have an envious array of talent competing on the tour that no other
national tour within Europe can come close to including; 4 former
Mosconi Cup players (Andy Richardson, Daryl Peach, Raj Hundal and Imran Majid), the
current European Number one, Mark Gray, and of course the reigning World
Champion, Daryl Peach.
The Challenge Division is no walkover either
with Bradley Parker and David Walsh amongst the favourites to gain
promotion.
Click the Players link above to view the full list of GB9 Tour Players.
From the GB9 Team we want to offer congratulations to the 32 players who
achieved Pro Division status and wish all of our Tour Players,
supporters and sponsors our very best wishes for a happy and prosperous
2008.
15 December 2007
Tour extended to 128 players
After launching the application process on 15 November GB9 received a
staggering 140 applications for 96 places forcing us to stop taking
further applications within just a few days of the launch. In
order to accommodate as many players as realistically possible, given the
size of venues and strict format, we are pleased to announce we have now
extended the tour to 128 players - 32 Pro and 96 Challenge Division.
Any player who completed an application form and has already paid their
first instalment is now assured of a place in the 128 field. We will publish the
final list of accepted players shortly and send official confirmation to
each player by email.
The extension to 128 players brings some exciting changes to the match
schedule, seeding system, 2009 qualifying criteria and of course the
prize fund for each event will increase too. In order to
accommodate the additional matches within a tight schedule we will make
greater use of seeding in the main 128 player event. This
offers real incentives to improve your ranking from tournament to
tournament. In our opinion all these changes add up to a very
welcome improvement to what was already an exciting format and schedule.
Check out the About the tour section to see detailed information but a quick
summary of the changes is as follows:
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Seeding: Players ranked in the top 32 of the main event will be
seeded into round 3 (last 64), and players ranked 33-64 will be
seeded into round 2 leaving the lowest 64 ranked players playing in
Round 1 for a chance to progress.
In the Challenge Cup the top 32 ranked players will be seeded to
round 2. This is not only great news for the seeded players and a great
incentive to improve your ranking at each event, it's also good news
for the lower ranked players who are guaranteed not to face a top
seed until they have some matches under their belt, giving them a chance to 'warm
up' and get their arm going before they take on the big guns!
Remember, rankings for each of the 3 events are entirely separate so
there is nothing to stop a Challenge Division player earning Top 32
status (and the valuable seeding that goes with it) in the Main
Tournament.
-
Schedule: The first session will will start 60 minutes earlier on
Friday i.e. 18:00. Saturday will be completely devoted to the
Challenge and Pro Cups. Sunday will concentrate on the Main
event from the last 64 stage where it will be played right down
to the final alongside a plate competition in the afternoon for
anyone losing out early. You'll appreciate it's been quite difficult to fit in all the
extra table play that comes out of extending 2 of the 3 events
by 32 players. We've worked hard to come up with a schedule
that has as
little impact as possible on the Friday start time.
-
Prize fund: The total prize fund for the weekend will rise from
£8,440 to £11,080. The top prize in the Pro Cup rises by £150
to a cool £1000, whilst the main event sees much better rewards
further down the field where a last 32 place will earn you £100
(twice as much as previously published). The top prize in the
Challenge Cup rises by £200 to £750 and the prize for a last 16
place goes up from £50 to £75. In season 2 we expect
the total prize payout to rise even further since we will not have
the burden of many of the costs (equipment etc.) we have to face in
this our first season.
-
2009 Qualifying: The number of players automatically retaining their
place on the tour at the end of the season will rise from 80 to 104.
So
I'm sure you'll all agree it was very worthwhile extending the tour by
32 players, which means real benefits for everyone.
We
are now beginning the process of selecting the 32 Pro Division players
from the 50 applicants. All affected players will be advised of
the outcome by email within the next few weeks.
25 November 2007
Important news about applications
If you completed an application form for GB9 please make sure you check
your inbox as we have sent invoices to everyone who applied.
You MUST pay your first instalment by 3 December to have any chance of
joining the tour.
If you applied but have not received an invoice please email us urgently
using the links on our contacts page.
If you are attending the Barnsley Open on 1/2 December you may pay your
GB9 instalment by cheque at the event.
15 November 2007
GB9 join with Rileys to announce venues for 2008
tour.
GB 9 Ball Tour are very pleased to announce we have secured a deal
with Rileys, the UK's largest chain of Pool and Snooker clubs to host
the tour in 2008. The events will be held at the Rileys clubs in
Solihull, Croydon, Wealdstone, Scarborough, Stretford and Mansfield.
Lee Rigby of GB 9 Ball Tour comments: "We are delighted to have secured
this relationship. Rileys can provide the type of high quality tables
and the range of locations that are essential to run a top class pool
event".
This new link up will also provide Rileys members with the opportunity
to enter into special competitions and GB 9 Ball will provide
professional coaching on competition weekends.
"This is a fantastic new relationship" says Gareth Hopkins, National
Pool & Snooker Manager for Rileys. "We are passionate about Pool in the
UK and we feel that hosting elite level pool competitions compliments
our support of the sport at grass roots level. We believe this new
link-up will be of great benefit to the pool in the UK."
We are now accepting applications for places on the tour for the 2008
season. The first 96 players to have completed their
application and pay the first instalment of their entry fee will be
accepted onto the tour for 2008. Judging by the number of people who
have completed our feedback form to register an interest these places
will fill up fast and there will be some disappointed people so make
sure you are not one of them and get your entry in and fee paid quickly.
Find out more about joining here.
Finally on behalf of all the GB9 team I want to offer our sincere
thanks to Rileys and Big Dave Knight of www.Pro9.co.uk for all the help
and support they have given us over recent weeks to enable us to bring you this tour.
14 November 2007
GB9 boasts the new World Champion!
 Daryl
Peach, one of the key members of the team bringing you the new GB 9 Ball
Tour, has stunned the pool world by becoming the first ever British
player to win the sports top prize and enjoy the envious title of World
Pool Champion 2007.
Peach took the coveted prize and $100,000 pay cheque in front of a
packed auditorium in Manila; the city regarded as the home of pool. In a
remarkable series of results the Englishman brushed aside reigning world
champion Ronnie Alcano and pool legend and tournament favourite
Francisco Bustamante, both from the Philippines to set up a final with
another amazing Filipino player - Roberto Gomez.
Hundreds of UK pool fans who rose at 6:30 am on Sunday to watch the
match broadcast live on Sky were not disappointed as they witnessed one
of the most thrilling finals ever seen in the history of the event. With
the race to 17 match poised at 15-15 both players knew the importance of
the next rack in this winner breaks format and it showed as they each
missed crucial balls under the intense pressure. After failing to land
on the 9 ball Peach attempted a full table bank shot. As the ball rolled
towards the pocket everyone in the arena and watching back home had
hearts in their mouths in scenes not witnessed since the famous 1985
world snooker final between Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor. The 9 ball
narrowly missed to leave Gomez what would normally be a relatively easy
9 ball but nerves got the better of him and he missed by a couple of
inches leaving a simple pot to take Peach to the hill.
The story of the match for Peach was his razor sharp safety play and it
was no exception in the final rack as he again won the early safety
battle to force Gomez into a mistake, though only leaving a tricky bank
shot.
However, with one hand on the trophy our man wanted to grab it with both
hands and that's exactly what he did, sinking the bank and taking out
the remaining balls with careful precision.
Peach's achievement cannot be under estimated and is being hailed as one
of the most important milestones in UK Pool. Mick Hill, a former world
champion himself at English Pool expressed his admiration and hailed it
as one of the best achievements in British sporting history! Rob Mckenna,
another world champion from the small table game added his
congratulations calling it... 'Absolutely enthralling, nailbiting
stuff'.
But the story doesn't end there for GB9's players. Karl Boyes reached
the semi final on his debut in the World Pool Championships having
earned his place by winning a tough qualifier in Holland a few weeks
earlier. Had it not been for Peach's amazing victory this would have
been the best finish by a British player *ever* and would surely have
earned him a Mosconi cup place too. A few years ago the chances of two
Europeans reaching the last four of the WPC would have been remote and
for two British players to do it would have been unthinkable.
And the statistics don't end there because while these two were busy
getting ready for the WPC in Manila Mark Gray arrived in Switzerland to
land his first Euro Tour victory meaning our players (including Majid
and Peach) have won 3 of the last 4 Euro Tour events.
This just shows how far pool has come in such a short space of time in
Great Britain and why there is so much excitement about our new tour
that will boast not only the current World Champion but also formidable
talents who are now making their mark on the world stage such as Darren
Appleton, Mark Gray, Imran Majid, Raj Hundal and Karl Boyes.
On behalf of the team at GB9 we want to offer massive congratulations
to Karl, Imran and Mark on their recent achievements and of course to
the new World Pool Champion, Daryl Peach.
The future is looking very bright for British Pool and the GB 9 Ball
Tour.
Read more about this story at
www.pro9.co.uk
For older news stories visit the News archive.
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