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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:
-
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
17 October 2007
Tour progress update
We've had quite a few emails from players keen to pay their money and
get their applications in for the new season so we thought we should
provide you all with a quick update on progress. First of all an apology
from us that we've not been able to launch the on-line application
process just yet. We would like to have done this by now but we have not
finished agreeing all the venues and do not want to start taking
applications from any of you until all the important detail is
published.
Despite this we are delighted with the progress we've made so far to
launch your new tour. We have a very positive relationship with our
potential hosts are are well on the way to concluding our negotiations -
hopefully in around 2 weeks time this will be complete. We are also very
encouraged by the number of people who've registered an interest in
joining each of the 2 divisions. Any doubts we had about whether
we would attract 96 entrants have well and truly evaporated and we are
now starting to think about how we will select the 32 players for the
over-subscribed Pro Division! To add more good news we've had three
great overseas-based players (including a Euro Tour winner!) telling us
they want to join our tour - more on this soon.
So as time goes on we, like you, just get more and more excited about
the new season and can't wait to get our applications in. This really is
going to be the best thing to happen to UK Pool for a very long time.
Watch this space for updates and in the meantime please make sure you
help us promote the tour by telling your friends to visit the website
and register their interest.
07 October 2007
Provisional dates announced
We have at last been able to obtain the required information from other
pool organisations to enable us to schedule our dates for the 2008 tour
stops without clashing with any other major pool events.
You can view the event schedule here.
The dates remain provisional until we conclude negotiations with our
potential hosts. We have a meeting scheduled and hope to conclude
negotiations shortly. As soon as this is complete we will start
taking applications for the 2008 season at which point all those who
have registered their interest with us via our
feedback form will be advised by email. Watch this space...
10 September 2007
Astonishing response
Since launching the GB9 website a few days ago we've averaged an
incredible 12,328 hits per day. Whilst most interest has naturally
emanated from the UK it's interesting to see we've been visited from
overseas too; from the Seychelles to Saudi Arabia, from Belgium to
Brunei Darussalam, even as far away as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia,
USA and Canada! All our European friends have been busy browsing
too with plenty hits from Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, France,
Croatia, Switzerland and Germany. If one player from all those countries
joined the tour what a great field we'd have!
Forgetting about all those stats for a moment the important thing to
tell you is the responses to the feedback forms in just the first few
days have been nothing short of astonishing. This gives us great
confidence we will fill the available tour spots before the closing date
at end of the year. It looks like we are going to have a seriously
good field at these tour stops! Keep the feedback coming everyone and
please continue to spread the word.
6 September 2007
Website launched
Well I guess you knew that since you're reading it! But
seriously, a lot of effort has gone on behind the scenes in the last few
months to put the building blocks in place to be able to bring you this
exciting new tour next season.
I want to thank the other members of the team who all made a great
contribution so far and will be working with me going forward to make
this tour everything you hope it will be and more. So many sincere
thanks to Daryl Peach, Phil Williamson, Mike Rogers, Si D'Vali and
Shirley Ang.
Thanks also to Matt Hyden for letting us borrow his wonderful artistic
talents!
Finally thank you to all the players who have offered help and pledged
their support for the tour. It really is appreciated.
Now, as they say..... Let's shoot some pool!
Lee Rigby
GB9
31 August 2007
Looking for venues
GB9 is looking for clubs with at least 16 well maintained American
Pool tables willing to hold a tour event for the 2008 season; 2 in the
north, 2 in the midlands and 2 in the south. We are currently
negotiating with several suitable venues and hope to provide further
announcements soon.
If you are a club manager and would be interested in holding an event
please contact us.
30 August 2007
UK Big guns back the GB 9 Ball Tour
The UK's top professional players
have come out in force to get behind the new tour and pledge their full
support.
Euro Mosconi Cup player Imran Majid...
"The U.K
pool scene it has to be said has been in " dire straits " over the last
few months and The GB9 Ball Tour would rekindle the flame for our sport
in the UK. Such a tour would be beneficial to all speeds of players
which is a key asset to making it a success. Roll on GB9!!!
Regards
Imran Majid"
Former World Pool
Masters Champion Raj Hundal....
"I know what
its like to be on top and break all records in the uk and not recieve
the correct credit for these achievements and now for the first time we
will have a players tour where no great achievements will be over
looked......cant wait to be a part of this new "pool" movement in the uk."
"Hitman"
RAJHUNDAL.COM"
English pool legend Darren 'Dynamite'
Appleton...
GB 9 Ball Tour will be an explosive success.
It's the best tour to hit the uk, now I can take 9 ball seriously in the
uk!
Former World Pool Masters Champion
and the highest ranked Britain on the Euro Tour, Daryl Peach...
I cant wait for the GB 9 ball tour to
start....the "new style" format looks excellent!
28 July 2007
GB9
announces new tour proposals ahead of BPPPA Barnsley Open
The UK's pool players were promised
more details of the proposed new GB 9 Ball Tour if they attended BPPPA
Barnsley Open in July. 63 runners turned out to show their
support, which was a very healthy increase on the previous BPPPA event.
Read the GB9 launch flyer
here.
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