Whitburn Pool League

Whitburn Pool Series 2010 Event 1
Posted by IanQuigley on February 21 2010 22:24:51

The first Whitburn Pool Series Event finals were held in Coppies on 20th/21st February. 16 players competed over the weekend with Duncan Smith running out the eventual champion with victory over John Watson in the final.

The event was well received by those who took part and others and with planning well under way for Event 2 lets hope this event can become a regular feature of our local pool calendar.

Select Read More to view the whole competition report....

Extended News

Day 1

The Whitburn Pool Series Event 1 Day 1 kicked off at 10am on Saturday 20^th February in Coppies Bar, Armadale. First to book his place in the Quarter Finals was Scotland B international, John Watson with victory over Keith McLean. McLean struggled to find form and Watson took full advantage, leading 2-0 and 5-1 before closing out the match at 6-2. In the other early morning encounter reigning Whitburn Singles Champion, Rex Brady struggled to find form and had a real ding dong battle with Graeme Bowie before crossing the finish line a 6-5 winner. Graeme played extremely well and showed a great deal of promise to lead 2-0 and 5-4 before Brady stepped up a gear to take the final two frames.

Session 2 saw Rab Curran line up against Nicky Balic and Ian Quigley against Billy Meikle. Curran hit some stunning form while big Nicky struggled with his own form. Curran came out a 6-0 winner to stake his claim as one of the tournament favourites. In the other session 2 match Quigley led 3-1 before Meikle came back to level at 3-3. Neither player really hit form with Ian stumbling over the line by winning the next 3 frames and closing out the match at 6-3. Before Quigley had secured his place in the Quarters the first match of the next session was also finished on the other table. Steven Baillie hit a fine patch of form to put out Garry Brown 6 frames to 1. The match looked like it may be set to be another close encounter between these two when Baillie took the first frame and Brown levelled at 1-1. However Baillie had other ideas and hit 5 in a row to send Brown out of the competition.

In the other session 3 match it was the battle of the young guns, Craig Russell facing off against Brian Sangster. Sangster stormed into a 2-0 lead only to be pinned back to 2-2. Brian took the next two frames to give himself a 2 frame cushion for the second time in the match but Craig responded positively again and brought the match back to within a frame at 3-4. Just when the match looked destined to go all the way Sangster pulled off his third two frame run of the match to knock Russell out of the competition 6-3. Both players however did enough in this match to cement their place as two of the most promising young Whitburn players for the future.

Next up was the edgy looking Moir brothers, Steven and Colin, playing each other for the first time competitively. Colin looked to be getting off to the best start in the first two frames only to go in off the black in both to gift his brother a 2-0 lead. His bad luck quickly turned to good however when he fluked the black in the third to pull the match back to 1-2. Colin took frame 4 as well to level the match at 2-2 but Stevie hit a purple patch and took the next 4 frames to claim a 6-2 win over Colin in a match that could easily have had a very different scoreline. The final last 16 match saw a couple of pool veterans, Des Ridd and Duncan Smith battle against each other for the final Quarter Final spot. This match also started cagey with the players sharing the first 4 frames with some solid pool from both. Dunky however proved too strong on the day and he too won the next 4 frames to win the match 6-2.

The Quarter Finals kicked off with Steven Baillie against Brian Sangster and Stevie Moir playing Duncan Smith. Baillie and Sangster shared the first 2 frames of their match before Baillie rediscovered his good form from earlier to lead 3-1. Sangster pulled it back to 3-2 before Baillie took the next 4 to be the first player to book his spot in the Semi Finals. His Semi Final opponent would be either Moir or Smith who also shared the opening two frames of their match before Dunky stormed into 4-1 and then 5-2 lead. Moir looked dead and buried at 5-2 but he dug deep and played some quality pool to pull the match back to 4-5. Dunky however pulled off a fantastic finish in frame 10 to seal the match 6-4 and book his place in the Semi Finals.

Day 2
Day 2 started at 1pm on Sunday with the two remaining Quarter Finals. On Table 1 John Watson took on Rex Brady. The match started cagey with Watson taking an early 2-0 lead before Brady pulled one back. Watson then scored 4 in a row to go into the Semi Finals by 6 frames to 1.

On Table 2 Ian Quigley was taking on Rab Curran. The first frame lasted over half an hour and could have swung either way but Curran eventually sunk the black to win it. He looked set to take frame 2 as well but went in off the black. Quigley then took two in a row to lead 3-1 only for Rab to reel off the next 4 to lead 5-3. Curran was left with a difficult black to win the match in frame 9 and hung it over the top pocket. Quigley duly finished the frame and again in frame 10 Curran left himself a long and difficult black to win the match. This time he sunk it and took the match by 6 frames to 4.

So to the Semi Finals and Duncan Smith versus Steven Baillie. Both players started well and shared the first four frames before Smith won three in succession to lead 5-2. Baillie responded well and some great shot making saw him pull one back to 3-5. Dunky won frame 9 to lead 6-3 and frame 10 became very interesting when Baillie went in off the break only for Smith to put a red onto the black and almost pot it in the bottom pocket. As it was the black stayed over the pocket surrounded by an object ball of each colour. A cagey tactical battle ensued and eventually Dunky Smith won the frame to secure his place in the Final.

In the other Semi Watson and Curran shared the first two frames before Watson took two in a row to lead 3-1. Curran dug deep to keep himself in the match by winning frame 5. They shared the next two to poise the match at 4-3 in Watson's favour. Watson then closed out the match by winning the next 3 frames and win the match 7-3.

John Watson won the first frame of the final before Duncan Smith pulled off two great finishes to take a 2-1 lead. Watson missed a reasonably straightforward final red to finish frame 4 which let Dunky in to sink the black and extend his lead to 3-1. By this time Dunky was buzzing and reeled off a further two frames to lead 5-1. Watson then showed some of his characteristic grit and determination by making a superb finish in frame 7 to pull back to 5-2. Smith displayed some of his best form for a long time to win the next 3 frames and take the final by an 8-2 scoreline.

Congratulations to Duncan Smith for a fantastic final display. Well done also to John Watson, who played some solid pool all weekend to reach the final.

Thanks to all the players who took part over the weekend. Event 2 finals will take place over the weekend of 17/18 April 2010. Non IM players can enter a qualifying competition to make the finals weekend. Entries for non IM players close on Sunday 14th March.