2008 GB9 Southern Masters Preview

GB9 Press Release:

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. And with the list of entrants looking like a European list of 9-ball superstars, it promises to be a great weekend of pool. The entry list includes the reigning World 9 Ball Champion, Daryl Peach; the reigning European No.1, Mark Gray; the reigning UK No.1, Imran Majid; Scottish No.1, Pat Holtz; Irish No.1, Paddy McGloughlin, snooker hotshot and reigning French Open champion, Tony Drago, English pool legends Darren Appleton and Chris Melling… and the list goes on.

The prize fund at each of the six planned events tops the £11,000 mark, with three tournaments on each weekend, comprising of an elite "Professional" 32 player event, a "Challenge" event for the remaining 96 players, and the "Main" event for the full 128 player field.

Imran Majid had a superb weekend in the first ranking tour event; The GB9 Midlands Classic in Solihull last month. He took top spot in both the Main event and The Pro Cup to sweep up a tonne of cash, a pair of trophies, and two of the most prestigious number one ranking spots in pool!

Majid is based in London, and at Croydon he will be trying to consolidate his supreme ranking position with another good performance, this time on familiar territory.

The Challenge Division is headed up by youngster Thomas Ainsworth-Smith, who stormed to the top of the vacant leader-board after an absolutely inspiring run in Solihull through a formidable sequence of opponents. A terrific 10-4 win over the talented Tony Burton in the semi-finals was followed up by an incredible nail-biter of a final, winning by the smallest of margins (10-9) over Bradley Parker.

The GB9 Tour, sponsored in it's inaugural year by Rileys Pool, Snooker and Poker Clubs, has drawn talent from the length and breadth of the country, who will be putting the final touches to their practice routines in readiness for what must be the toughest national tour in Europe.

Cuesport TV have partnered with GB9 to bring TV footage of all the biggest match ups, including the finals of the 3 events, which will be available for viewing on their website at www.cuesport.tv shortly after the event.

The event takes place in Rileys Pool and Snooker Club, 1st Floor,63 Frith Road, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 1TB. Telephone: 020 8649 7788. For more information about GB9 visit www.gb9balltour.com.