After a short six-week break, the GB 9 Ball Tour hits town again as the Southern Masters is contested at the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Telford.
With such a short space of time between this event and last month’s Northern Masters 10-ball competition, players should be raring to get back onto the table and looking to gain another piece of silverware from the tour. Indeed, this is the shortest space of time between two ranking events in GB9’s history, so we should be expecting some high quality pool throughout the weekend. The code returns to 9-ball at this event, with Craig Osborne hoping to consolidate his position at the top of the 2015 rankings after back-to-back main event finals in the Northern Masters and May’s Paul Medati Trophy.
It is with regret once again that GB9 will be without a handful of flagship players for this event. The absentees will have national pride at stake, however, as the World Cup of Pool takes place at the iconic York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. The three GB9 superstars missing from August’s event – Karl Boyes, Mark Gray and Daryl Peach – will all be flying the flag in Matchroom’s World Cup of Pool. England go into the tournament as defending champions, with the pairing of Boyes and Darren Appleton taking the title last year in a heart-stopping final against the lethal Dutch duo of Nick van den Berg and outgoing 9-ball world champion Niels Feijen. First staged back in 2006, the World Cup of Pool has cemented itself as a flagship event on the Matchroom Sport calendar, and GB9 once again wishes the very best of luck to each of its players proudly representing England in the competition.
With a number of top players absent from the competition, there will be plenty of others looking to take home a major GB9 title with them. They include:
· Craig Osborne – Current Paul Medati champion and provisional British #1
· Michael Rhodes – Northern Masters champion from last month’s tournament
· Darryn Walker – Midlands Classic champion and snookers' Pink Ribbon finalist
· Imran Majid – Defending Southern Masters champion, and recent 17th place finisher at the 2015 9-Ball World Championship
· Phil Burford – Multiple GB9 event winer and current UPC 9-ball champion
A host of other top quality players will be in action at this year’s Southern Masters which begins on the evening of Friday 25th September. Play continues all day Saturday and through to the early evening of Sunday 27th September. Live streaming the fantasticRasson Victory table will take place throughout the weekend, complimented by the GB9-Live scoring system to offer match scores to those who can’t be there. We’re sure to be in for another weekend of exciting and action packed pool – we hope you can be a part of it.
If you wish to enter the event and haven’t yet done so, entry closes at midnight on Tuesday 22nd September. Fill in the event entry form without delay.
In 2015 GB9 is proudly sponsored by Rasson Billiards, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Billiard Balls and Carlson Rezidor Hotels making the perfect combination of the very best equipment in the most outstanding venues.
