The BWPPA held its 3rd event of the 2014 season on the 19th/20th July with the Talisman British 10-ball Championships held at the BWPPA/BWCSA Wheelchair Cue Sport Academy at Stoke Mandeville, this event is named after one of our main tour sponsors.
We had a record turn out with 22 players entering the event, including Aleksandr Prokopiev who again made the 7,000 mile trip from Yakusa, Russia. We welcomed back Darren Staddon after a 5 year absence, and welcomed 2 new players to the tour, Dave Beaumont and Chris Brown, and it would be the recently crowned English Pool 8-Ball World Wheelchair Champion Beaumont who had a fantastic first event, just missing out on the top prize.
We also again had the pleasure of the company of Big Dave Knight and his traveling Pro9 shop, many thanks to Dave for attending and also for his ongoing support for the tour. See www.pro9.co.uk for further information.
During the event all the players signed a card to be sent to tour patron Dynamite Darren Appleton and his bride to be Angie Tran, to celebrate their upcoming wedding.
In sweltering conditions that led to the relaxation of the normal dress code, the event made a great start with some excellent pool on show as usual at these events.
Aslam Abubaker was keen to extend his lead at the top of the rankings, but he knew that any slip ups and Tony Southern and Roy Kimberley would be closing in on him in his bid to be no 1 in the rankings at the end of the season, and take with it the beautiful Ikon cue donated by tour sponsors Predator Cues.
As you can see from the photos noted below, the venue is under going a refresh, and each table has been covered in a beautiful cloth from tour sponsors Simonis, to give an excellent playing experience, unmatched in Wheelchair pool, outside of the EPC and WPC.
As the final 10-ball of the weekend was potted it was Dinsmore who took home the spoils with victory over Beaumont. This was a closely contested match which could have gone either wy.
Following his bye into round 2, Dinsmore started off with a hard fought 7-4 win over Gary Swift, who is always a hard opponent to get past. Dinsmore then followed this up with an equally hard 7-4 win over Phil Hendrickson. This sent Dinsmore into the quarter-final, where he won a third successive match by the same 7-4 score against Daniel Lee.
In the same half of the draw Abubaker had convincing wins in his first 2 matches, 7-0 v Mark Parsons, and 7-1 v Shaun Madin, to also reach the knockout phase, where he beat Swift 7-4.
In the other half of the draw, Southern hammered Staddon 7-0 then dispatched Keith Hance 7-3 to reach the quarter-final, where he beat Hendrickson 7-4.
Following a first round 7-2 lost to Lee, Beaumont won 3 matches on the losers side to reach the quarter finals, and he faced Kimberley, who himself had recorded 2 good wins over Prokopiev and Lee. It was Beaumont who was in devastating form and won 7-2.
In the first semi-final Dinsmore beat Abubaker 7-6, and it was as close as the score suggests.
In the other semi-final it was Southern against Beaumont, both players played solid pool, but it was Beaumont who was the more clinical taking his place in the final with a 7-4 win.
The Main event final between Dinsmore and Beaumont was a great match, with some excellent clearances. The game turned in the 9th rack at 4-4, when Beaumont potted the 10 but went in off. In the end it was Dinsmore who took his first BWPPA title since 2012 with a 7-4 victory.
In the rankings Southern is now 30 points behind Abubaker at the top of the rankings, with it now looking like a 2 man race, but with the best 4 of the last 5 events counting, the next event should be a great one at the ‘Escape Pool Bar’ in Barnsley in September.
In the Challenge Cup Final Danny Luton beat Frankie Gillen 5-2.
A full video of the main event final is available here; pictures of the event are here in the BWPPA gallery.
The 2014 BWPPA tour is scheduled to continue in September in Barnsley. If you would like to be a part of Europe’s largest wheelchair pool tour, and second largest in the world please keep checking http://www.bwppa.com, and www.pro9.co.uk.
If you need any more encouragement to join the BWPPA you could represent Great Britain in international tournaments, plus all new BWPPA players enter their first event for free!
All of the BWPPA would like to extend our gratitude to all of our sponsors The Gentlemen’s Night Out, Simonis Cloths, Predator/Poison Cues, Talisman Billiards, Kamui tips, Magic Racks, Escape Pool Bar, AB Wallace Trophies, and Riley’s snooker & pool clubs.
