Roy Kimberley
It was to be an exciting conclusion to the 2018 BWPPA tour at the Predator Cues British 9-ball Championship. Before the first ball was struck, four players could claim the top spot by the end of the weekend.
A wintery Aylesbury was the setting for the final stop of the season as 14 players embarked on the Wheelchair Cuesports Academy. Among them local lad Will Smee made his first appearance on the tour. The big guns of the tour all enjoyed excellent performances in their opening matches. In the early stages we saw a classic, between Roy Kimberley and Danny Luton, with Luton following up his 7-2 win over Adam Pearson, with a dramatic 7-5 win over Kimberley.
Elsewhere Daniel Lee began his campaign with a 7-3 win over Tony Southern, Lee then followed that with an impressive 7-1 win over wheelchair 8-ball World Champion Dave Beaumont. Ireland’s wheelchair World 9-ball Champion began his quest for the no.1 spot with wins over Matthew Lester, Darren Taylor and Danny Luton.
In the one loss side of the draw there was some intriguing matches. Birmingham’s Adam Pearson, beat local wheelchair cuesport veteran Chris Brown 6-3, Matthew Lester was 3-0 down against Frankie Gillen. Gillen came through a 6-4 winner, taking the last two racks of the match. Meanwhile Tony Southern and Roy Kimberley progressed into the losers’ qualifier with 6-0 and 6-1 wins over the South Yorkshire duo Gary Swift and Darren Taylor respectively.
Kimberley was to face Beaumont, who despite his heavy defeat to Daniel Lee has enjoyed arguably his best run of form since joining the BWPPA tour. In the end it was Kimberley who progressed with a 6-3 win.
On the opposite side of the draw Southern was to face Danny Luton. The match went all the way down to the deciding rack, with Luton clinching a 6-5 win.
The semi-finals were filled with excitement, as the race for the no.1 spot was hotting up. Daniel Lee knew that he had to win the championship, and hope Roy Kimberley beat Dinsmore if he was to retain his position as no.1. The atmosphere was made even tenser with the matches being played on adjacent tables.
The second semi-final between Kimberley and Dinsmore was to conclude first, with “the Sandman” rolling back the years to claim a 7-5 victory. By this time the other semi-final between Lee and Danny Luton was approaching a deciding rack. It was Luton who was to pot the winning 9-ball. Meaning that Fred Dinsmore would end the season as the BWPPA no.1 despite not making the final.
The final between Kimberley and Luton showed why both players have remained at the top of wheelchair cuesports over the last three decades. Roy Kimberley was to celebrate his first main event win for a number of years, with a 7-4 win.
In the Challenge Cup sponsored by the World Pool Series, there was a three horse race for top spot. In the opening round Gary Swift’s 5-2 win over Matthew Lester (+2) and Frankie Gillen’s (+2) 5-2 win over Chris Brown (+2). Meant that only Keith Hance could deny Gillen Challenge Cup top spot in his returning season.
Following a dramatic 5-4 victory over Tony Southern, Hance (+1) set up a semi-final with Gillen to decide who would take the Poison cue and top spot. It was to be Gillen (+2) who would take it with a 5-3 win over Hance (+1).
In the final Gillen was to come up against Dave Beaumont who had defeated Gary Swift and Darren Taylor. Beaumont took his second successive Challenge Cup with a 5-3 win over Gillen (+2).
A video of the main event final is available to watch here. Pictures of the event can be found here in the BWPPA gallery.
The latest BWPPA ranking list can be found here.
For information on the 2019 BWPPA tour please follow us on Twitter @BWPPA and join the British Wheelchair Pool Players Association group on Facebook
BWPPA would like to thank all of our sponsors:
Gentlemen’s Night Out World Pool Series, Simonis, Aramith, Kamui, Predator Cues, Cuescore, Escape Pool Bar in Barnsley, Tiger Cues of Warrington and Fred Dinsmore Billiards
We would also like to thank long time BWPPA supporter Big Dave Knight from www.pro9.co.uk for his great support including providing our event posters.
We also are always looking to expand the sponsorship side of the tour, so if you or your company would like to become one of our sponsors, please visit our contact us page.
You too can be a part of the world’s largest wheelchair pool tour; please keep checking on www.bwppa.comand www.pro9.co.ukfor further information. In addition to our national tour stops there is also the possibility of representing Great Britain in international tournaments such as the EPBF European Championship and WPA World 9-ball Championship for wheelchair players.
