Escape Pool Bar in Barnsley was the venue for the 2nd BWPPA event of the season on 18/19 May 2013.
Roy “The Sandman” Kimberley regained the top spot on the tour from Tony Southern, as he wins his third event out of four on the BWPPA tour. Kimberley went into the event knowing that only a higher finish than Southern could get him back to the no 1 spot.
This was the biggest field in a number of years as 17 players entered, with Alexander Prokopiev again making the 7,000 mile trip from Yakutsk, Sakha, Russia, (just north of Japan), and Poland’s Leszek Blumczynski also entering, although he now lives in the UK.
It could have been an even better turn out as several tour regulars such as Matt Duffy, Shaun Madin and Danny Luton were absent.
Kimberley got his campaign off to great start with a 7-3 win over old rival Aslam Abubaker, who was the one to avoid in the first round, as his recent absences meant he was way down the rankings, and a dangerous player to meet at such an early stage.
Roy’s next win was just as convincing with a 7-2 win over John Robinson. It was a more difficult match for Kimberley in the next round as this time he faced high ranked Phil Hendrickson. This was a great match that Kimberley took with a 7-5 win and advance to the semi-final.
This took Kimberley through to a semi-final with Gary Swift. This was a high quality match with both players playing some good pool, however it was Kimberley who advanced into the final with a 7-4 score line.
In the other half of the draw, Southern won his first two matches to advance to the quarter finals, where he would meet the player he most wanted to avoid, Abubaker had come through 3 matches on the losers side, in a very scrappy match Abubaker beat Southern 7-5 to advance to a semi-final against the much improved Craig Welsh who was enjoying a great event and had three good wins, but it was one game too far for Welsh and Abubaker won 7-2 to book a spot in the final with Kimberley.
In a classic match which saw some high quality pool, with the match swinging one way and then the other, it went all the way to a hill-hill finish, but it was Kimberley who blinked first, missing a makeable 7-ball in the last rack with 8 and 9 in the open, Abubaker took the 7 leaving him straight in on the 8 ball, with 9 ball just past the middle pocket, a stun shot would have left it slightly difficult on the 9, so he decided to screw the cue back a few inches for perfect position. This proved to be a fatal error as he rushed the shot and missed the 8 ball, and as it rolled over the bottom pocket, Abubaker conceded frame and match to Kimberley.
After the final Kimberley said of his win “I would like to thank all the staff at the Escape Pool Bar, we are always made welcome, and we are delighted to be coming back in July. On a personal note obviously I'm really pleased to be back to no.1 and playing some good pool again. In addition to thanking The Escape Pool Bar, I would like to also thank all the other sponsors of the tour, Gentlemen’s Night Out, Simonis Cloths, Riley’s Pool Clubs, Talisman Cases, Magic Rack, AB Wallace Trophies, Kamui Tips and Predator Cues.
The Challenge Cup final was won by Frankie Gillen who beat Adam Pearson 5-3, both had career best wins over Hendrickson and Southern respectively in the semi finals, in this handicapped event. After the event Gillen had this to say:
“I am really pleased to have won my first Challenge event this season and hopefully there will be many more wins for me this year.
When I won I shouted out so loud 'C'MON...!', raised my arms up'n'down so fast & punched in the air with my hand.
Here is a video clip of me with...... eerrmmm.... I won't say it, just watch & you will like it. Make sure you got the volume on up loud. “
A video of the main event final is available here. Pictures of the event will be here in the BWPPA gallery soon.
Bonus pictures courtesy of GB’s Lee Rigby are available here.
The next event is the Kamui 9 Ball Shootout, which will be held at the ‘Escape Pool Bar’ Barnsley, on the weekend of 20th/21st July 2013.
The BWPPA are always looking for new members no matter what disability you have, or your level of ability in the sport. To become part of Europe’s largest wheelchair American pool tour please visit www.bwppa.com, and if you are reading this and know of any players who may be interested please pass this onto them.
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
