Dan Lee and Tony Southern
The 2017 British Wheelchair Pool Players Association (BWPPA) tour got underway over weekend of 8/9 April 2017, with the Gentlemen’s Night Out (GNO) Players Championship. The tournament was held at the fabulous Wheelchair Cuesports Academy, which is based at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury. This event boasted record prize money for the BWPPA tour of £850 and reduced entry fees.
This was mainly due to £1000 support from BWPPA patron Darren Appleton’s World Pool Series to be spread over the 2017 season.
We were delighted to welcome back Alexander Prokopiev who travelled all the way from Russia, now competing in his fourth year on the BWPPA tour and Stoke on Trent’s Dave Beaumont after a yearlong break from the tour.
Daniel Lee began the new season as Britain’s #1 wheelchair player following his victory in the BWPPA Predator British 9-ball Championship last November. Lee began strongly with a 7-4 win over Beaumont and a 7-4 win over Newport’s Craig Welsh for a place in the semi-finals.
Elsewhere in the draw new British Pool Federation President Tony Southern defeated South Yorkshire potter Darren Taylor 7-2, before taking an epic hill-hill victory over Roy Kimberley for a place in the semi-finals. Taylor had an excellent event finishing 5th.
Into the semi-finals, and Southern had to come through another hill-hill fight, this time over Welsh, who had battled back through the losers side with some impressive performances over the weekend, and Southern was lucky to take the match at the end.
In the other semi-final Lee came through a 7-4 winner over Danny Luton, who had also battled through the losers side following an early defeat by Welsh, beating Matt Lester, Beaumont and old rival Kimberley en-route.
Lee and Southern then contested the final for the first trophy of the season, which Southern edged 7-5 in what was a nip and tuck affair with Southern taking several frames when Lee missed game ball. Southern said afterwards, he definitely had the run of the ball in both the semi and the final, but maybe it made up in part for an injury ravaged recent European Championship he endured.
In the World Pool Series (WPS) Challenge Cup event Prokopiev defeated Taylor 5-2, before defeat at the hands of Beaumont in the semi-finals 5-2. In the opposite side of the draw Kimberley beat Lester 5-3, and Nick Oliver 5-4 to reach the final where Beaumont beat Kimberley 5-2 to take a record challenge cup 1st prize sponsored by the World Pool Series.
A video of the main event final is available here. Pictures of the event can be found here in the BWPPA gallery.
The BWPPA would like to thank all of our sponsors:
World Pool Series, Gentlemen’s Night Out, Simonis cloth, Aramith billiard balls, Kamui, Predator Cues, Talisman Billiards, Escape Pool Bar in Barnsley, Tiger Cues of Warrington, Cheqio, Ultimate Team Gear, A.B Wallace Trophies, Gosport Pool Arena and Fred Dinsmore Billiards
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 http://www.bwppa.com and http://www.pro9.co.uk for 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. See you all at the 2nd event of the year at the Escape Pool Bar in Barnsley from 20-21 May 2017.
