Memorial Cup 2023/24

[billiardsmichael]

Memorial Cup 2023/24
Preliminary Round - 21st November 2023

								Venue	Time
L32-1	Nev Blackman	(2000)		v		(4000)	Nick Moss	Salfords RH	19:00
L32-2	Anita Blackman	(1000)		v		(0)	Denise Wills	Horley CC	19:00
L32-3	Neil Palmer	(2500)		v		(0)	Colin Robbins	Garland	19:45
L32-4	Sue Oakley	(2000)		v		(2500)	Baz Symonds	Salfords RH	19:45
L32-8	Abbey Balchin	(3500)		v		(0)	Mark Fraser	Horley CC	19:45
L32-10	Max Burt	(2000)	7370	v	21040	(0)	Michael Wilson	Merstham VC	20:30
L32-11	Martin Pellett	(500)		w/o		(2500)	Jim Balchin	Merstham VC	19:45
L32-12	Geoff Jukes	(0)	10460	v	9720	(3500)	Teri King	Old Oak	20:30
L32-13	Aaron Hill	(2000)		v		(1000)	Tom Pearse	South Park CC	19:45
L32-14	Dave Ingram	(0)	10900	v	3510	(0)	Dave Constable	Old Oak	19:45
L32-15	Gary Powell	(0)		v		(4000)	Mike Fortune	Garland	20:30

Last 16 - 27th February 2024

								Venue	Time
L16-1	Nev Blackman	(2000)		v		(1000)	Anita Blackman	Old Oak	19:00
L16-2	Colin Robbins	(0)		v		(2000)	Sue Oakley	Old Oak	19:45
L16-3	John Wallace	(3500)		v		(0)	Tony Cross	South Park CC	19:00
L16-4	Karen Bacchus	(3000)		v		(3500)	Abbey Balchin	South Park CC	19:45
L16-5	Roland Musk	(2500)	6930	v	14010	(0)	Michael Wilson	Salfords LH	19:00
L16-6	Jim Balchin	(2500)	7680	v	11200	(0)	Geoff Jukes	Salfords LH	19:45
L16-7	Tom Pearse	(1000)	5180	v	9170	(0)	Dave Ingram	Old Chestnut	19:00
L16-8	Gary Powell	(0)	9170	v	9750	(3500)	Nev Jones	Old Chestnut	19:45

Quarter-Finals - 27th February 2024

								Venue	Time
QF-1	Anita Blackman	(1000)		v		(0)	Colin Robbins	Old Oak	20:30
QF-2	Tony Cross	(0)		v		(3500)	Abbey Balchin	South Park CC	20:30
QF-3	Michael Wilson	(0)	1040	v	15980	(0)	Geoff Jukes	Salfords LH	20:30
QF-4	Dave Ingram	(0)	6200	v	9560	(3500)	Nev Jones	Old Chestnut	20:30

Semi-Finals - 7th May 2024

								Venue	Time
SF-1	Anita Blackman	(1000)		v		(0)	Tony Cross	Salfords RH	20:30
SF-2	Geoff Jukes	(0)		v		(3500)	Nev Jones	Garland	21:15

Final - 28th May 2024

								Venue	Time
F-1	Tony Cross	(0)		v		(3500)	Nev Jones	TBD	20:15

[BB Warrior]

Oct 2, 2023 8:47:26 GMT billiardsmichael said:

Memorial Cup 2023/24
Preliminary Round - 21st November 2023

L32-12	Geoff Jukes	(0)		v		(3500)	Teri King	Old Oak	20:30
L32-14	Dave Ingram	(0)		v		(0)	Dave Constable	Old Oak	19:45

Match results from the Old Oak tonight....

Match 1
Dave Ingram (3,450, 7,450* = 10,900) beat Dave Constable (2,830*, 680 = 3,510) 2-0
Leg 1 - DC made a confident start after I won the toss, splitting the 50/20 well before his 3rd one just slid past the 20 hole and he was off at the back. It took both of us quite a while to try to work out what the table was doing at the back before I managed to get the break back but was off on less than 1k when a 50/30 shot just stayed on the side cushion.  We both had another break each but missed again allowing me to take a 600 lead into the 2nd leg. 
Leg 2 - A 3k plus opener from me before catching a split thick and missing with both balls, but leaving them awkward for DC.  He tried everything to get the break back over the next few minutes, but luckily for me the balls were on my side and I made sure with a 4k+ break to take the match with DC shaking hands shortly after that. 


Match 2
Geoff Jukes (6,570* & 3,890 = 10,460) beat Teri King (4,150 & 5,570* = 9,720) on aggregate score
Leg 1 - A good start from Geoff almost catching up with the start that Teri had and another break later in the game gave him a 2.4k advantage after the first leg.
Leg 2 - The 3.5k handicap advantage immediately put Teri back in front and she also made a confident start with a well worked 1k+ opening break to put Geoff under a bit of pressure.  Teri kept that advantage for a long time, playing a lot of good shots to keep adding to her score while Geoff kept working hard to try to clear the balls and get the break back.  Geoff is renowned for his patience and his persistence was eventually rewarded and he made a good break towards the end to just take the game out of reach and secure the win. 

A big thank you to Les for scoring both of the games and also to Martin for kindly preparing the table for us.  The table played well but has enough quirks to catch players out, so you certainly have to think about your shots.  Lovely to see plenty of other players there to watch and support the games which gave us all a very enjoyable evening. 

[billiardsmichael]

Max Burt [2000] (2080,*5290) 7,370 - 21,040 (*19750,1290) [0] Michael Wilson 

Max had come off a tough loss in the Open Singles where he never really got going, then had the nightmare of having to negotiate around the back of town as the A23 was shut between Redhill and Merstham. He did manage to win the toss though and put Michael in...

With a 2k handicap defect per leg, Michael wanted to tick off the 4k first to get things to a level game. He did that without issue, although he left the red on the split short twice, but the 50-30 was working well. From there Michael pressed on to build a lead and his momentum gathered, with each k the confidence grew and at about 9.5k a quick clock check showed 9 minutes gone. How big could Michael go? 20k has obviously been talked about quite a bit of late, with some huge scores at the Stag recently and Tommos compilation of Redhill 20ks in mind. Thus far Michael had exclusively played 100 splits, but at about 15k he caught the one up a little thin and the red stayed too high and narrow. An attempted 20 split saw the white land between 10 and 20, but a delicate shot put them in and the break was back. Another clock check and Michael was a on 15k in 14 mins. It would be a rush, but 20k was on. At this point a bit of a murmur and a crowd gathered. There was a cup match on the pool table and someone had seen Michael start, won his match and came back to see him still at the table. The question "is he still going??" was asked to which the answer was "yes!!". With more comments coming and the buzz building Michael got to 19k just before the 18min mark. The crowd didn't know he was going for 20k, but there was one split to go to get there. Having played the 100 split well throughout, never missing the 100 hole, it came as a surprise to Michael when the white didn't drop... It whipped right. The white peg was in danger and it must have felt the wind as the white zipped past and sat on the side cushion. A horrid ball and with the match in mind Michael rolled up and scarpered. A break of 19,490. The bar went 15 seconds after Michael came off, a 20k was there, but not tonight.

With the last knockings added Michael had a daunting lead of 17,670 and even with Max's handicap he was chasing 15,670. Max tried to go too quickly but the break was getting harder and harder to play plain ball as it kept trying to come inside. 500 and Max was off. A friendly game ensued with Michael missing his opening split having got the balls back. Max stretched his lead to 4k before Michael got them back, this time making a quick 5.9k, only to leave a ball awkwardly behind the 30. He missed it to lose the break and the bar fell, but with the match done there was merely a smirk on Michaels face.

So an unexpected night for Michael, and a chat to almost all of MVC after they were astonished at what they had witnessed. Benny, he of MVC A, also popped in as the match came to a close and suggested it may be the highest break on that top! Anyone know of anything bigger? Anyway a night of both jubilation and a slight feeling of missing out for Michael, whereas Max spent about 10 minutes to get up from his knees after falling to the ground as the 100 whipped, relieved that it went safe.

[tommo III]

Nov 22, 2023 7:31:57 GMT billiardsmichael said:

A break of 19,490. The bar went 15 seconds after Michael came off, a 20k was there, but not tonight.

Wow ! Fantastic stuff and well done on another PB - they keep coming !  Hopefully you'll get another chance to reach 20k soon and maybe it'll come at Inter-League .... 
A good crowd pleaser, and from what you say Max was rooting for you too.

[billiardsmichael]

Prelims complete (bar one pp) - see results above.
L16 & QF to be played on 27th Feb 2024.

[tommo III]

Tonight !

At four venues, playing down to leave 4 semi-finalists.

Good luck to all !

[billiardsmichael]

L16 & QFs complete - see results above.
SFs to be played on 7th May 2024.

[billiardsmichael]

For the sake of a keen reader who will no doubt stay silent, here is a little (maybe little, they often go on a bit more than I expect) report on the goings-on at Salfords on Tuesday night.

Roland Musk [2500] (3460*,3470) 6930 - 14010 (10170,3840*) [0] Michael Wilson
With darkness closing in Michael won the toss and put Roland in. Roland was unlucky to miss a ball behind the 10 on his opener and an excellent 3 baller saw Michael get the break straight back. 4k later though and the first of a number of dodgy splits on the night saw Michael leave the red nastily beyond the 50 and he tapped and ran. He got them back soon after though and another 4k added and this time a whipped split managed to avoid the peg and Michael scarpered once again. Overall 10k racked up and, taking out Roland's lead Michael had a 4k buffer going into leg 2. This was enough as Michael and Roland took turns to find different ways to lose breaks and an enjoyable second leg ensued.

Jim Balchin [2500] (4090*,3590) 7680 - 11200 (200,11000*) [0] Geoff Jukes
Next up was the car-less Jim who had to abandon his Jaaaaaag somewhere in the Surrey lanes and he was put in by young Geoff. Jim was off after a steady k and Geoff set about taking out Jim's handicap. Geoff was pretty immaculate up to 8k, then (as Michael had in the frame before) Geoff had left the red perfect for the split... however on this particular spot the white rolled a touch right, catching it thin and the 100 whipped right into the peg. Jim added a few more and then the bar went, Geoff now having to match his opening break and not peg it this time. Leg 2 and Geoff once again looked good, but at 5k the same thing happened on the split and he was relieved to see the white slip past the peg and He was off. A nasty leave for Jim and he couldn't get them back. Geoff though was in no mood to give Jim a second go, getting the balls straight back and tap tapping at 5k to make sure he'd get to the QF.

Michael Wilson [0] (110,930*) 1040 - 15980 (10690*,5290) [0] Geoff Jukes
Michael won his second toss of the night - Jim managing to flip and catch the coin at the second attempt - and Geoff was up first. Michael was ready to have a long sit down but at the third split Geoff again found the "nasty spot", whipped it round the 100 and just kept his break. Michael got the balls back but got stuck down the back, but in getting the balls back the white flew and took out a peg. A couple of goes each and Geoff got back on the break and racked up 8k in running the rest of the time out. So Michael had 10k to chase and he started off by chasing balls around the back. He kept going though and 2k in he'd left the split perfect, ah no in the "dodgy spot". The white went thin, caught the 100 and took out the peg. Disaster. Geoff made no mistake getting the balls back and tap-tapping at 5k. Michael had a quick hit but the game was gone and hands were shook shortly after.

So well done to Geoff who will play Nev Jones, he who felled both Gary Powell and Dave Ingram in a single night. Will he take out another scratch player to make the final?

["Silent"]

Feb 29, 2024 10:49:10 GMT billiardsmichael said:

For the sake of a keen reader who will no doubt stay silent, here is a little (maybe little, they often go on a bit more than I expect) report on the goings-on at Salfords on Tuesday night.

Roland Musk [2500] (3460*,3470) 6930 - 14010 (10170,3840*) [0] Michael Wilson
With darkness closing in Michael won the toss and put Roland in. 

Michael Wilson [0] (110,930*) 1040 - 15980 (10690*,5290) [0] Geoff Jukes
Michael won his second toss of the night - Jim managing to flip and catch the coin at the second attempt

No silence here fella but insomnia improved (2) and (3) - so twice in one post which is extremely impressive as I cannot stop laughing at these two titbits of completely useless information 

[billiardsmichael]

SFs venues and times now confirmed.
They will take place on 7th May 2024.

[billiardsmichael]

SFs complete - results above.
Final to take place on 28th May 2024. Venue TBD.