2006/07
SAPPA TOUR
Tour Event 4
Riley's, Inverness
23 April 2006
The first SAPPA event to be held in Inverness saw the return of the winning ways of Falkirk's Michael Valentine who came through undefeated to win the £290 first prize after beating Clark Smith 9 racks to 8 in a very tense final.
Forty players made their way to the newest Riley's American Pool and Snooker Club in Scotland, including a large number of talented local 8-Ball players, all wanting to take part of the £900 prize fund.
As with all tournaments, there were some shocks in the early rounds. These included Aberdeen's Brian Craig putting Graham Tough of Glasgow over to the losers' bracket in Craig's first SAPPA tournament appearance after a 12-month hiatus from the Tour. Local player Joe Conway defeated number 9 ranked Andy Morris in his first SAPPA tournament. The biggest shock of the day, however was from Arbroath's Davy Jack who, after travelling up from Manchester where he had been watching his beloved Liverpool win the FA Cup Semi Final, proceeded to lose his first 2 matches, eliminating him from the tournament.
As ever, the format saw a Double Elimination system being used until 16 players remained, when the 8 players from the Winners' Bracket would be drawn against the 8 from the Losers' Bracket and a Single Elimination system taking over until only one player remained.
The last 16 saw a mixture of old, new and unknown faces with 4 local players - Joe Conway, Martin McLeod, James McNeill and Alex Doherty - all reaching the Single Elimination phase. Only McNeill would be able to advance to the Quarter Finals, beating Brian Craig by 7 racks to 4.
The Quarter Finals saw the end of the return of Stuart Ellis. His undefeated run through his first tournament in over a year came to an end at the hands of his good friend Michael Valentine. All the clichés of friendships off the table and rivalries on were apparent as The Yeti steamrollered Ellis by 7 racks to 1. Another excellent run that was ended in the last 8 was that of Edinburgh's Chris Fraser, who had reached the Single Elimination phase undefeated, only to meet a determined Clark Smith in the last 8, losing 7 - 5.
SAPPA Tournament Director Tam Talent proved that it is possible to run a tournament and still play well by reaching the Semi Finals. His progress, however was halted by that man Valentine who, after winning the lag promptly broke and ran the first 3 racks. Talent managed to make the most of his limited number of visits to the table but his break started letting him down and Valentine advanced to the final by 8 racks to 4. The other Semi Final saw an all-Glasgow clash between Clark Smith and Stevie Capaldi. Capaldi had qualified from the Losers' Bracket after a 6-5 loss to Ross Simpson but confidently worked his way through the field to reach the Semis. However, Smith was not to be denied a place in his first final of the 2006 season, beating Capaldi 8 racks to 4.
Michael Valentine (left) with Clark Smith prior
to their final in Inverness
Top
The final was a tight, nervy affair full of scrappy racks with neither player taking full control of the match. In the first part of the match, both players were making 2 or 3 balls from their breaks at a time, but were ending up with no shots. As the match wore on, the breaks dried up and the safety battles came to the fore. It wasn't until the 13th rack that there was finally a break and run-out courtesy of Smith. The match was almost destined to be tight and at 8-8, Valentine broke and started running balls only to miss a relatively easy 4-ball. Fortune was going with him, as he managed to completely snooker Clark, who promptly jumped the cueball over the intervening 9-ball, managing to pocket the 4-ball, but also inadvertantly pocketing the 5-ball, hanging in the opposite corner pocket and snookering himself on the next ball, the 7. After a few moments study, Smith tried a bit of a wild shot to kick the 7-ball, only to leave Valentine a chance at running the last 3 balls out to take the match.
Inverness Runner-Up Clark Smith collects his prize money
from
Mel, one of the Assistant Managers of Riley's Inverness
Michael Valentine collects his prize money for
winning
the first SAPPA tour event to be held in Inverness
1st |
Michael
Valentine |
£290 |
310
points |
2nd |
Clark
Smith |
£140 |
225
points |
3rd |
Tam
Talent |
£75 |
165
points |
3rd |
Stevie
Capaldi |
£75 |
165
points |
5th |
Stuart
Ellis |
£40 |
120
points |
5th |
Jim
McNeill |
£40 |
120
points |
5th |
Jim
Smith |
£40 |
120
points |
5th |
Chris
Fraser |
£40 |
120
points |
9th |
Joe
Conway |
£20 |
85
points |
9th |
Martin
McLeod |
£20 |
85
points |
9th |
Brian
Craig |
£20 |
85
points |
9th |
Alex
Doherty |
£20 |
85
points |
9th |
Ross
Simpson |
£20 |
85
points |
9th |
Billy
Edmond |
£20 |
85
points |
9th |
Craig
Blackstock |
£20 |
85
points |
9th |
Jim
O'Hare |
£20 |
85
points |
The full tournament sheet is available by clicking here.
Back to 2006/07 Tour Archive
