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2007/08 SAPPA TOUR
2007 Scottish Open 9-Ball Championships

Styx, Glasgow
20-21 October 2007

 

ANOTHER HIGGINS RULING THE ROOST

 

Scott Higgins came out on top of a 66-strong field to lift the 2007 Scottish Open 9-Ball Championships, as well as the £750 first prize, with an overpowering 11-3 win over Blackpool's Karl Boyes. Boyes, along with SAPPA stalwarts Stevie Capladi and reigning Scottish Champion Pat Holtz, was using this event as a warm-up before the up-coming World 9-Ball Championships in Manilla in The Philippines. This year's event saw a number of players venture north from England to participate, as well as a small band of players making their way over from Ireland and the welcome return of SAPPA's own cue expert and collector Sanjay Varma after some 18 months away in Australia.

 

As ever, the tournament was run in 2 parts. First was the Double Elimination format with matches being races to 7 on both the Winners' and Losers' Brackets until 16 players were left - 8 in each bracket. These 16 players would then move on to the Single Elimination phase of the tournament that would give us our winner.

 

Highlights from the early round matches included Clark Smith taking on top English player Gareth Esprit in the first round of the Winners' Bracket. Smith got the better of the Englishman by 7 racks to 5. Edinburgh's Stevie Westwater had a brilliant 7-5 victory over reigning champion Pat Holtz meaning that to progress further, Holtz had to get past the aforementioned Esprit. This he did in an enthralling 7 racks to 5 victory.

 

When the dust settled on Sunday afternoon, however, there were only 16 players left. They were:-

 

Winners’ Bracket Qualifiers

Michael Valentine
Karl Boyes
Andy Morris
George Fagan
Alec McDowall
Scott Higgins
Gary Houstoun
Stevie Westwater

 

Losers’ Bracket Qualifiers

Cameron Bowes
Paddy Moir
Davy Jack
Manny Byrne
Pat Holtz
Alan Reynolds
Billy Edmond
Ian MacKintosh

 

he last 16 draw saw each of the 8 Winners’ Bracket qualifiers being drawn against a Losers’ Bracket qualifier and gave us the following matches:-

 

Last 16
Losers - £40
Michael Valentine
8
v
2
Alan Reynolds
Karl Boyes
8
v
3
Manny Byrne
Andy Morris
8
v
1
Cameron Bowes
George Fagan
8
v
5
Billy Edmond
Alec McDowall
8
v
7
Paddy Moir
Scott Higgins
8
v
6
Ian MacKintosh
Gary Houston
7
v
8
Pat Holtz
Stevie Westwater
6
v
8
Davy Jack

 

After his 8-2 defeat at the hands of Michael Valentine, Alan Reynolds simply said that Valentine had "played some awsome pool." Glasgow's Gary Houston was 6-4 and 7-5 down in his match with Pat Holtz and had a chance in the final rack of the match, only to miss a tough one-ball, allowing Holtz to take the match 8 racks to 7.

 

Quarter Finals
Losers - £75
Michael Valentine
7
v
9
Karl Boyes
Andy Morris
9
v
7
George Fagan
Alec McDowall
5
v
9
Scott Higgins
Pat Holtz
4
v
9
Davy Jack

 

The highly anticipated match between Michael Valentine and Karl Boyes lived up to all expectations and turned into somewhat of a classic. Valentine was 5-1, 6-2 and 7-4 up before Boyes won the last 5 racks in a row - including running 3 straight racks - to win the match 9 racks to 7. George Fagan's brilliant run through the tournament came to an end in the last 8 at the hands of Andy Morris. Fagan, however, was happy with his run in the Scottish Championships - his best run in a tournament for some time.

 

Alec McDowall's excellent run also came to an end with a 9-5 loss to Scott Higgins. McDowall's unbeaten run through the Double Elimination phase included comprehensive wins over Darren Murray and Stevie Capaldi. The Quarter Finals also saw the end of Pat Holtz's reign as Champion with a 9-4 win over Arbroath's ever-dangerous Davy Jack.

 

Semi Finals
Losers - £150
Karl Boyes
10
v
9
Andy Morris
Scott Higgins
10
v
9
Davy Jack

 

The Boyes v Morris semi final started off as a rout as Boyes opened up an 8-4 lead. A lot of this was due to Morris's very timid play, choosing to play safeties instead of his usual attacking game that would have seen him go for the run-out. However, at 8-4 down, Andy finally found his usual playing style and won the next 5 racks in a row to take the lead at 9-8. An awkward break in the penultimate rack allowed Karl to win that to take that rack and force a decider. The "Pool Gods" were definately looking down on Karl, however, as he won the match by pocketing the 9-ball off the break to squeeze into the final.

 

The other semi final between Scott Higgins and Davy Jack was a real battle with no player being more than 2 racks ahead. As with the Boyes - Morris match, this too went the distance with Jack coming from 9-8 down to tie at 9-all. A good break in the deciding rack let the Arbroath potter in with the first chance to win the match but he opted to go for a very difficult 4-9 combination which, if he had made it, would have won him the match. As it was, he missed and allowed Higgins in to clear the table and win the match.

 

The race to 11 racks final came down to 2 friends who had travelled to take part in the the tournament together. Because of this, the final was played in a very light-hearted atmosphere.

 

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Karl Boyes (left) and Scott Higgins shake hands before their match

 

Rack 1

Scott Higgins won the lag and broke. A great 3-6 combination was followed by a silly miss on the 3 ball. A small safety battle was won by Higgins who made a great cut on the 9-ball to win the opening rack.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 1 – 0 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 2

Higgins unleashed one of the most powerful breaks this reporter has seen. He made a ball from the break and ran out the rack to extend the lead.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 2 - 0 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 3

Scott broke with a little less power this time and came up dry but leaving nothing for Karl, who played a Push Out. Higgins put Boyes back in and a safety battle that followed during which, Higgins set a 1-9 combination up which Boyes promptly finished off to get on the scoresheet.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 2 - 1 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 4

Boyes' first break of the match was huge, making the 1-ball in the side pocket and gaining position on the 2. Bad positional play, however, on the 3-ball lead to a safety battle which Boyes won leading to a fantastic clearance to tie the match.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 2 – 2 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 5

Another thunderous break was unleashed by Karl but, this time, he's left with no shot on the 1-ball. Karl played a Push Out but managed to hook himself on the 1-ball. During the safety exchange, both players played some wonderous shots but it was Boyes who puled out a couple of excellent off-angle combinations in clearing the rack to take the lead.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 2 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 6

A thunderbolt break from Boyes set him up what looked like an easy table, but he managed to hook himself on the 7-ball. He escaped from the self-imposed prison but left the 7 on for Higgins who promptly cleared up to tie the score.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 3 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 7

A massive break shot from Higgins but, somehow, nothing droped. A missed safety from Boyes allowed Higgins in to finish the rack with a fairly easy 5-9 combination to regain the lead.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 4 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 8

The biggest break of the match, both for noise and balls pocketed on it - 4. Higgins pocketed the remaining 5 balls to extend his lead.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 5 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 9

A rack of mistakes. First, the cueball went flying off the table on Higgins' break. Next, Boyes took a 6-ball up the rail for granted, but it rattled in the jaws of the pocket. Higgins followed suit with the 7-ball only for Boyes to miss a fairly straightforward 9-ball to gift wrap the rack to Higgins, allowing him to extend his lead.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 6 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 10

The cueball was forced off the table for the second rack in a row but Boyes missed a table-length 3-ball that brought Higgins back to the table to clear up and extend his lead further.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 7 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 11

Higgins looked like he was on for the second break and finish of the final until he hung the 8-ball in the jaws of the corner pocket. Boyes came to the table and made the 8, but the cueball managed to find its way into the diagonally opposite corner pocket. The 9-ball for Higgins was a formality.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 8 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 12

A dry break from Higgins brought Boyes to the table but with no real shot at the 1-ball and no easy safety available, Karl took a wild swing at the shot and forced both balls off the table. Higgins ran the rack out to continue the onslaught.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 9 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 13

Another dry break brought Boyes back to the table but he scratched and allowed Higgins to run the rack out, a run-out that included a fantastic bank on the 8-ball to give himself position on the 9.

 

Score: Scott Higgins 10 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

Rack 14

Yet another dry break from Higgins - not through lack of effort! Boyes makes the 1-ball but narrowly failed to break out the 2-3 cluster. After a brief safety exchange, Boyes got first look at an open shot but he missed the 2-ball up the rail. Higgins came to the table and calmly cleared up to win the match and the title.

 

Final Score: Scott Higgins 11 - 3 Karl Boyes

 

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Karl Boyes with his £350 Runner Up prize money

 

 

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Scott Higgins with his £750 first prize and the Scottish Open trophies


It was, as ever, a fantastic weekend and there are a number of people that have to be thanked:-

We look forward to seeing you all next year!

 

You can see the Full Tournament Chart by clicking on the link.

 

Back to 2007/08 Tour Archive

 


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