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Michael Valentine closed out the 2007/08 season with his second Tour Event win of the season over Glasgow's Clark Smith at Glasgow's Q Club. The event, which was played as a full Single Elimination tournament instead of the usual Double Elimination format that is commonplace at SAPPA events, attracted a top-notch field of 58 players.

There were a few surprises during the day, the biggest one being the performance of Ryan Davie who had a series of excellent results against top-quality players, beating Dave Tait 8-6, Allan Brown 9-5, Andy Morris 10-8 and Davy Jack 11-9 before coming up against Michael Valentine. Valentine's experience in the later stages of SAPPA events shone through as he ended Davie's run in the tournament 12 racks to 4.

Another performance worthy of mention was that of Alec McDowall who, after an 8-0 first round whitewash of Ayr's Chris Phelps, beat Jayson Shaw 9 racks to 8 and then thumped George Fagan 10-2 to meet Clark Smith in the Quarter Final, which Smith won 11 racks to 8.

Gary Houstoun also put in an excellent performance in the tournament. After disposing of Darren Murray by 8 racks to 5 and Chris Goode (9-6), he then knocked out Arbroath's Greg Alexander by 10 racks to 6 then Scottish number one Pat Holtz by 11 racks to 8 before coming up against the on-form Clark Smith.

Valentine, however, was almost eliminated in his match at the last 32 stage. Having received a bye in the first round, Michael faced Kevin Irving and was made to fight all the way in squeezing out a 9-8 victory. He then managed to make easy work of his way to the final with emphatic wins over John Ward (10-6) and Scott Ross (11-3) before meeting the afore-mentioned Ryan Davie.

Clark Smith, on the other hand, was being made to work hard on his way to the final. After an bye in the first round and an easy 9-2 victory over Peter McLanachan, he then beat Frank Hughes (10-6), Alec McDowall (11-8) and Gary Houstoun (12-8) to set up another SAPPA Tour Event Final against Valentine - Clark's ever-present Final opponent.

In the end, it was Valentine who took the £360 first prize with an exciting 13-11 win in an enthralling final, the winner of which was not decided until the last couple of racks.

SAPPA Tour Event 7
The Q Club, St. George's Cross, Glasgow
9 March 2008
IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Our next event is the final tour stop of the 2007/08 season, and will be held at the Q Club, Glasgow on Sunday 9 March. There are a few important changes to the running of this event that you will need to know.

First of all, registration for this event will be from 10am with the tournament starting at 11am sharp.

Secondly, due to time constraints of playing a Double Elimination tournament, this event will be run as a Single Elimination tournament. We are very sorry to our members who have become accustomed to the Double Elimination format for Tour Events but such has been the increase in player numbers at our events, that our success has hindered us slightly. We anticipate that the first round will be races to 7 with the length of the matches increasing as the tournament progresses.

If you are going to be late, please call Tam Talent, Tournament Director, on 07944 195 377 or Martin Hughes on 07888 665 060.

2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters
and
SAPPA Tour Event 6
Styx, Kirkcaldy
23 and 24 February 2008

It was a busy weekend at Styx, Kirkcaldy last weekend when the SAPPA Tour held the finals of the 2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters and the sixth Tour Event of the 2007/08 season. The American 8-Ball Masters, held on the Saturday, was won by Glasgow's Stevie Capaldi with a 9 racks to 6 win over Arbroath's Davy Jack. Capaldi, winning his second event of the 2007/08 season, took home £400 for his efforts. The full tournament chart can be downloaded by clicking here.

The following day saw 62 players turning up to play in SAPPA Tour Event 6. In the end, Jayson Shaw made it 2 Tour Event wins in a row by beating Darlington's Phil Burford by 10 racks to 5 after an exciting day's 9 Ball. Burford, who is probably the best Junior player in the UK at the moment, beat Andy Morris 8-2 in the last 16, Paul McGowan 8-3 in the Quarter Finals and Michael Valentine 9 racks to 7. Shaw, in the meantime, had just as tough a route to the final beating Stevie Capaldi 8-5, Ian Mackintosh 8-4 and Chris Cowie 9 racks to 1. In the end, he was too strong for Burford and took the final and the £400 first prize with ease.

2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters
and
SAPPA Tour Event 6
Styx, Kirkcaldy
23 and 24 February 2008

Next weekend sees 2 tournaments taking place, both at Styx, Kirkcaldy. The first is the finals of the 2008 Scottish America 8-Ball Masters taking place on Saturday 23rd February. The qualifier for this was played back in December in Styx, Glenrothes and the 8 qualifiers from this event were:-
1. Darren Murray
2. Chris Fraser
3. Greg Alexander
4. Craig Blackstock
5. Graham Dunbar
6. Gary Houstoun
7. Chic McCaig
8. Alan Maxwell

In the finals, these 8 qualifiers will be joined by the current top 8 ranked players from the Official Ranking List to compete for the title of 2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters Champion. The top 8 are:-
1. Michael Valentine
2. Pat Holtz
3. Stevie Capaldi
4. Clark Smith
5. Davy Jack
6. Tam Talent
7. Andy Morris
8. Jim O'Hare

The format of the event will be 4 groups of 4 players playing in a round-robin format, with the winners and runners-up of each group going on to make the 8 players who will play a Single Elimination format to find the winner.

The following day will see SAPPA Tour Event 6 taking place, also at Styx, Kirkcaldy. As ever, the usual tournament format will be in operation with Double Elimination being in operation until 16 players remain when a Single Elimination format will take over. Entry for SAPPA members is £20 (£25 for non-members).

We ask that you please be at the club at 11am so everyone can be registered and we have the tournament started as quickly as possible. If you are going to be late, please call Tam Talent, Tournament Director, on 07944 195 377 or Martin Hughes on 07888 665 060.

The first event of 2008 saw Jayson Shaw back on top of the heap as the SAPPA Tour made its first trip to Suzy Q's in Paisley. It was great to see a numbe of new SAPPA Tour players amongst the 69 player field. Two of these players made an impression on the tournament, nearly qualifying for the last 16 at their first attempt. Dutch-born Micha Lamers lost his first round match but then proceeded to use his cueing and angels knowledge from 3 Cushion Billards to work his way through the Losers' Bracket only to fall at the final qualifying round to Edinburgh's Chris Fraser. Local player Gordon Bain, a former top-class snooker player, started tearing through the Winners Bracket with excellent wins over Stevie Capaldi by 5 racks to 1 and Ian Mackintosh by 5 racks to 3 before losing to Darren Raine by 5 racks to 4 then Greg Alexander by 4 racks to 3 to also be eliminated in the final qualifying round.

As for the business end of the tournament itself, there was potential for an upset as Alan Maxwell made his way through the last 16. Maxwell, regarded as one of the top Blackball players in Glasgow, beat Gary Houstoun by 6 racks to 5 then beat Michael Valentine 7-6 only to fall to Arbroath's Davy Jack in the Semi Finals 7 racks to 6. Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the last 16, Jayson was making his way through Simon Dixon by 6 racks to 3, Chris Fraser 7-1 and Scottish Provisional Number One Pat Holtz 7-3.

This set up a race-to-8 between Jayson Shaw and Davy Jack for the £400 first prize. As it was, Jack failed to capitalise on the few chances that Shaw left him in the match and it was Shaw who came out the 8-5 victor.

On behalf of everyone connected with SAPPA may I wish you all a very and Happy New Year. 2008 looks like being a very exciting one for SAPPA and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at as many of our events as you can attend.

It all starts this Sunday, 6 January 2008 with The Scottish Pool-Hustlers' Challenge taking place at The Q Club, St George's Cross, Glasgow. Starting at 2pm, the highlight of the day will be 3 6-man winner-take-all "Ring Games" that are taking place. Entry fees are ranging from £20 to £100 per player and with the amount of talent on show it makes for some interesting pool. The players are:-

Everyone is more than welcome to come along to watch and enjoy the day's play. There will also be a Straight Pool Challenge open to anyone who wishes to play in it. This will happen in 2 legs - the first on a pool table, the second part on a snooker table. Further information on this and the Ring Games themselves can be gathered at the SAPPA Forum.

The first SAPPA Tournament of 2008 will be the 5th Ranking Event of the 2007/08 season taking place at Suzy Q's in Stock Street, Paisley on Sunday 20th January. As ever, the usual tournament format will be in operation with Double Elimination being in operation until 16 players remain when a Single Elimination format will take over. Entry for SAPPA members is £20 (£25 for non-members).

We look forward to seeing you either at The Q Club or at Suzy Q's in the coming few weeks.

2007 Scottish 9-Ball Masters
and
2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters Qualifier
Styx, Glenrothes
16 December 2007

Styx in Glenrothes was a hive of SAPPA activity in mid-December with the running of 2 tournaments in 2 different disciplines in the same day. The main event of the day was the playing of the 2007 Scottish 9-Ball Masters with the top 8 players being seeded straight into the event and being joined by the 8 qualifiers who had won their way into the event back in September. The players were drawn into 4 groups of 4, with 2 seeded players and 2 qualifiers in each group, and they would play a round-robin format with the top 2 players in each group going on to make up the Quarter Finalists.

In the end it was Pat Holtz, Scotland's provisional number one, who took the top honours along with the £400 first prize by beating Arbroath's Davy Jack 10 racks to 5 in the final.

The other event being played that day was the qualifiying event for the 2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters, taking place in February in Styx, Kirkcaldy. With this event running at the same time as the 9-Ball Masters, it meant a busy, and somewhat mind-numbing, day for those qualifiers who were also taking part in the American 8-Ball. In the end, there were 8 players remaining from the Double Elimination qualifier and they were:-
1. Darren Murray
2. Chris Fraser
3. Greg Alexander
4. Craig Blackstock
5. Graham Dunbar
6. Gary Houstoun
7. Chic McCaig
8. Alan Maxwell

Please note, however, the date of the 2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters has been changed due to a pool calendar mix-up. This event, along with Ranking Event 6, will still take place at Styx, Kirkcaldy, but will now be held on Saturday 23 February with the Ranking Event taking place on Sunday 24 February.

We have several things to report upon in this update. First of all, you will find the report about the 2007 Scottish Open Championships by clicking here.

2007 Scottish American 8-Ball Championships
Q-Club, St George's Cross, Glasgow
30 September 2007

The Scottish American 8-Ball Championships were held at the end of September in the recently re-furbished Q Club in St George's Cross in Glasgow. A total of 48 players came from all around Scotland to take part with a good mixture of both American Pool and Blackball players. In the end, it was Larkhall's Pat Holtz who won the title and the £400 first prize with a convincing 6-3 win over Glasgow's Alan Reynolds. This was a re-match of their match in the final Winners' Bracket round of qualifying for the last 16 Single Elimination phase which Reynolds won by 5 racks to 3.

The SAPPA Tour made its first visit to Riley's in Meadowbank, Edinburgh in November for the fourth Tour Event of the 2007/08 season. At the end of a very long day's play which saw an amazing 83 players turn up, Scott Ross beat Davy Jack to win his first SAPPA Tour Event. Here's a run-down of the last 16 onwards.

2007 Scottish 9-Ball Masters
and
2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters Qualifier
Styx, Glenrothes
16 December 2007

Next Sunday sees 2 tournaments taking place at the same time, both at Styx, Glenrothes. The first is the finals of the 2007 Scottish 9-Ball Masters, the qualifier for which was played back in September in Glasgow. The 8 qualifiers from this event were:-
1. Darren Murray
2. Ian McIntosh
3. Jayson Shaw
4. Gary Houston
5. Chris Fraser
6. Dave Tait
7. Chris Robson
8. Craig Blackstock

In the finals, these 8 qualifiers will be joined by the current top 8 ranked players from the Official Ranking List to compete for the title of 2007 Scottish 9-Ball Masters Champion. The top 8 are:-
1. Michael Valentine
2. Pat Holtz
3. Stevie Capaldi
4. Clark Smith
5. Davy Jack
6. Tam Talent
7. Andy Morris
8. Jim O'Hare

Alongside the finals of the Scottish 9-Ball Masters will be the qualifier for the 2008 Scottish American 8-Ball Masters, which are scheduled to take place in Kirkcaldy in February. This event will be Double Elimination until only 8 players remain - 4 on the winners' side and 4 on the losers' side - who will meet the top 8 in the finals of the Scottish American 8-Ball Masters in Styx, Kirkcaldy at the start of February.

Entry for the Scottish American 8-Ball Masters Qualifier is £20 (£25 for non-members) and, as ever, we ask that all players are at Styx, Glenrothes around 11am so everyone can be registered into their respective tournament(s) and get started as quickly as possible. If you are going to be late, please call Tam Talent, Tournament Director, on 07994 195 377 or Martin Hughes on 07888 665 060.

Sunday 25 November sees the SAPPA Tour make its first visit to Riley's in Meadowbank, Edinburgh for the 4th full Ranking Event of the 2007/08 season. The usual tournament format will be in operation with Double Elimination being in operation until 16 players remain when a Single Elimination format will take over. As ever, entry for SAPPA members is £20 (£25 for non-members).

We ask that you please come along around 11am so we can everyone registered and have the tournament started as close to 12noon as possible. If you are going to be late, please call Tam Talent, Tournament Director, on 07944 195 377 or Martin Hughes on 07888 665 060.

2007 Scottish 9-Ball Masters Qualifier
2007 Scottish American 8-Ball Championships
Q-Club, St George's Cross, Glasgow
29 and 30 September 2007

This weekend sees SAPPA holding 2 tournaments at Glasgow's Q-Club. The first, on Saturday 29th September is the qualifier for the 2007 Scottish 9-Ball Masters to be held in Glenrothes this December. The top 8 ranked players automatically qualify for The Masters and will be joined by the Quater Finalists of Saturday's tournament. The usual format will apply - Double Elimination until the last 16, followed by Single Elimination to find a winner.

Sunday 30th September sees the second running of the Scottish American 8-Ball Championships. Again, the format will be Double Elimination with Single Elimination from the last 16 onwards.

Entry to each event is £20 for SAPPA and Q-Club members (£25 to non-members) and play will start each day at 12noon SHARP. If you are going to be late, please call Tam Talent, Tournament Director, on 07944 195 377 or Martin Hughes on 07888 665 060.

Glasgow's Stevie Capaldi overcame 51 of Scotland's best pool players to win himself a trip to Manilla to represent Scotland at the 2007 Philippines World Pool Championships. With Pat Holtz already ensured a place at the World Championships due to his last 16 finish in last year's event, many saw Scottish number one Michael Valentine as the prohibitive favourite. However, a phenominal run through the chart by Alec McDowall saw the The Yeti's chances ending with a 10-8 loss in the last 16.

This result guaranteed that Scottish pool would have a new representative at this year's World Championships and it came down to Stevie Capaldi, who defeated Arbroath's Davy Jack 10-7 in the Semi Final, and 2007 Scottish Championship runner-up Scott Gillespie, who put an end to McDowall's run with a 10-9 nailbiter in their Semi Final. In the end, however, it was "The Don" who came out on top with an extremely impressive 10 racks to 5 win over Gillespie.

Congratulations to Stevie and good luck at the World Pool Championships in The Philippines.

Due to the Webmaster's other commitments, the news part of the site has been neglected for a wee while. Let's try and rectify that a little bit.

The third SAPPA Tour Event of 2007 took place in Riley's, Kirkintilloch back in mid-August saw 70 players turn out to take part, proving once again the popularity of the venue. It was a day full of surprises and stand-out performances, including Glasgow's Dawud Quadir qualifying for the last 16 for the first time in only his 3rd ranking event and Pete King putting Pat Holtz over to the Losers' Bracket in the final qualifying round; Clark Smith eliminated Pat in the last 16.

In the end, however, it came down to the ever-present Michael Valentine and Stirling's Ian Mackintosh, a long-term player on the SAPPA Tour making a visit to the finals of a Ranking Event. Sadly, however, Michael had to withdraw from the tournament due to ill-health, awarding Ian his first Tour Event win. Congratulations, Ian on your first Tour Event win.

Last 16
Michael Valentine	7	v	1	Billy Edmond
Frank Hughes	7	v	5	Dawud Quadir
Adam Smith	7	v	5	Jim O'Hare
Clark Smith	7	v	5	Pat Holtz
Ian Mackintosh	7	v	2	Graham Dunbar
Alec McDowall	4	v	7	Piotr
Andy Morris	6	v	7	Alan Brown
Pete King	0	v	7	Davy Jack

Quarter Finals
Michael Valentine	7	v	2	Frank Hughes
Adam Smith	7	v	3	Clark Smith
Ian Mackintosh	7	v	3	Piotr
Alan Brown	1	v	7	Davy Jack

Semi Finals
Michael Valentine	8	v	6	Adam Smith
Ian Mackintosh	8	v	6	Davy Jack

Final
Ian Mackintosh	W	v	O	Michael Valentine

The full tournament chart can be found by clicking here.

As a postscript, congratulations should also go to Ayr's Chris Phelps who, after losing his only 2 matches in the tournament went on to win the Riley's sponsored Poker Tournament that took place that night.

This year's SAPPA 3-Man Team Event took place at the start of September in Stirling with 18 teams from all over Scotland competing. In the end, it was the Kirkcaldy-based "Styx" team of Pat Holtz, John Owen and M Boyle who took the spoils beating the Stirling team consisting of Andy Morris, Chris Goode and Ian Mackintosh by 10 racks to 1 in a very one-sided final.

Group C	Played	Won	Lost	Racks For	Racks Against	Points
Combo Magicians	3	2	1	15	12	4
Yeti	3	2	1	14	13	4
Yahourye	3	1	2	14	13	2
Flunkies	3	1

RING GAME 1 Entry Fee - £100	RING GAME 2 Entry Fee - £50	RING GAME 3 Entry Fee - £20
Pat "Silky" Holtz	Graham "The Fat Destroyer" Dunbar	John Paul "Machine Gun" Morrow
Stevie "The Godfather" Capaldi	Greg "Awesome" Alexander	Steve "Hammy" Hamilton
Andy "Rodney" Morris	Chris "The Spaniard" Fraser	Kev "Pete" Brown
Martin "Blue Suede" Hughes	Davy "The Destroyer" Jack	"Pistol" Pete King
Alan "Skake Eyes" Brown	Gary "Tex" Houston	Chris "The Rage" McPhee
Stewart "Lightning Seed" McPhee	Billy "The Guv'nor" Edmond	Tam "The" Talent

Last 16
Michael Valentine	10	v	6	John Ward
Scott Ross	10	v	8	Tam Talent
Andy Morris	8	v	10	Ryan Davie
Scott Gillespie	5	v	10	Davy Jack
Clark Smith	10	v	6	Frank Hughes
George Fagan	2	v	10	Alec McDowall
Gary Houstoun	10	v	7	Greg Alexander
Stuart McPhee	4	v	10	Pat Holtz

Quarter Finals
Michael Valentine	11	v	3	Scott Ross
Ryan Davie	11	v	9	Davy Jack
Clark Smith	11	v	8	Alec McDowall
Gary Houstoun	11	v	8	Pat Holtz

Semi Finals
Michael Valentine	12	v	4	Ryan Davie
Clark Smith	12	v	10	Gary Houstoun

Final
Michael Valentine	13	v	10	Clark Smith

Last 16
Michael Valentine	8	v	4	Alan Maxwell
George Fagan	7	v	8	Alec McDowall
Andy Morris	2	v	8	Phil Burford
Clark Smith	4	v	8	Paul McGowan
Cameron Bowes	6	v	8	Ian Mitchell
Chris Cowie	8	v	6	Adam Smith
Jayson Shaw	8	v	5	Stevie Capaldi
Pat Holtz	6	v	8	Ian Mackintosh

Quarter Finals
Michael Valentine	8	v	2	Alec McDowall
Phil Burford	8	v	3	Paul McGowan
Ian Mitchell	1	v	8	Chris Cowie
Jayson Shaw	8	v	4	Ian Mackintosh

Semi Finals
Michael Valentine	7	v	9	Phil Burford
Chris Cowie	1	v	9	Jayson Shaw

Final
Phil Burford	5	v	10	Jayson Shaw

Last 16
Alan Reynolds	6	v	1	Tomasz Waliszewski
Tam Talent	6	v	1	Chris Fraser
Andy Morris	6	v	5	Cameron Bowes
Davy Jack	6	v	1	Billy Edmond
Clark Smith	4	v	6	Pat Holtz
Jayson Shaw	6	v	2	Graham Tough
Darren Murray	6	v	3	John Ward
Stevie Capaldi	6	v	2	Michel Bilski

Quarter Finals
Alan Reynolds	6	v	2	Tam Talent
Andy Morris	2	v	6	Davy Jack
Pat Holtz	6	v	4	Jayson Shaw
Darren Murray	4	v	6	Stevie Capaldi

Semi Finals
Alan Reynolds	6	v	2	Davy Jack
Pat Holtz	6	v	2	Stevie Capaldi

Final
Alan Reynolds	3	v	6	Pat Holtz