MORRIS'S BIRTHDAY PRESENT
Andy Morris of Stirling gave himself a late birthday present in the shape of the title of 2011 Scottish Open 9 Ball Champion at Styx Kirkcaldy after a 10-7 win over former champion Michael Valentine.
In all, 29 players were in Kirkcaldy to play in the event meaning that during the early stages there were a number of matches that spectators would be expecting in the later on in the event. The first round on the winners' side was filled with top-quality matches. The stand-out matches were Andy Morris's 8-4 win over the 2009 Scottish Champion, Stevie Capaldi, and Gordon Bain's hill-hill win over Arbroath's Davy Jack.
By late afternoon, there were 8 players remaining in the tournament:-
| Winners' Bracket Qualifiers | Losers' Bracket Qualifiers |
Gordon Bain Andy Morris Chris Pringle Michael Valentine |
Stevie Capaldi Mike Keddie Stuart Ellis Davy Jack |
The draw for the last 8 brought about some excellent matches.
| Quarter Finals Losers - £30 |
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| Stevie Capaldi | 9 | v | 4 | Gordon Bain |
| Andy Morris | 9 | v | 4 | Mike Keddie |
| Chris Pringle | 9 | v | 3 | Stuart Ellis |
| Michael Valentine | 9 | v | 7 | Davy Jack |
Stevie Capaldi was able to get past a below-par Gordon Bain to set up a repeat of the 2009 final against Andy Morris who had beaten local player Mike Keddie, who was juggling playing in the tournament with his duties as Club Manager! Meanwhile Edinburgh's Chris Pringle made light work of Stuart Ellis and Davy Jack scratched on 2 9-balls in his match against Scottish number one Michael Valentine.
Gordon Bain can only look on as Stevie Capaldi finishes off another rack.
| Semi Finals Losers - £80 |
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| Andy Morris | 9 | v | 7 | Stevie Capaldi |
| Michael Valentine | 9 | v | 8 | Chris Pringle |
Valentine and Morris continued their undefeated runs through the tournament with tight matches. The Morris - Capaldi match was of a very high quality with no player holding more than a 2-rack advantage. Those who watched the Valentine - Pringle encounter commented that Valentine struggled with his play while Pringle was unlucky not to close the match out earlier. But, Valentine showed his battling qualities to close the match out and earn himself a spot in the final.
The crowd watching the final stages of the Valentine v Pringle semi final match
| Semi Finals Winner - £370 :: Runner-up - £210 |
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| Andy Morris | 10 | v | 7 | Michael Valentine |
Andy Morris and Michael Valentine, the finalists of the 2011 Scottish Open 9 Ball Championships
For the most part, the final was a very close affair with no player getting more than one game ahead during the match. The pool being played was of a very high standard, as you would expect for the final with the tightness of the match only being due to the consistently ugly tables being left after a number of the breaks.
At 7-7, though, Morris decided that he was wanting to win his first Scottish title and managed to find another gear. An excellent run-out was followed by a very tactical safety battle in the next rack from which Morris managed to extract a rare error from Valentine to give him ball in hand and a run out to get to the hill first. Another unlucky roll on the break meant another brief safety battle with Morris taking the half-chance Valentine left him, allowing Morris to run the table and win his first Scottish title.
Congratulations to Andy Morris for becoming the 2011 Scottish Open 9 Ball Champion.
As ever, it was a great Championships and there are a number of people who need to be thanked:-
- To all the players who travelled from far and wide
- To Cameron Bowes and Stevie Capaldi for ensuring that the tournament ran smoothly.
- And finally, to Mario, Mike and all the staff at Styx, Kirkcaldy, for being such great hosts and putting up with us all day. As ever, they went above and beyond the call of duty and their hard work is always much appreciated by all the players.
We look forward to seeing you all in 2012.
You can download the tournament chart by clicking here.
SCOTTISH OPEN 9 BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
ROLL OF HONOUR
| 2000 | Jimmy Pollock |
| 2001 | Geoff Dunn |
| 2002 | Geoff Dunn |
| 2003 | Geoff Dunn |
| 2004 | Michael Valentine |
| 2005 | Jayson Shaw |
| 2006 | Pat Holtz |
| 2007 | Scott Higgins |
| 2008 | Pat Holtz |
| 2009 | Stevie Capaldi |
| 2010 | Jayson Shaw |
| 2011 | Andy Morris |
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