Canadian qualifiers

Well, the quest to go to the Canadians starts for me this weekend.

I haven't played more than 6 hrs since the championship in August so it should be interesting to see how I make out.

I'll post the results and any significant breaks....if I manage any

Does this event have a website?

They should cover it on www.snookerline.com

.....not sure if this will leave me

Well I went 3/3 today to make the semis.

Very happy with my potting but i'm sure making some mistakes to end breaks.

First match 4-0, 4 breaks of 40 or so. Played the Selby one rail red/black out to close the match. Wasn't as tight a situation as it was for Selby but I was happy with the shot given the red was about a foot out of the corner pocket

Second match 4-2, I was kinda surprised by the guy's potting, he made some great shots. I made silly mistakes, brain dead shots to lose at least one of the frames. Made 30's and 40's, ending the breaks with stupid misses. Finished sort of well, was on 48 clearing in the when I missed a black off the spot with all colors on the spots. Stupid miss but at least I didn't have a ton on.

Third match was my toughest. My opponent has finished well in these qualifiers for the last few years. Excellent potter and good break builder. I found myself 40 odd behind in both of the first two frames only to clear and pinch them. Third frame 47 behind 3 reds left I potted a sick red to land perfect on the black only to miss it. Gave up the frame right away, coulda/shoulda pinched it I took the next with a 24 and then a 50 odd break, missing a simple shot to end the break naturally. . My opponent picked up the next with 2 40 runs, some good clinical stuff. I made a quick 40 to start the next and then made another 30 odd break to take it.

Tomorrow I'll be playing a British gent who moved here a couple of years ago. His claim to fame is having beat ROS in a best of 9 one time. I can't attest to the validity of the claim but I've seen him play before and he can be very fluent in the balls. He has made a few nice breaks in these events before so it should be a tight match. I have to say at this point I feel whomever wins the match will go on to win the event.

Winning 2 of these events and winning one or two matches in a few more pretty much guarantees you a spot at the Canadians so it's nice to get off to a good start, I'll get good points no matter what happens tomorrow

Glad to see your progressing through sickpotter, like it & well done so far.

sickpotter wrote:They should cover it on http://www.snookerline.com

.....not sure if this will leave me

Obviously knowing your name would help when scanning results etc


Just looked on the map - how far are you from Niagra Falls? Is this where you're from?

Sonny wrote:

Obviously knowing your name would help when scanning results etc

I think he is either Demos, Jeff, Matt or Rob

I'm Rob.

Well I lost 4-3 having been poised to win at 3-1 only to see the worst slice of luck I've seen in recent years.

I pinched the first after being 29 behind with 25 on. I laid a nice snooker, forced a free ball and cleared up.

Second frame went to my opponent with a terrific full table pot on the pink.

3rd frame I made a 71, missing a black off the spot with 3 perfectly situated reds still available to go 2-1 up.

I won the next with 2 contributions, 48 and 37

I got in first in the next with a great long red and ran aquick 39 before missing a black off the spot with the reds well situated. My opponent picked off some balls and I found myself 13 ahead with 2 reds left. I potted a great long red down the rail and held for the pink. I made the pink and dropped a little too perfect on the last red. It was situated on the left rail, parallel to the pink, cue ball was between the red and the side...dead straight

Being left handed I had to use the rest which made the pot even harder. No way I was turning down the shot, I only needed to make it and a couple of balls to win. I hit it perfectly and drew the cueball back for the blue only to have it drop in the side pocket.

I apparently had the pace of the shot just perfect to have it stop right at the side pocket and gravity took hold This is why I love this game, just when you think you've seen everything, the snooker gods throw you something new. Fair play to my opponent, he came back well but I had my chances and failed to deliver.

All in all I'm satisfied with my play given my lack of practice, my standard wasn't as embarrasing as I expected There was another bonus to the event, someone was there looking for players to join his legion team and asked me if I'd come out. $50 to join and then they pay for all matches and travel expenses including hotel and airfare when needed. Damn, the stuff you stumble onto 20 years too late Better late than never though, at least it's a circuit opportunity of some kind.....Plus they've got $4 pints and snooker at 0.50/hr

One event down, 8 left.

The shot you described sounds impossible! So there's a 9 event tour over there? Sounds better than the main pro tour...

If I hadn't seen it I would never believe it could happen. Like I said, worst slice of luck I've seen for ages. Several other players spent some time after the match trying to roll the cueball and get the same result to no avail. Seems like I might have had some side on the cue to make it hug the rail. That combined with the nap and just the right weight to get to the side pocket seems to have allowed it to happen. Probably will never see it again...at least I hope not if I'm on the receiving end again

It's a 10 event circuit with two add on tournaments which the winners get entry into the Canadians. You must play 5 regular events to be elligible for the add on events. I'm proud to say they put that rule in place to prevent guys like me showing up for the add on tournies and none of the other events which I did 2 years ago.

Average turnout is usually only around 20-25 players so the fields aren't large but they're good practice and there are a few very tough players to make you work for wins.

sickpotter wrote:If I hadn't seen it I would never believe it could happen. Like I said, worst slice of luck I've seen for ages. That combined with the nap and just the right weight to get to the side pocket seems to have allowed it to happen. Probably will never see it again...at least I hope not if I'm on the receiving end again

I seen it happen sickpotter, & you've warmed my heart about an old boy who I was a doubles partner with years ago, Dennis Hudson RIP, let me share please.

Dennis was an old Billiard player sickpotter (what's your first name?) who played just Billiards. I was 15 at the time & I played in the British Railway Club in Cricklewood, because I could. May God be my judge, but Dennis was potting a ball, I was his partner, & he couldn't screw back for fashion. It was always £5 a corner when Dennis played Snooker & he asked me what to do? The red, was tight on the cushion, a similar place to where you described, roughly straight with the pink spot, on our (not yours lefty) right hand side of the table, the green side, (which I think if you were using the rest the same shot near enough), & the cue ball was what, 3, maybe 4 inch's back, again, tight on the cushion. "What the f**k am I supposed to do with that?" Dennis says to me. Bearing in mind I'm 15, cautious I need to be giving good advice, told him to gently screw back for the blue. "I can't f**kin screw back, you know that" he says to me, so I showed him, literally, cueing beside the shot for him, letting him know about touch & feel. So he does & what did he say before he played the shot? "The white ball will drop in the middle". The cue ball won't go in there I said to him in earnest, & low & behold, what happens, cue straight across the table & "Poxy F**kin game this".

I just stood there looking at him, amazed that he knew that - that was going to happen.

The same Man has the same birthday as me, 4th June

Great reminder sickpotter.

Well, qualifier #2 didn't go quite as well as the first one but there were some positives for me to take away.

I played some immaculate snooker in my first two matches, completing both best of 7's in under 2 hrs including two 10 min interval breaks. My opponents were shell shocked as I strung around 10 40+ breaks together

I think my 4-0 win was a personal record having completed the match in just over 45mins (including a smoke break).

A couple of the breaks should've been higher but broke down and missed some fairly standard pots. Need more work to minimize those un-called for misses and get into the consistent 60+ range.

For some reason, it all disappeared for my 3rd match and I got hammered 4-0.

Not to suggest my opponent wasn't a solid player but I feel I gave him the match rather than him winning it. I missed multiple blacks off the spot to let him in in prime position frame after frame.

He did string 40's+ together whenever I gifted him the opportunities so fair play, he did what he was supposed to do. I just need to stay focused on what I need to do and not give players the kind of chances I gave up during this match.

It's one lapse of concentration and you're out if you meet anyone who can string the balls together so I guess my goal for the next qualifier is to work on maintaining my focus and limiting silly mistakes.

Not a total loss though, I picked up some decent points for my wins and kept some of those above me in the rankings to a minimal gain on the day (my two wins were against players above me, only one picked up points for picking up a frame).

I have to say I feel much better in the balls this year than I have for quite a while. Not getting in a lot of practice but when I do get the time to play I actually feel like doing so which is a welcome change as it makes the time so much more productive

Good stuff Sickpotter, when is the next round of qualifiers?