The beauty of Monday Night Tournaments is that we have multi-disciplined American Pool, which includes 8, 9, and 10 ball, but also 14.1 (Straight Pool), and also Blind Scotch Doubles, my personal favourite. And last night was the Blind Scotch Doubles, an event where upper ranked players are randomly paired up with lower, and that made for some very interesting pairings, especially as some of the lower ranked players could quite easily be upper half.
The question is how much of a difference does it make?
26 of the best London has to offer, signed up for the Blind Scotch Doubles, and what a night we had. As the pairings were drawn out, there were some really high quality partnerships emerging. Muhammed “He’s the Greatest” Ali and Saman Gholami are two training partners and know each other’s games so well. Hassan Shahid and Paul Choong also promised to be a lively pairing, whilst fresh off the back of his Sunday Night Tournament win, Gauhar Khan paired up with Sunny “Boy” Garib, sending a current of fear throughout the arena.
We also welcomed back to Tooting, Daria Siranchuk, one of the emerging talents in the world of pool, as she prepares for the Euro Tours, and she paired up with the dangerous, Dhari Alduraibi. Additionally, the highly rated Craig “Bear” Laurie teamed up with Glen “THE Hitman” Hargreaves, making one of the strongest pairings. Of course, all the top players were hoping to pull out Dan “the Destroyer” Suh, surely the lower half’s most dangerous player, the master of disaster, and through divine forces, Rod “the God” Altes was the lucky player to pair up with the lowest ranked player in attendance.
First off, though, was the weekly Break and Run attempt. Yet again, someone who has already had chances, entered and got selected ahead of someone who has entered every week and is still yet to be drawn out of the hat...Ali has purposefully been practicing his 10 Ball breaks just for this moment, some say he practices 100 breaks a day, and with £35 a ball, it paid off! 3 balls sunk, and with no shot on the 1 ball, Ali cashed in for £105.
The first round saw the pairing of Dhari and Daria face up to Ciaran Boylan and Oscar Li, a match that went right to the wire. Dhari and Daria were a formidable pairing, with Daria warming up for her Euro Tour matches and Dhari claiming some notable scalps since joining LFP, but they were pushed all the way by one of the most physically imposing characters, Ciaran, and Oscar who has recently joined and developing his skills nicely and showing really good technique. However, the Double D’s inched their way over the line with the might of God and the Destroyer waiting for them in the second round.
No surprise, also, that Tomasz Jedlecki and Andy “Banks” Curzon rattled through their match in double-quick time. Another formidable pairing in Tom and Andy, cruised past Dan Jenkins and Ervin Demiraj 4-0.
The second round saw the big guns really get into their games and flex their muscles. Hasssan Shahid and Paul Choong made mincemeat of Marius “Ladies’ favourite” Dandu and Sher Baig, romping home 4-0. Sunny and Khan made light work of Ciprian Dandu and Ranj Sarraj, winning 4-1, whilst Craig and Glen demonstrated why they might be considered pre-tournament favourites, by easing past Tom and Andy C. All eyes, though, were on the centre table, seeing whether God and the Destroyer could form a partnership that might terrorise the others, and despite early nerves from the Destroyer, God bailed him out to ensure a convincing victory over the Double D’s.
The quarters then saw Sunny and Khan up the ante against Hassan and Paul. Both parings playing well, but Sunny and Khan holding their nerve at hill hill, and progressing to the semis. Meanwhile, God and the Destroyer took Craig and Glen apart, capitalising on any errors to win 4-1, making this dream team the favourites with the bookies.
The semi-final in the winner’s half saw controversy as Khan had thought he had a dinner break and popped out to get his dinner, leaving his partner, Sunny, and opponents, God and the Destroyer waiting as Khan chowed down by the bar. After filing official complaints to the match referees, Khan eventually entered the arena with dinner in his left hand and cues in his right. Sunny and Khan exploded into action, with fire (and kebab) in his belly, Khan potted his team into an early lead, but God and the Destroyer were absolutely flying at this point, with God’s voice in the Destroyer’s ear, it truly was a masterclass in how Scotch Doubles partnerships can work with vastly differently ranked players.
It must be said that God does use his powers to swing a lot of luck his way. This extraordinary superpower was something to behold, as some might call it flukey, some even say their hair went ginger after years of having to face such luck, but after witnessing it firsthand, there’s no doubt that Rod has god-like powers that give him the run of the balls.
With the prospect of facing the superhuman pairing of God and the Destroyer, it was up to the Loser’s half to fight their way to have the privilege of getting beat for a second time in the tournament. Despite being training partners, Ali and Saman just couldn’t get going against Tom and Andy C, and went home without posting up a win. Meanwhile, current boyband member, Kostya and ex-boyband member, Sean Avery, also couldn’t quite wow the crowd with their flamboyant style of play and also left the tournament winless. Dan Jenkins and Ervin, and Ciaran and Oscar also exited without posting up a win.
The Loser’s half threw up some really good battles, but ultimately, it was left to the pairs who had been left in the trail of God and the Destroyer. Craig and Glen were on a bit of a charge, having galvanised themselves, and eased past Cip and Ranj, and then quickly disposed of Hassan and Paul, before coming up against another of God and the Destroyer’s victims, Sunny and Khan. With both teams desperately wanting another chance to beat their previous conquerors, both pairs went at it hell for leather, but it was Craig and Glen showing why they might be pre-tournament favourites, who managed to gain the chance to avenge their earlier defeat.
So to the much-anticipated final.
Craig and Glen came storming out of the blocks. Clearly their motivation was revenge, and their strokes were bang on as they had plenty of more frames of getting their eye in in the loser’s half. Like a man possessed, Craig produced some extraordinary shots, leaving God and the Destroyer fearing the worst. At this point, the Destroyer forgot which team he was on, by repeatedly snookering his partner and effectively the match was over. 3-1 down, but a few rousing words from God saw a legendary 5th rack played out where after a tactical battle, the Destroyer potted the impossible, leaving God somewhat impressed by his new disciple. However, this mini fightback wasn’t enough as Craig and Glen were immensely impressive and ran out 4-1 winners to win the tournament…or had they? God and the Destroyer had only lost 1 match, as had Craig and Glen…surely this was a draw? Surely, with the aggregate scores being 5-5, there could be something to demonstrate a clear winner?
But no, a pre-agreement for the final to be the last round, with no double-elimination in place, meant that Craig and Glen really did emerge the winners. I would reiterate that this was pre-agreed and therefore fair and final.
Well done to Craig and Glen, who were superb. Great sports, superb players, but in the heads of God and the Destroyer, “it ain’t over!”
Have a great week and next week will be 10 Ball.
