The usual MNT was in full swing over at London Snooker Tooting, with all of the top 5 ranked players in attendance, which will be the last time for about 2 months, that it will be possible to get all top 5 together, as Ramesh “Ramma Jamma” Gokhul goes off on his tour of Brazil, the Caribbean, and the US of A, playing his way through various competitions and pool halls. Everyone at London’s Finest Pool wishes him safe travels and hopes he performs to the best of his abilities as he ducks and dives, representing London.
But that’s the end of the well wishes. There’s a heap of players ready to tear him down and take advantage of his absence, and last night was evidence of the high standards that keep rising at MNT.
To kick the evening off, Break and Run took place, with….Muhammed “He’s the Greatest” Ali selected again, for the second week in a row. Yet again, despite this running for over a year, I have not been selected out of the hat, despite entering it around 40 times or more. I know that, one day, I might get selected (maybe in 2034), and that if that time ever happens, I’ll either dry break or the pot will be £1 per ball or something stupid like that.
In any case, imagine my disappointment as Ali broke dry…boohoo.
So, into the early rounds. Unusually, not one match went to hill-hill. And only one match was a whitewash. Notable results, therefore, came from Dan “the Destroyer” Suh, who blasted his way past Saman Gholami 5-1, with an almost flawless display of pool destruction, reinforcing the view that 2023 will see the Destroyer climb up the rankings. Elsewhere, Henri Linnainmaa battled hard against Ranj “Lucky” Sarraj in a gruelling tactical affair, but Ranj displayed some excellent play to run away 5-2 winner. Tomasz Jedlecki and Dan Jenkins also had a tough match together, but Tom’s experience shone through to win 5-3. And Ciprian Dandu, who has shown improvements in 2023 without reaching the levels he expects of himself, blitzed his way past Ali Haidery 5-1.
Into the next round, and the tournament really came alive, with the “big guns” able to flex their muscles. Sunny “Boy” Garib has been in great form, showing week on week improvements, and faced up to Ramma Jamma. Despite being small in stature, Ram’s reputation is feared by most…but not by Sunny. As has been mentioned in previous reports, Sunny’s an old hat at this game and coming out of retirement has sparked a bit of a fire in him. He has a game that rivals anyone’s, and he fears no-one, least of all the notorious Ram. With a 5-3 win under his belt, that’s twice he’s beaten Ram in February, leaving Ram to rue his missed chances. After the match, a smiling Sunny told the gathering reporters that he’s a man on a mission, and there’s more to come.
Also, it was good to see Gabriel “Hitman” Vasilache start to really motor again. Gabriel has continually threatened to push for the top, but has failed to win a tournament this year. A lack of practice, a bit lacking in match fitness perhaps, but he has a steely determination (and glare) that, last night, even the imperious Tashunka “Witko” Schultz couldn’t overcome, despite Tash’s great showing at SMB on Sunday. 5-2 win to Gabriel and questions in the arena were being asked of the current top 2 players.
So to Rod “the God” Altes. Up against one of the stories of 2022. Kostiantyn Ivanov, the young pup from Ukraine, has consistently been in the top 10 for some time and showed signs of threatening to rise further up the rankings. With Rod being (by his high standards) a little off-form, Kostya might well have challenged God, but regrettably lost his form and ended up losing 5-0.
Meanwhile, Sam Storey entered the tournament and played solidly to beat Ranj 5-3, whilst Ali took advantage of Tom’s mistakes to also win 5-3. And finally, Cip eased past his fellow compatriot, Alexandru Fechete, 5-2.
With no Ram or Tash in the quarters, Rod must have been feeling confident about his chances. However, with Sam being fairly new to the community, little was known about him. Sam has been playing well in other tournaments, and is known to be a great solid potter. And in the quarters, he really rose to the occasion by beating Rod 5-3. Rod was left devastated, but pointed out in his post-match interview that the standards are really increasing and getting beat only makes him more determined to find a way to get back to winning ways.
Sunny continued his good form by disposing of Glen “THE Hitman” Hargreaves 5-2, and Gabriel easily won against Hassan Mehedi 5-1. And finally, Cip might have been winning without playing well, but up against Ali, came apart and lost 5-1.
This left a semi-final line-up that looked a little unfamiliar, without Ram or Rod, and not even Tash. Sunny was hoping to show that the OG is the new Top Cat in town, but Gabriel was determined to blow him out of the water and played excellently to put Sunny back in his place, to win 5-2. No doubt Sunny will be back, but Gabriel was looking pretty focused by this point, and waited for the winner between Sam and Ali. Ali is a bit of an enigma. His refusal to use a pool cue (which would really help his game improve if he gets used to it) means that he has to be stroking the ball perfectly, in order to get results. Also, with no chance of playing power shots, it’s a wonder that the talented Ali even threatens the top 10. However, he keeps insisting to play with his one-piece snooker cue, and when he plays well, he plays really well.
Sam is a relative newcomer to Tooting, and has been itching to prove himself, but been a touch unlucky as he’s had to face the likes of Ram and Rod in his previous opening round attempts, which isn’t exactly an easy introduction into the community. However, he is a very solid player and he was proving himself and was getting better and better. Despite Ali reaching the hill first, Sam dug deep and knew that there were only going to be few chances left, and somehow Ali let Sam get back into the match. With both players on the hill, either a moment of magic or disaster was going to win or lose this match, and regrettably for Ali, it was disaster. A relatively easy missed pot on the 9 ball meant that Sam could crawl over the line, despite the heckling from the crowd, leaving Ali to roll his eyes to the back of his head in disappointment.
So to the final. And Gabriel continued his charge. Sam ran out of steam, but gave Gabriel a good match and Gabriel ran out 5-3 winner, finally getting back to winning ways, but Sam will take great heart from his fine performances. In the post-match press conference, Gabriel explained that lack of practice has made him suffer, coupled with strong competition at MNT. It’s great to see the rise of certain players, stepping up to the mark, and no doubt that the coming weeks will see yet more people challenging.