Summary

A good Tri-Cup warm up against a team too talented to remain at the foot of the table for long.

The Games

Sparky (SL3) won 3 - 1 against a 2
Fresh from last weeks victory against a SL6, a rejuvenated Sparky made light work of this match and secured a comfortable victory. I was a little worried with Sparky's seeming desire to scratch / sink the white in the first couple of racks but it didn't seem to hold him back. Worst shot of the night though for managing to find a perfect angle on a ball almost frozen to the white to hammer the cue ball into the top pocket... ...nice angle!

Lori (SL4) lost 0 - 2 against a 3
A bandit SL3 to be fair. Lori made a good start in rack 1 and looked on course to continue her early season form until her opponent ran the table! From that moment on he never seemed to miss and although Lori had a chance on the 8 ball in rack 2 it was always going to be a tough call given the SL ratings.

Darren (SL7) won 5 - 1 against a 5
A bit rusty for my first appearance of the season but managed to get the job done against a good SL5. Probably lost a rack I should have won (having missed the 8 ball) but then subsequently won a rack I should have lost to move into a 4-1 lead. The last final rack was a nice open table and a simple run out.

Mark (SL5) won 4 - 2 against a 4
The match of the night and in truth, there was nothing between these two in terms of ability so definitely an under ranked SL4. Having won the first rack, Mark was then unfortunate to see the white drop with only a couple of balls left for a two rack lead. With ball in hand his opponent levelled the scores. Rack three went Mark's way thanks to a shot of the night candidate in potting a stripe in the bottom corner pocket and drawing the white ball into another stripe frozen to the black leaving himself perfectly on that stripe. Mark won the rack from that visit and was again ahead. Having lost the fourth, Mark again went ahead with a nice run out and then in the last, having played 4 excellent balls to leave himself a tricky 8 ball for the match it somehow stayed out. Fortunately, it was frozen to the cushion with the white the other side of the table and in making a very fine cut, his opponent then watched as the white ball dropped in the opposite pocket.

Mini (SL4) lost 2 - 2 against a 3
A two rack lead suddenly turned to a 2-2 defeat and largely due to someone terrible bad luck on Marc's part. At 2-0 up, Marc had a shot on the red solid to leave the 8 ball for the match but somehow managed to scratch. In the last, it was then an absolute war with both players moving the balls around the table like a game of chess. In the end a couple of lucky breaks and an 8 ball bank won it for his opponent.

Shot of The Night

Mark: Mark's pot of the stripe in the bottom corner with draw to send the white ball into another stripe frozen to the black leaving himself perfectly on that stripe.

Worst Shot of The Night

Sparky: Sparky for managing to find a perfect angle on a ball almost frozen to the white to hammer the cue ball straight into the top pocket.