Gabriel Bites Back

Off the back of last week’s blind Scotch doubles bonanza, seeing Ali and Vini grab the title with an early 9 ball hill-hill in the final against Saman and Josh, this Monday we geared up for thewarm up event to Sunday’s big London’s Finest Pool Summer 10 ball Open.

Ram’s flight was cancelled so the odds wiggled late on as he joined the party, and we had the Lawrences in town from Spots and Stripes to show us how they do it on Rassons.

With a field of 30, only Ranj Sarraj and Alan Llorente got the bye so first up on the Brunswick was a classic match-up between the 16 year old Ukrainian, Dr. Ivanov, and eagle-eyed OliverLawrence.  In a tight tussle, the fiery duck-faced wunderkind sprayed a few balls wide and Oli progressed 5-3.  Both kids have serious talent in their own way and a lot to work on – it’ll be interesting to see how they progress over the next few years and their long-term H2H against each other.

Ali went 2-4 down against Sean and went rampant, sliding the victory 5-4.  Sam Storey pimp-slapped Banks 5-2 from 1-2 – the same shape as last week – and the two white-washes of the first round went to Rod over Krishen, and Danny Navidi over Dhari Alduraibi.

In the bottom half, Ramesh showed no mercy against his training partner, Tomasz Jedlicki, laying him to rest 5-3, while Greg Mostyn slayed Cip (as you have to, catch that man early if you want a chance), and Gabriel pulled of one of the most serene matches I’ve watched at the MNT – pin-point accuracy and white ball control from start to finish, schooling Marius Wiszowaty 5-1.

Jenkins sliced up Paul Choong 5-3, and the mighty Saman continued his sharp form nailing Tobes Anyouku to the wall, 5-1.

The hare and the tortoise show saw Marius ‘Lady’s favourite’ Dandu square off against Hassan ‘Angles’ Mehedi, with the hare falling asleep at 3, as he does, leaving the prize for The Bangladeshi Professor.

Ciaran ‘Cue-Action’ Boylan finished Andy Adams off 5-2 and went on to take Sam-the-Ram-Killer to hill-hill but proving the commentators right that he isn’t quite up there with the biggest of boys just yet – but if he can avoid having his cues robbed again it’s looking likely he’ll sneak up and perhaps beyond the chasing pack of Pistol Pete, Kostya, Saman, Doug, Cip, Hassan Mehedi, Suk, and Arjon.

Ali couldn’t continue his form against The Chilean Dinamo they call God, getting bruised and beaten 4 racks to 2, as Oli Lawrence eased past Ranj 5-1.

Arjon the Beard had an excellent run, seeing off Alex Lawrence (Oli’s dad) 5-1, then Danny Navidi in a tight one, and then Samuel Storey 4-2 in the quarters, setting up a doomed clash with The Chilean Dinamo.

In the other quarters, Hassan decimated Saman 4-0, Gabriel smashed Greg by the same scoreline, and Rod screamed past Oli 4-3 and into a semis v Arjon.

At this point all four semi-finalist were in with a legitimate squint: Hassan playing well all evening against a battled hardened Vasilache, and a resurgent Rod against the beard.

But we were denied the fairytale tight semis as both favourites, Rod and Gabriel stormed their matches without dropping a set.  This left Gabriel having lost 2 racks of the 19 he’d played until the final, and without a scratch on him.

The bookies might’ve had Rod as 4/7 favourite earlier in the evening had they played, but seeing Gabriel’s form they were both 10/11 going in and for good reason.  Despite Rod finding his way again after some cue adjustments and apple juice indulgences, he took Gabriel right to the hill, but the Romanian couldn’t be stopped.

Well that’s all, folks!

Don’t forget to follow our boys in Lugo this week (via Matchroom link YouTube tables 1 and 2), as Sunny Boy Garib takes on Ko Pin Yi this afternoon after his first round win.

Sunday’s draw will be on Saturday morning with the 32 set up as follows:

1. Tom Staveley

2. Ciaran Boylan

3. Paul Choong

4. Andy Curzon

5. Muhammed Ali

6. Ramesh Gokhul

7. Kostiantyn Ivanov

8. Ali Hirji Kheraj

9. Doug Clark

10. Tomasz Jedlecki

11. Oliver Lawrence

12. Daniel Winter

13. Sunny Garib

14. Anthony Ginn

15. Gabriel Vasilache

16. Marius Dandu

17. GJ Oyangoren

18. Hassan Aljumali

19. Jaspal Singh Bamotra

20. Krishen Sookhraz

21. Greg Mostyn

22. Ahmad El Joumaa

23. Spencer Oliver

24. Sam Storey

25. Saman Gholami

26. Rod Altes

27. MD Abul Hasnath

28. Dmitrijus Terijevas

29. Paz Brennan

30. Carlo Blasi

31. Andy Adams

32. Sean Avery

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Written by Dan Suh

Category: Home

Published: 21 June 2023

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Records Tumble As Ram Raids Tooting Again

London’s Finest Pool presented another round of MNT at London Snooker Tooting last night, and there was a huge buzz in the arena with talk of the upcoming UK Open, and the biggest subject on everyone’s lips, could Ram win 4 games to beat his previous record of 23 straight wins?

Despite a smaller field of 21 players, some of the major hitters who could bring Ram down were still waiting in the wings, plotting Ram’s downfall.  As much respect as we all have for the little Guyanan, there’s nothing like getting a big win over the resident Jedi-like master of Tooting, and breaking his streak.

As is always the case, the Break and Dish competition preceded the main event, and as is always the case, someone other than me was drawn out of the hat, and on this occasion, it was Ranj “Lucky” Sarraj.  Ranj, with his powerful break (he’s got s strong right wrist) sunk two balls down but refused to take on the next pot and pocketed £100.  Well done Ranj!

And so, to the main event of the evening.  8 Ball is not played often at MNT, but really tests a different aspect of your game.  Manoeuvring the balls around the traffic is no easy feat, and the tactical aspect really plays an important role if the runout isn’t on.  The early rounds were fast and furious.  Only one match went right to the wire, which was between Andy “Banks” Curzon and Pistol Pete Cloherty.  Andy had a decent warm-up match in the first round, trouncing Dan “Grindr” Jenkins 5-1.  I had predicted that Andy might win this match, as before the night had started, Dan had been asking about the rules of 8 Ball, which kinda indicated that he might be struggling with the 8 Ball format.  Probably was surprised that there wasn’t a two shot rule…

Both Andy and Pete are very familiar with each other’s games, and we all know that both can really turn it on.  No real surprise, as whilst Pete is more consistent, an in-form Andy is a match for anyone, the match went to 4-4.  Pete’s consistency and fighting spirit saw him sneak through to the quarters, but it was good to see Andy battle hard and play some excellent pool to take it to the wire.

No whitewashes in the early rounds, and so the quarter-final line-up was as follows:  Tashunka “Witko” Schultz against Dan “Seoul Destroyer” Suh.  Ciprian Dandu vs Doug the Shark Clark.  Ramesh “Ramma Jamma” Gokhul vs Arjon “the Beard” Hasi.  And finally Pistol Pete Cloherty vs Saman Gholami.

Tash was on fire against Dan, but any of his mistakes were getting punished, which saw this match level at 3-3.  But, Tash is ranked 2^nd for a reason and in the end, Dan just couldn’t cope with him and lost out 5-3. 

Cip’s still underperforming, but got through past Tomasz Jedlecki and Henri “the Finnisher” Linnainmaa in the previous rounds, but Doug proved to be too strong for Cip, and despite going hill-hill, Doug got over the line and progressed to the semis to face Tash.

Ram was looking a little nervous as he knew that he had to beat Arjon to match his previous best streak of 23, and at times, uncharacteristic mistakes gave Arjon the opportunity to win racks.  However, Arjon was equally struggling to finish him off, and Ram will punish those who fail to take advantage of any mistakes he makes.  5-2 win for Ram.

And in an eventful and tense match between Pete and Saman, both players looked to pile on the pressure on each other in what was a very even match.  A lot of close calls, this match was highly competitive with two players determined to win.  In the end, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that the match went to hill-hill.  With Saman getting over the line, it was really good to see that despite the fierce competitiveness, both players took their respective win and loss in good spirits.

This left a semi-final where only Saman could stop Ram from breaking his record, and whilst the results don’t always show some players’ true abilities, everyone is well aware that everyone can beat each other on their day.  And the hope was that Saman was at his best to stop Ram.  And my word did Saman play well.  Pushing him all the way to 4-4, whilst Ram was feeling the pressure as a win would see him get to 24 wins, Saman just couldn’t finish Ram off, and Ram punched the air in delight as he came through to win.

In the other semi, Tash played some stunning pool as he picked Doug apart 5-1.  After the match, Doug told Sky Sports News: “Tash was unbelievable, didn’t give me a chance, and I couldn’t really get onto the table to create chances”.  This left Ram to break another record, to win 5 tournaments in a row, something that would be extremely difficult to achieve, especially against Tash, the number 2 ranked player.  Ram said in his pre-match interview: “I’m here to break records and set the bar so high that they’ll build a statue of me.  It’s up to the rest of the field to step up, but in fairness, everyone is upping their game, which means I have to also.”

With Ram in the ascendancy and Tash in fine form, this promised to be a tight affair, but the reduced racks in the final due to the last train, meant that it was a race to 3, which Ram quickly blitzed 3-0 to ensure that he won 5 in a row.  The new record really is a milestone that demonstrates the consistency that Ram is at, but means that the rest of us need to step up and take him down (in a nice way of course), or the new records he is setting are going to be beyond attainable.

In other news, the UK Open starts on Tuesday 30^th May, and we have a load of Tooting regulars who are participating (Fargo rates are not actually that accurate for the lower ranked amateurs, but it is a small indication):

Nick Ronase is facing up to Karl Gnadeberg, the world junior champion who looks young enough that his voice hasn’t broken yet.  Fargo is 702 (with robustness of 3598).

Sam Storey, who has a Fargo of 579 (673) is up against Chang Jung Lin, ex-world champion in 8 Ball, and currently world ranked 17.  Fargo is 829 (4968).

Jim “Greecey Slim Penis”, Fargo – 508 (264) will battle against Marcel Price, one of the UK’s best players with a Fargo is 729 (3855).

Tomasz Jedlecki, Fargo 578 (574) faces Kun Lin Wu of Taiwan, who is ranked 26^th in the world, and has a Fargo of 806 (3687).

Dan “Seoul Destroyer” was originally supposed to face Chetan Chhabra, who repped for India in 9 Ball, but it seems as if he’s withdrawn and I’m now facing Michael Dodd from Hawaii, who has a Fargo of 576 (3322).

Tash has a Fargo of 650 (195) and faces Max Lechner, ranked 8^th in the world, and has a Fargo of 809 (5660).

Paul Choong will be up against Marco Dorenburg of Germany, who is 129^th in the world with a Fargo of 735 (2448).

Hassan Mehedi’s Fargo is 635 (76) and comes up against Duong Quoc Hoang from Vietnam, who is ranked 47^th in the world, and his Fargo is 807 (1623).

Gabriel “Fake Taxi” Vasilache has a Fargo of 678 (890) and faces Karl Williams from the UK, and therefore will be favourite to progress to the next round.

Joe Prince stands a really good chance of progressing too, as he faces Michal Puk who has a Fargo of 621 (175).

Joe Granville appears to have a Fargo of 557 (38) and plays against snooker pro, Gary Wilson, who appears to have a Fargo of 746 (70).

Sunny Boy Garib has a Fargo of 702 (192) and gets to face Tobias Bongers, Joshua Filler’s practice partner, who is ranked 65^th in the world and his Fargo if 779 (3795).

Spencer Oliver is ranked 191^st in the world and his Fargo is 663 (1255), and he will be favourite to overcome Phil Johnson. 

Ram has a Fargo of 712 (1640) and will be looking to overcome Jeremy Sossei who is 85^th in the world with a Fargo of 756 (9202).

GJ has a Fargo of 561 (521) and will be up against a Filipino brother, Kyle Amoroto, who has a Fargo of 779 (179).  I wonder if they’ll put some money on the game!!!

And finally, Andrew Phan gets to play Matthew Rigley, who has a Fargo of 659 (427).

Good luck to everyone who has entered, and play well.

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Written by Dan Suh

Category: Home

Published: 23 May 2023

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The Ramma Jamma Challenge!

Sorry, due to me going away, this will be a brief match report.

What a week it has been.  With many of our players playing in the UK Open, it's been a great week for all concerned.  A huge thank you to everyone who attended the UK Open to support our guys too.  I know it was massively appreciated, and whilst we probably didn't get the results we wanted, it's a great experience and next year, I'm fairly certain that one or two of us will progress further.  These are the kind of tournaments we should be striving for, and improvements to our game need to be made in order for us to continue developing. Great to see Spencer and Hassan get on TV, and yes, I was on TV in case you hadn't heard! Hahahaha.  Best day of my pool life by far, and maybe one day, I'll actually not crap myself and do myself justice.

Anyway, back to London Snooker Tooting, and we had a mammoth MNT, partly because Ramesh "Ramma Jamma" Gokhul had laid down the gauntlet to all the other regulars.  £40 bounty was put on his head, to any of the regulars to end his streak of 29 wins and 6 tournaments in a row.  A lovely gesture by Ram and one that had the whole field looking at the draw to see who were going to get the chances to claim a historic victory.  "I'm putting up the money because I'm that confident no-one will take off me, unless you lot improve!" said Ram to the press.  "Start building that statue of me, and let me set a record that will last 100 years!"

Maybe it's his big mouth, but you could see everyone had stopped practice to assess Ram's levels of confidence, and whilst it wasn't about the money, it really came down to everyone wanting to stop Ram from extending his unbeaten streak to a level that was completely unattainable.  We love Ram, but we want to break his records.

Break and Run was lucky number 2 ball, Sunnny "Boy" Garib, who smashed in a ball off the break, and controversially caromed a ball without calling the pocket, but it was awarded as it was fairly obvious.  However, he pulled out early (not the first person to say this) and took home £100.

First round was quite a mad run of whitewashes.  Andy "Banks" Curzon seemed to think that there was a prize for finishing the first round the quickest, as he took Krishen "Kris" Sookhraz down in record time.  No prize though.  Sam Storey easily won against newcomer, Alex Plunkett.  Ram took on another newcomer, Curtis Lecky, who couldn't was faced with a bit of an onslaught.  Hassan Mehedi played really well to quickly (well, actually slowly as we all know how Hassan plays!) dispose of Arjon Hasi.  Saman Gholami seems to have really upped his game of late, and came in looking like a different player as he easily won 4-0 against Andrew Phan.  And Danny Navidi was delighted to record his first victory at the MNT, with a 5-0 win over Ervin "Vini" Demiraj.  Couple of really tight matches, as Ciprian Dandu struggled past Jim "Greecey Nandos Slim Penis" Siampanis, and Gabriel Vasilache also dug deep to overcome Tomasz Jedlecki 5-4.

In the second round, notably, Banks just about beat Joe Granville.  Gabriel had to face up to Joe (face of Matchroom) Prince, the 8 Ball specialist, but still managed to beat him at his own game.  Hassan Mehedi did well to ho hill hill with Martinho Correia, and edged it at the death to progress.  The most notable match in the second round was Sam Storey overcoming Ram and winning the "bounty".  A bit of a shame, as Ram claimed he was upping the reward on his head for next week to £100.  But well done to Sam, who told the crowd "there's a new sheriff in town".  He also said that after his poor showing in the UK Open, he was delighted to play some really good pool again.  

The quarters saw Sam Storey overcome Banks 4-2, Sunny beat up Hassan 5-1, and Spencer "Afrotastic" Oliver had to dig deep to overcome Saman 4-3.  The other quarter final was not able to be played due to an issue over the venue.  Gabriel progressed to the semis.  The semis saw Sunny fight out a tough match against Spencer, which went to hill hill, and it was Sunny who managed to sneak through to the final.  In the other semi, Gabriel lost out to Sam 5-1.  Sam is known for getting knocked out in the first round or getting to the final, but is yet to actually win.  It's a matter of time before he does, such is his prowess, but it was Sunny who finished the final off as the winner, leaving Sam disappointed, but we know this won't be the last these two face each other in the final.  So, well done Sunny.  As always, a tough competitor and when he's on form, is a top top player.  Sunny is now ranked number 3 in Tooting, just behind Tash, and shows what a powerhouse of a player he is.

Just as an addition, MNT has been a great success, especially the ranking system.  Cip, Andrew, and I all want you to have something to aim for, and not just a few prizes at Christmas.  Therefore, watch this space, as we will be finalising details of a test event against Solihull, who also run weekly events and a ranking system.  If players are ranked highly enough, and play enough times in the year, then we will be selecting teams to represent Tooting against other clubs who can also prove that they have a stable participation and ranking system.  This is to avoid "guests" being recruited.

Therefore, we are encouraging everyone to regularly participate, AND, improve!  Get your ranking up because you might get selected to represent us throughout the year at special events.  Pride is at stake.  But moreover, it gets you playing new players in different pressure situations, which means you can prepare yourselves for other big tournaments that occur around the UK and beyond, including Matchroom events.

As a final point, it was great to see Ali HK back in London, after a long absence due to his studies.  It was also great to hear that he thought the standard had risen throughout the community, as he watched players battle it out.  So well done to all of you for making improvements and keep working on your games!

See you in July when I'm back and hope you all play well.

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Written by Dan Suh

Category: Home

Published: 06 June 2023

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Gokhul on a 20 Hot Streak

With a smaller field this week, of only 23, but that’s 23 of the very best London has to offer, MNT was in UK Open mood, with a few of the community participating at the Copperbox at the end of May and early June.  With this in mind, Monday saw UK Open rules, with winner breaks, and the Breakbox that the pro’s have mastered, but for most of the rest of us, it’s still a bit of hit and hope!

With Ramesh “Ramma Jamma” Gokhul winning the last 3 tournaments, the pre-match press conference had a special buzz as Ram told the reporters that he had to push himself and ensure that he breaks the current win streak record of 23…held by himself.  “I’m a legend and I want to set records that won’t be broken in Tooting for at least 100 years.  In fact, the records I set may never be broken…ever!”  Fighting talk indeed, but all totally believable and said with an air of confidence that makes Ram seem invincible.

First up was the Break and Run.  Yet again, we’re nearly a year and a half into this and I am still yet to be drawn out of the hat…meanwhile Muhammed “He’s the Greatest” Ali, King of the Dry Breaks, got selected and stepped up to dry break again!  Having said that, there was a genuine excuse this time as his break cue was found to be broken, so unlucky Ali. Maybe next time…which will probably be in only a few weeks time again!

The first round had two matches that really got the audience on the edge of their seats.  This year, Ramon “Twitch” Navarro has been in scintillating form.  Only losing to Tashunka “Witko” Schultz, Martinho Correia, and Rod “the God” Altes, and winning all his matches that reach hill-hill.  Ramon truly has nerves of steel but never has had to face the might of Dan “Seoul Destroyer” Suh, with his psychological warfare tactics.  With Mrs Suh out of the UK, Dan has been back in practice on a daily basis and showed that he could go toe to toe with Ramon by going to hill-hill.  However, in the final rack, it was Ramon who won the safety battle and made a crucial bank to go through to the next round.

The other tight affair in the first round was between Ali Haidery and Mariusz Wiszowaty.  Two  of the lower ranked players, but nonetheless, both capable potters and dangerous against any opponent.  Both were looking for openings in each others’ games, and it was inevitable that this would be a tight affair.  To hill-hill it went and despite the nerves, Ali managed to get over the line and win his first ever match at an MNT!  Ali was delighted and we’re really happy for him, although gutted for Mariusz too. 

The second round featured one hill-hill match.  As reported, Ramon is yet to lose a match after going hill-hill, and despite the best efforts of Andy “Banks” Curzon, Ramon did it again, winning 5-4, displaying his brilliance in tight situations.  King of the Hill-hill!  In other matches, Tomasz Jedlecki, took Arjon “the Beard” Hasi to the cleaners by whooping him 5-0.  A surprising result, as Arjon has really come into some good form lately, but Tom can play to the very highest level at times, and showed it against Arjon.  And finally, in the second round, the most notable victory came for Marc Harris, who overcame a resurgent Andrew Phan.  Marc played sensationally well to keep up with the Speed Pool King, capitalising on any mistakes, and came through as 5-3 winner after keeping Andrew in a tactical battle in the 8^th rack, and getting a fine combo to get over the line first.  Well done to Marc, who records only his second ever win at MNT.  Regrettably, the cameras were more focused on Marc than Andrew, whose disappointment couldn't be disguised.

The quarter finals looked very promising, as Tomasz faced up to the number 2 player in Tooting, Tash.  Tash was looking on fire, having taken Henri “the Finnisher” Linnainmaa apart in the previous round, and continued his fine form into his match against Tom, beating him 6-2.  Ram was still going through the gears, as Ramon gave him a tough test, but couldn’t get to the hill and Ram started to tighten the noose and won 6-4.  Meanwhile, Dan “Grindr” Jenkins, famous for his gritty style of play, ground out a tough win against Jim “Greecey Slim Penis” Siampanis, despite the scoreline being recorded as 6-2.  Dan spoke to Sky Sports Arena after his match: “I can’t understand how I’ve won that game against the Slim Penis.  Somehow I found myself in a winning position and I don’t really know how that happened.”  And finally, in the quarters, a resurgent Ciprian Dandu, really piled on the pressure on Marc with an emphatic display of precision play that saw Cip advance after a 6-0 whitewash. 

The big match of the semis was between Tash and Ram.  Two brothers from another mother, both are evenly matched in terms of talent, but only one could get to the final.  As is always the case between these Titans of Tooting, they didn’t disappoint and the quality was superb.  Both were pouncing on each other’s mistakes and punishing each other, but Ram’s determined to set new records and eased through 6-3.

The other semi-final was between Cip and Dan, where after a number of weeks of sub-standard performances, Cip’s ‘C’ game still had him ranked in the top 10.  Such is the man, Cip’s ‘A’ game matches anyone’s, and a younger Cip might well have challenged Ram at the very top.  Still trying to rediscover past form, Cip showed signs of his best game, whilst Dan continued to grind his way into the match, but Cip had too much to offer, and a 6-2 win ensued.

With the bit between his teeth, Cip faced up to Ram in the final.  It was decided to only race to 4, and Ram raced into the lead by playing to his usual high standards.  Cip did his best to get back, but Ram continued to exert the pressure, pot his way out of any trouble, and ended up winning 4-2.  An impressive victory, where Cip actually did little wrong, but Ram did everything right.

Ram is currently on 20 straight victories, winning the last 4 tournaments in the last 4 weeks since he got back from his travels, and he only needs 4 more wins to beat the record.

So, calling on everyone next week!  Get yourselves to Tooting next Monday and let’s take down Ram.  His ranking points are at the highest he’s ever been! Let’s stop him in his tracks and ensure that the record of 23 isn’t stretched beyond belief.  I've worked out how to stop him, and it's fairly simple.  Break and Dish if you get on the break, or put him in a snooker that is touching ball if you run out of position.  And if he does make a mistake and leaves you in a snooker, make sure you're jump shots are as good as your normal shots.  Simple.

And let’s make sure that we get plenty of practice in before the UK Open starts on 30^th May!  Don’t forget that we are expecting quite a few of us to either be participating on the first day, OR, in attendance to support our guys.  If you can get the day off work, it will be great day out, and supporting our guys will be hugely important. 

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Written by Dan Suh

Category: Home

Published: 16 May 2023

Hits: 339