Gabriel Spreads His Wings
Thanks to Andy “Banksy” Curzon for covering whilst I was on my travels in Korea, but this week, I returned back to the action and witnessed a fine night of pool, which saw some classic matches played out.
It’s always great to be back in Tooting and see the familiar (and new) faces who make up such a great community of pool players in London. The big guns were out in force, with Ramesh “Ramma Jamma” Gokhul, Gabriel “Fake Taxi” Vasilache, Tash “Witko” Schultz, and Rod “the God” Altes all in attendance. These guys make up the current top 4 players in Tooting, and all hold fearsome reputations across the UK too. This surely was going to be an epic night where the 4 biggest Titans of Tooting battle out for supremacy.
The first round threw up some really interesting matches. Gabriel managed to ease himself into the next round with a solid victory over Banksy, whilst Rod seemed to have demoralised Dan “DJ Grindr” Jenkins before the match had started, with Dan already telling fans that he was going home early once he had seen the draw. And indeed that was the case as Rod breezed past Dan 5-2. Meanwhile, Tash had to struggle past Jim “Greecey Nandos Slim Penis” Siampanis, with the match going to hill-hill. And finally, Ram was up against Muhammed “He’s the Greatest” Ali, who had a poor record against Ram this year. Surely this was going to be a breeze for Ram? But on closer inspection of Ali’s results of late, and you’ll see that he had won 9 from 11 in recent weeks, which makes him very dangerous. We all know, in fact, that Ali possesses super powers in his little snooker cue, and against Ram, he upped his game to what we know he can play, and eased past Ram 5-2. Fantastic result.
Other special mentions in the first round for Danny “Tsunami” Navidi for his narrow win over Ervin “Vini” Demiraj. Martinho Correia for his battling performance against Hassan Mehedi to win 5-4, a notable debut for big Carl Jones who made his mark by winning 5-0 against Marc Harris.
So, with Ram out, the field was thrown wide open in the second round. Tash managed to overcome Saman, who has been in really good form of late, winning 10 from the last 13. A 5-4 win for Tash, but Saman is ready to charge up the rankings in the upcoming weeks.
Despite pretty poor form from Rod lately, he had to face Martinho who is ranked 7 in Tooting. This was going to be another test for Rod, but in actual fact, Rod’s been turning a corner. Getting to the final twice in the last two MNT’s have spurred Rod on a bit, and a when Rod’s in the mood, utter destruction can occur. A 5-0 win for Rod, against one of the strongest players in Tooting was simply devastating. The whole arena was buzzing as word got round. Had Rod rediscovered the fear factor that he had previously instilled into players before a ball had been potted?
To the quarter-finals, and what a draw we had. The mighty Ciprian Dandu up against Tash. Both of these guys have shots in them that make people look on in awe, and a high quality match between the two ensued. However, Tash made fewer mistakes, and squeezed over the line, 5-4. With the way Ali and Rod were playing, you might think that this was going to be a close one. And it was. Rod charged into the lead, and 4-1 up, was hot favourite to win. But Ali was on a roll. 4 straight racks and 5-4 it ended to the snooker cue-wielding beast. In the lower half, Gabriel was quietly getting on with his business. 5-1 against Dhari Alduraibi, and a highly efficient performance, where Gab was looking menacing indeed.
And finally, a huge performance from Ranj “Lucky” Sarraj, who had to go toe to toe with Hassan “the Sniper” Aljumaili. Ranj hasn’t been winning too many games lately, but he had already beaten Pistol Pete Cloherty and Alan Llorente to get this far, and his momentum carried him over the line into the semis, with a 5-4 win. Well done to Ranj, and that will do his confidence the world of good.
The semis looked a really tasty, as Tash played Ali. Everyone’s prediction was that this was going to be a tight one, but Ali just went into overdrive whilst Tash wilted, and ended up an easy 5-0 win to Ali. Meanwhile, our favourite Fake Taxi driver/actor/performer, Gabriel quietly went about his business as normal. With Ranj making his first semi-final, the occasion just got to him, and to be fair, there’s not many chances that Gabriel gives you. 5-1 to Gab. His efficiency, at times, really is quite monstrous. And into the final that proved. Perhaps Ali was running out of steam, but when Gabriel’s in the mood, there isn’t much you can do about it. 5-1 to Gab, and he had only dropped 6 racks in 5 games. That’s really terrific stuff, and starts to demonstrate why he is currently ranked no 2 in Tooting. Hopefully much more to come from him, as the season hots up.
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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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Rising Tides
Not 24 hours after the pandemonium of Sunday’s scorching 10 ball Summer Open (won by Anthony Ginn 9-8 over Ramesh Gokhul in an intense final) a full field of 32 graced the baize of our Tooting honey hole for this week’s MNT 8 ball.
After a long day yesterday, it was short races to 4 throughout the evening, and we had fivenewcomers to welcome: Waqas Sikander, Rosen Delchev, Vratislav Mali, Raza Sikander, and Alexander Plunkett.
Kicking things off on the Brunswick were Josh Roberts and the ever-improving Mariusz Wiszowaty, who put on a show all the way to the tip of the hill, where Marius’ grit proved slightly too much as he sliced the final black into the heart of the pocket.
Next door on table 4, Sunny Boy G took on Hassan ‘Angles’ Mehedi in a surprisingly sharp six racks, over in a jiffy, seeing the South African outfox the Bangladeshi Professor 4 to 2.
Continuing in the top half, Joe G spanked Ranj 4-0, rushing to meet Cip in the second round as he toasted Scotch Double Champ, Vini, by the same scoreline.
Rod Altes, always happy to earn an invitation to the whitewasher’s circle, took Dhari for a longwalk with a short leash, his skills and consistency further lending credence to Hassan Alijumaili’s comments in his interview after yesterday’s 10 ball Open that “The Chilean Dinamo seems back to near his best”, and leaving Dhari to scuttlehome alone with his tail between his legs.
A rising tide lifts all boats, they say, and as Ali HK noticed a few weeks ago the average club level here at our MNT has been sky-rocketing (something obviously easier noticed when you’ve been away a while, maybe a little like watching your kids grow up).
Dandu the Younger was uncharacteristically careful with the relatively unknown Waqas Sikander – showing off some defensive nous alongside his usual fluid potting, standing more than equal to the task after six racks and coming through 4-2.
Cue-Action Boylan, clearly inspired by beating Spencer yesterday in a high-octane slugfest, sailed past Hassan A without taking a second breath, as Master Martinho (despite missing a howler 1 ball in the pre-tourney break and run)roasted Rosen over his coals, 4-1.
The bottom half of the draw saw Raza whitewash Alexander Plunkett, an in-form Gabriel Vasilache tip-toe past the shark that is Doug ‘anything-but-8-ball’ Clark, 4-2, Spencer school Tomasz 4-2, and Vratislav Mali dig deep to inch past Tobes Anyouku.
Banks went 3-2 up against Ali the Greatest but couldn’t muster himself to hammer the last nail in Ali’s coffin. As his opponent’s penultimate slice into the side-bag overcut by a whisker at hill hill, Ali was heard tenaciously muttering “Finish Him” – and that he did, as Jenkins eagerly awaited him in the last 16 having bruised Sorin 4 racks to 2.
Danny “Tsumani” Navidi couldn’t stop the Mighty Saman from his electric rise to the top, only snagging himself a consolation rack before packing his bags for an oily bath – leaving us a mouth-watering clash with Yoda in the last 16, who dusted off Alan Llorente 4-0.
Alongside Spencer cracking Vratislav 4 racks to 1, 6 of the 8 last 16 matches were whitewashes (big circle this week), with special note to the steam-train that is Cue-Action, decimating Master Martinho to set up a quarters with his favourite deity.
Tidying us up to a last 8, Ramesh took his foot off the gas at the wrong time, paling under the might of Saman’s wand, who remains (alongside Steve Norris and Marius Wiszowaty) among the most improved players at the Club over the past year – real inspirations to all of us – it’s more important the direction you’re going than where you are now’n’all.
So as the sun set late on another summer Monday, we were left with 8 Tootski regulars in 4 tightly-set matches:
Sunny v Ciprian
Rod v Ciaran
Spencer v Gabriel, and
Ali v Saman
Memories of beating Ram and Rod in the same night only to be milked on the hill by Cip in the final only a few months back [see ‘Cip Stops Sunny from Shining’ MNT report from Feb 7th2023] reared their ugly heads for Sunny Boy, as Cip did the dirty yet again at the final hurdle to secure his spot in the last 4.
It was Chile 4, Northern Ireland 1 as God showed his mettle against an off-the-Boylan Cue-Action – setting up a semi-final clash with a tired Cip.
Running late a little because of the mammoth first round clash between Tobes and Vratislav, Spencer ramped up his efforts to lightly throttle the Gabriel 4 to 2, and in pool’s “Fight of the Century”, as on March 8th, 1971 against Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali couldn’t execute the fatality against the mighty right arm of Saman,and the judges decided unanimously Ali was second on the night.
With the World Cup of Pool looming, Rod waved the Chilean flag high over the Romanians, announcing his return-to-the-top once again with a nifty 4-2 victory over Ciprian, and another seat at his usual final table.
The second semi was anyone’s guess. Despite Spencer being by far the more seasoned cueist(and a tasty American 8 ball player), taking a peek at Saman’s last few months’ scalps you’d be a fool to go in confident betting short against him.
Midnight approached, and passed - the twojousters still locking horns - and as an expectant Chilean sat whistling tunes over the lip of his bottled apple juice in anticipation of leapfrogging above Gabriel in 3rd in the long-term MNT rankings, a bead of sweat glid down Saman’s forehead as Spencer sailed off victorious into the distance.
At this stage it’s probably fair to highlightSpencer’s 9th place (before tonight’s MNT) in the rankings not reflecting his big-boy status within London’s pool scene, and It’d be remiss to exclude him from the current “Big 8” of Tootingregulars:
Ram, Tash, Rod, Spencer, Gabriel, Sunny, Martinho, and Ciprian.
Despite Ram being a clear cut above the rest long-term, you wouldn’t give anyone much over a 55-60% chance of beating anyone else from the above 8 on ‘any given Monday’.
But as with every craft, so much is how much time we cordon off for useful dedicated practice,and two of the most watchable players at the Club, Tash and Martinho, hardly make time to practice at all, despite being monsters on their day.
Interviewed before the final, Spence had a glint in his eye offering only
“Feeling good since the lessons of the UK Open and I’ve even set the phone to do not disturb – no distractions coz I’m taking Jen home the trophy tonight.”
And that he did, 4 to 2, as Rod’s last unfinished apple juice sat, mirroring him from the tableside,softly fizzing out in the corner.
Remember, the better you get at *anything* the more scope you have to enjoy it – don’t shoot the messenger – that’s just the way it is!
Keep practicing, kids.
Be part of that rising tide.
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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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