Muhammed Ali Proves His Greatness

Monday night and 37 of the best players in London (maybe not all 37 can claim to be the best though) gathered at London Snooker, Tooting, for the Multiball tournament.  Local legends who are known throughout the UK, like Ramesh Gokhul, Tashunka Schultz, GJ Oyangoren, Gabriel Vasilache, Ciprian Dandi, Hassan Mehedi, Tomasz Jedlecki, and Daniel Baker are well-known throughout and beyond London, and the importance of regularly having such high quality in the field means that everyone needs to step up and achieve the standards of these guys.  Lesser known, but no less talented players, like Rod Altes, Muhammed Ali, Kostiantyn Ivanov, Martin Leonar, Dan Suh (stop laughing), and many more are snapping at the heels and this is what makes Monday nights THE place to be to play pool, at least on a Monday night.

The early rounds saw a huge clash of titans, as Ram and Rod battled out early on.  With Ram ranked number 1 and Rod consistently ranked 2 or 3 this year, you might expect a close battle, but surprisingly Ram came through with relative ease, 4-1.  Interviewed on LFP TV, Rod took the defeat well but explained that a new tip that hadn't been bedded in, had caused his loss.  With Ramesh touring around the world over the next 6 weeks, we'll see less of him for a small while, meaning that if one person can show Ram's levels of consistency over the coming weeks, they will be reining in the diminutive Guyanan. 

Quite a few whitewashes in the early rounds, with Nick Ronase offering a lack of resistance against Daniel Baker.  Paul Choong couldn't really get his game together against Kosta, Sean feeling the full force of Tash's good form, whilst Martin Leonar quickly despatched Arul.  Additionally, Big Jim lost out to Cip, Gabriel demonstrated his usual qualities against Ali Haidery, Hassan Amin completely destroying Khan, and rookie Ankita Sharma couldn't nick a frame against Edgar.  Don't really think she could even hold the cue properly either, nor even chalk her cue...bit of an odd entry in any case.  

Hill hill battles were plentiful too.  Muhammed Ali nicked a win in the first round against Ben Venables, and had another hill hill battle against Hamza Itum to progress to the last 16.  Sher was delighted to have overcome Joe Granville, his first win since May.  Ciaran might claim result of the night, as he beat Tom Jedlecki (last week's finalist).  A huge battle between Hassan Mehedi and Geordie Glen, but Hassan just edged it in the final frame.  And of course, Dan Suh pushed GJ (Garry if you didn't know) Oyangoren to his limits as he ground GJ down but somehow a dodgy pocket robbed the Destroyer of a valuable win.

The last 16 saw Sher involved in another hill hill battle, but Tej clawed it back to win 5-4.  Daniel Baker absolutely wiped the floor clean with Ciaran to win 4-1.  Kosta tried but made too many errors to take advantage of his opportunities against Ram and lost 5-2.  GJ had, perhaps, exhausted himself in his previous match against the Destroyer, and lost 4-0 to Tash.  Muhammed Ali went into another hill hill battle against Ramon, and nicked the win at the death, again!  Meanwhile, Hassan Mehedi overcame Martin 4-3, and Edgar faced a higher quality opponent in this round, against Hassam Amin, and still came through without dropping a frame.  The other matchup saw local Romanian rivals, Cip face Gabriel.  No surprise that it was a high quality game that went to hill hill, but Gabriel eventually came through.

The quarters had Tej run out of steam against the ever impressive Daniel, whilst Tash couldn't quite find the consistency that he has before 10pm (his bedtime) and lost out to Ram. Muhammed Ali decided he didn't want any more hill hill battles, and whitewashed Hassan Mehedi.  And Edgar came up against a very impressive Gabriel. The semi final always sees some impressive games, and the short races really puts players under pressure to perform from the off.  The first semi had Ram and Daniel face each other, and unsurprisingly a game of immense quality ensued.  Ram built up the momentum, though, and saw Daniel off 4-2.  In the other semi, Muhammed Ali might be accused of running out of steam in previous attempts, but not on this night.  Gabriel will be disappointed, but Ali kicked into another level to win 4-2.

The thing with Ali is that he is a high quality performer on his day.  His potting skills are, at times, frightening, and he is immensely competitive.  He has reached finals before, but he can lose concentration, or maybe it's the aura of Ram, but Ali is yet to win a tournament.  Until last night!  Maybe Ram's head was already on holiday, but Ali put together his best performance of the year as he demolished Ram 4-1.  The emotion got a bit much for Ali as he jumped on the table shouting "I'm the greatest, I'm the king of Tooting, I told you suckas that no-one can beat me!" as the crowd watched on.  A fine performance, but the big question is whether he can continue this on whilst Ram is away.  Plenty of players will know that there's a huge opportunity for them, it's just a case of who will grab their chance?

Finally, I am away for a few weeks, so Andy Curzon will be taking over the reports and there might be some small delays in getting everything posted up.  I'm really grateful to those who take the time to read these, but remember that the gratitude really should go to Cip and Andrew for their tireless efforts for no reward at all.  Please support the tournaments, the organisers, and be welcoming to all new players (so long as they know how to hold a cue).

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Written by Dan Suh

Category: Home

Published: 13 September 2022

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RAMESH, ROD, AND TASH CONTINUE TO HEAD THE FIELD

This week, due to Covid, your regular reporter has been unable to write up a report. Instead, Andy Curzon has stepped in to write an absolute epic. If it's too long to read, the summary is that Rod can't break, Ram won the tournament, Rod and Tash are pretty much always just behind Ram. 

Stats will be updated later in the week.

Courtesy of Curzon Publications:

Door open and sun out at 3pm as the curtains raised for another pool fest at the Club.

8 ball; race to 5; double elimination; awaiting 23 players - vying for a seat at the winner’s table, alongside Ramesh and his band of champions.

First came the 10 ball break and run.  A mis-spin had Tash stand up and sit down as the re-draw found God Altes at the helm, but he kindly decided to break dry and let the pot expand for next week and on.

First rounds saw newcomer Hassan A play some great pots vs the young Kostya, pained by millimetres-out position a few times to deny him any frames, allowing the hungry Ukrainian a nice whitewash on the Brunswick.  By his own standards Joe G wasn’t firing on all cylinders against Nicolas Ronase, who prevailed 5-1.  As usual, whenever Ronase breaks the distinct loud high-pitched crack calls my attention.  Tash never let Paul going (who I think was borrowing a cue for the day) – another whitewash by Mr. Smooth.

Elsewhere, still in the first round we had father & son newcomers Alex and Oliver Lawrence – both accomplished English 8 ball players – Alex saw of Ramon 5-1 on table 6, coming back from 0-1 down and Oliver’s match with Daria was fantastic – game of the round.  Dynamic pots paired with perfect position a lot of the time from Oliver drew a few people’s eyes to table 4 but Daria’s mettle came through 5-3.  Ramesh had a nice relaxing meal before his first round vs Andy C and after offering the first break and sharing the first two (poor quality) frames ran out both of his breaks and missed one other shot to storm a 5-1 thrashing.

Sticking with the winner’s side for a tick, in round 2 Rod “God-when-I-decide” Altes overcame Peter Hsu 5-0, continuing his bid to nip at the heel’s of Ramesh alongside Tash at the top of Tooting Pool Charts!  Ali HK beat Nicolas Ronase 5-0 and Ali The Greatest had a heck of a fight vs Ricardo – the last frame from Ricardo to win 5-3 was precision pool.  His action reminds me more of an American pool version of Shaun Murphy’s than anyone else’s at the club – that heavy, controlled swing (as opposed to maybe an Efren’s lighter entry to a shot) – solid as a rock.

The rest of the 2nd rounds saw Andrew P beat first-timer Alex Lawrence 5-2, Tash defeat Sean 5-1, and, wait for it…Ramesh to be hill-hilled (how many times has he hill-hilled up boys?!) by the mighty Saman.  But for me the two matches of the second round were Glen and Daria (which saw Glen snag it 5-3 on a wonder cut of the black off the 15 ball into the middle to take it 5-3) and Shadi vs Kostya.  Played on the Brunswick, it was to-and-fro (visibly frustrating both a smidgen), with quality up and down from both but one of those absolute thrillers, Kostya pipping Shadi 5-4.

Loser’s first round saw Alex Lawrence bash up Andy C 5-3 form 0-3 down, Shadi find some good form to prevail over Joe G5-1, Ali triumphed over Paul 5-1, Nick came out ahead against Hassan A 5-3, Oliver Lawrence to beat Peter Hsu 5-3 (Peter played well as Oliver started to find his game), and Ramesh whitewash Ramon.

Second loser’s round had on-form Daria Siranchuk break Alex’s heart 5-4, Shadi outwit Sean 5-2, had Ali find a way through Nicolas R 5-1, and Ramesh storm past Oliver (wish I’d watched this one) 5 frames to 3.

Third round of single-time-losers saw Daria win against Ali HK 5-3, Saman win another hill-hill, this time against Shadi, Glen shoot past Ali 5-1, and Ramesh see off Kostya 5-2.  

Continuing the loser’s rounds (although the timings of the matches were not in this order) Saman took out Daria 5-2 and Ramesh whitewash Glen to qualify for the 5th of 7 loser’s rounds.  In the 5th loser’s round Saman saw off Andrew P 5-1 (Saman might be the most improved player at the Club this summer from what I’ve seen these past few weeks) and Ramesh overcame Ricardo 5-1.

In the heated rematch loser’s round 6 between Ramesh and Saman, Ramesh pulled himself into the zone for another whitewash (5-0) to play Tash in the final loser’s round before the big final.  Predictably back to his ways, Ram snuck past Tash 5-4 (so many hill-hill wins for Ramesh this year – a man of bottle) in another match I wish I’d seen to give full report of.

Finishing on the winner’s side, Rod cruised past Saman 5-0, Ricardo toasted Ali HK 5-1, Tash thrashed Kostya 5-0, and Andrew P won against Glen 5-2.  Round 4 winner’s side Rod exacted his third whitewash in a row, this time against Ricardo and Tash hopped past Andrew P at the final hurdle, 5-4.

In the winner’s semi (which is a single match because of the double elim set-up) Rod Altes allowed Tash a single frame just to appear human to set up the RamRod final we’d all been holding our breaths for.

The top two players at the club (I’d put Tash there as their equal when he’s not playing with a breaking cue) decided to play race to 7 in the big final, and Ramesh, at this point having played 9 matches so far in the tourney (as opposed to Rod’s 4) prevailed again (7-2) to allow for an absolute monster % of tournament wins this season at the Club.

It's a privilege to play with these guys and for me a joy to see the standard increase (a rising tide lifts all boats) as it is month on month here at Ram Palace 😉

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Written by Dan Suh

Category: Home

Published: 31 August 2022

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Ramma Jamma Wins Again and the Destroyer Climbs the Table

A bumper number of entrants last night, as 34 players took part in the best Monday night pool tournament in the whole of Tooting.  Fresh off the back of the 8 Ball Open tournament the night before, where a live audience of 24 watched the live stream of Ramesh winning an epic against Tom Staveley.  This seemed to whet everyone's appetite for pool, and as is always the case, some big guns made an appearance to take down Ramma Jamma. 

Rod the God looked impressive as he swept past Kostiantyn 5-1, whilst Tom Jedlecki whitewashed Mariusz.  Saman also showed a continuation of his fine form as he took GJ 5-3.  Nick Ronase also could be happy to put on a performance, winning 5-1 against Edgar, and Tash could be satisfied as he crushed Tibor 5-1.  However, the result of the early rounds must be Ram's performance against Daniel Baker, who has been recently injured, but considered a very dangerous threat as he demonstrated earlier this year.  5-1 to Ram and that sent shockwaves around the pool hall, as the margin of victory was higher than expected.  A few hill hill battles that really caught the eye too.  Rookie Chris Dews making his first appearance, managed to squeeze past Geordie Glen.  Paz broke Suk to inch over the line for his biggest win this year.  But a big shout to Gauhar Khan, for getting his first win since the beginning of May, as he overcame another newbie, Ervin Demiraj. 

Khan took great confidence from this and in the next round, tore Paz apart 4-1 to win two in a row and head into the quarters.  Surely nothing was going to stop the big man?.....unless you face Hassan Mehedi and get schooled 4-0!  Still, a fantastic run for Khan and goes to show that anyone can win on their day, no matter where you are ranked.

Other notable victories saw Tom Jedlecki demonstrate why he can be a feared opponent on his day, as despite Saman's top top performances in the last 2 months, he couldn't quite stop the marauding Tom, and lost 4-1.  Cip also showed some tremendous form, as he despatched Craig the Bear 4-0.  Ram really wasn't getting it easy this week, and his next opponent was number 3 ranked, Tash.  It wasn't a surprise to see that it went to hill hill, but Ram has such a cool temperament and overcame Tash in the end.  It was also great to see a recent addition to the community, Olly Lawrence, come to the fore with a 4-3 win over Muhammed Ali.  As Olly gets used to playing American pool, it seems evident that he'll become an increasing threat and challenge for tournament wins very very soon.  Nick continued to show that he's also in a bit of a false position by taking Chris Dews apart 4-0, and Hassan Mehedi also put in a fine performance to narrowly beat Ranj.  Of course, the tie of the round saw two heavyweights of the game go toe to toe, but whilst Dan the Destroyer gave Rod the God a real run for his money, God ground the Destroyer into submission and came through 4-2.

The quarters were, strangely, quite one-sided affairs.  Perhaps the previous match against the Destroyer took a lot out of Rod, but he could only take 1 frame off Tom Jedlecki.  Olly Lawrence whitewashed Nick Ronase, Hassan Mehedi demolished Khan 4-0, and Cip couldn't take a frame off Ram.  So into the semis, and Tom quickly swept past Olly 4-0.  Tom had been saying in his pre-tournament interviews that he had been in fine form recently, so it would take an awful lot to beat him.  Perhaps it's the experience, perhaps it's because it was past Olly's bedtime, but he had no answers to Tom's fine play.  In the other semi, Hassan felt confident, he felt that he was the man to take Ram down.  Surely Ram was going to run out of steam, having had to face Dan Baker, Tash, and Cip!  But we know that Ram's made of ice-cold steel, and despite it going to the deciding rack, Ram did it again.  The levels of consistency that Ram shows is quite phenomenal, but Tom had only dropped 2 frames all tournament!  But yet again, all credit to Ram.  4-1 to the number 1 ranked player in Tooting, and he's now broken 9.000 ranking points, a huge achievement over the course of 2022.  In his post-match interview, a beaming Ram said "I'll break 10.000 points before the end of the year.  It gets tougher every week though, everyone is getting better and pushing me to maintain my high levels.  I can see improvements with everyone and that makes me happy".

So another tournament win for Ram, but it's true to say that everyone is upping their game.  Some of the lower ranked players are really pushing hard to put pressure on all of the top players.  It's true to say that the standard of pool has changed since the beginning of the year, and it's down to all the players who are competitive, committed to the community, and most of all, welcoming to all, creating a really positive atmosphere at all the tournaments.  An example of which has been evident as people are genuinely happy to see some of the lower ranked players get their wins and show improvements, as we all want each other to keep improving.  Much respect to all the top players who take the time to encourage the weaker players get better.  

Player rankings have been updated fully, and for those who bother scrolling to the bottom, you may notice that one player has finally risen off the bottom of the leaderboard!  Have a superb week guys and hope to see loads of you next Monday.

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Written by Dan Suh

Category: Home

Published: 06 September 2022

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GJ Oyangoren wins his first tournament

A night of a few shock results, drama, and some exceptional pool playing was had on Monday night at London Snooker Tooting.  21 of London's finest pool players gathered for the 10 Ball Battle and it truly was a night of action.

First off, the Break and Run was won by Henri Linnainmaa. Truly shocking that it wasn't Ramma Jamma again, and for the umpteenth time this season, Dan "the Destroyer" Suh's name looked like it was going to be selected, but the arrow slowly inched over the line and landed on Henri.  With a huge amount of anticipation, Henri smashed up the break only to be denied moving forward with a dry break.  What a let down!!!

Moving into the tournament proper, and the first round saw Saman Gholami surprisingly get white-washed by Ram, 6-0.  Saman had been in impressive form of late, and whilst Ram is the number 1 player in the community, it was surprising to see the margin of victory.  Elsewhere, an epic hill-hill battle between Martin Leonar and Henri ensued. Henri raced into an early lead, but Martin is a fighter and clawed it back to 5-5.  However, a mistake in the final rack meant the Henri had the chance to finish Martin off, and Henri advanced to the second round.  One of the surprises was seeing Number 2 ranked player, Rod "the God" Altes lose in the first round to newbie, Edgar.  Edgar pounced on Rod's uncharacteristic mistakes and send Rod off to the bus stop for his journey home.  

Into round 2, and Henri got caught up in another hill-hill epic, but couldn't quite find a way past Muhammed "He's the Greatest" Ali.  Perhaps the match of the round goes to Andy Curzon and GJ.  Andy went flying into the lead, and at 4-0 ahead, was clear favourite to win.  However, GJ kept on clawing back a frame at a time and eventually won 6-5.  Also a big whitewash for Tash as he swept Paul Choong aside 6-0, as Tash continues his good run of form of late.  Result of the round, though, must go to the ever-improving Konstiantyn, who managed to ease past Ram 6-4.  A huge boost for Konstiantyn as he went into the match thinking that he was going to get rinsed by Ram.  Shows that good levels of concentration will help beat anyone!  Well done Konstiantyn.

The quarters saw the best performance go to Tash, who blitzed past Suk 5-1, whilst Edgar breezed past Ali, GJ swept Andrew Phan aside, and Gabriel beat up the Ram Killer, Konstiantyn.  Moving into the semis, and two one sided affairs saw Tash whitewash Edgar 5-0, and GJ hardly gave Gabriel a chance and won 5-1, setting up a final against Tash.  One thing is for sure, some players just get better and better as the tournament progresses, and GJ pulled out all the stops against Tash and beat him 5-3 in the final.  In the post-match press conference, GJ said "it wasn't easy, that's for sure, but it does help that it was past Tash's bedtime on a weeknight...The London Finest tournaments are definitely the place to be on a Monday for some competitive pool."

It's great to see a new winner of the tournaments and GJ will be delighted to show off his talents at the 4th attempt.  We all know he can be a brilliant player on his day.  That result saw GJ leap 47 places into 21st.  It's also great to see Tash move into 2nd in the rankings, as he's aiming to keep Rod at bay and slowly rein in Ram.  Although, I don't think there's any doubt that Ram will be pretty peed off at going out early doors, and whoever he plays next week will have to be bang on the money as Ram's like a wounded animal when he loses.

Of course, the match report can't be complete without a mention to the result of the night.  In fact, those who were there last night, will be pretty shocked that it's not been mentioned till now, whilst being pretty shocked at the result also!  But, the Destroyer finally won a game!  The first since the end of May, and Dan's slump finally came to an end, meaning that it's only a matter of time before the Destroyer finally starts showing some of the reasons why he ought to be ranked in the top 10, but has so far failed to show it.  In the post-match interview, Dan thanked Ram for his recent help in making some big changes to his game and cueing action, and went on to say "well, erm, it's been a long time coming, but everyone knows my ranking doesn't show my game accurately and now I've finally secured this important win, everyone in Tooting is going to be shitting themselves when they draw me in tournaments."  Glen, who had been the Destroyer's victim said "why did it have to be me to end Dan's losing streak?  He was so lucky throughout, and I was well below my normal standards.  I want to draw him in the next tournament and smash him 6-0 to put him back in his place."  

Dan went onto face Andrew Phan in the next round, but lost and refused to give a comment in the post-match interview.

Anyway, rankings with weekly changes are below, and remember that you can click on a name and you'll see the players' stats come up.  As is always the case, have a great week everyone, and thanks for reading.

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Written by Dan Suh

Category: Home

Published: 23 August 2022

Hits: 548