The fourth event of the GB 9 Ball tour got underway at the weekend at Rileys in Shepherds Bush with the London Classic. Newly crowned World number 1 Darren Appleton added another trophy to his ever growing collection as he recorded noteable scalps over Richard Jones, World 9-ball champion Daryl Peach, Jayson Shaw and Mark Gray before meeting close friend Scott Higgins in the final, Higgins who resigned from the GB9 tour this year took advantage of a reserve spot was the victim of a 10-7 defeat at the hands of the 2008 World 10-ball Champion.

The Pro-Cup proved to be a very tasty event as Mark Gray who was contraversially left out of the GB team for the recent EPBF Nations Cup took another GB9 event in a final that was identical to that of the Main Event semi-final but with the roles reversed. Gray beat Darren Appleton 9-6 in the final which helped him to gain the number 1 spot in the Provisional GB9 Main Event rankings. Gray had some tough battles on his hands on his road to the final with victories over Stewart Colcough in the last 32, and Jayson Shaw in the semis, both of these matches went hill-hill.

Adam Benn Smith took the Challenge honours with a 9-5 win over Andy Appleton in the final, beating Andy Lester, Jonny Cooper and Anthony Ginn en route to the final.

The London Classic added an extra bit of interest with the new “Coca-Cola” red cloths which were on most of the tables as part of a new sponsorship deal between Rileys and “Coca-Cola”. The cloths didn’t seem to prove much of a difference to the players but this is a change from the customary powder blue cloths seen on the 2 tables where the finals took place.

To see the best of the action from the GB9 tour go to www.cuesport.tv.

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