The first UK Tour of the 2008 season commenced on 29th
and 30th March where it had finished in 2007, at Miscues in Barnsley.
I was very excited about getting back into playing competitive matches
and couldn’t wait to get my cue out at 11:00.
I was drawn against a new player to the tour rankings Tracey Forster
and because I have played little pool since starting work I was a
little tentative but after I broke I felt quite comfortable and played
reasonably well to win that match 5-0.
My last 32 match was no easy task either. It saw me play European
finalist and former England International Deb Fowkes-Burchell. Considering
I wasn’t feeling as confident as normal which I guess is to
be expected during the first tournament of the year, I thought I was
cueing steady. Deb let me away with a few missed chances in the first
2 frames but after that I seemed to step up a gear and won 5-1.
In the last 16 I played NI team mate Stacey McConnell. Neither of
us played pulsating pool but I think my experience in clinching scrappy
frames at the right times shone through and I won with a pleasing
5-0 score line to see me through to Sunday morning.
Off I went to get ready for a sociable Saturday night drink with
the girls and when I came back to the pool club it was in complete
darkness. It wasn’t until I heard “happy birthday to you”
being sung down a microphone that I realized they had thrown a surprise
party for me. So I would just like to thank Mary, Liesa, my Nan and
Amanda, Sharon, Kelli Amy and the staff at Miscues for giving me a
wonderful night. Also thank you to Shirley, Jason and all the tour
girls for being there, it was great and a 21st I will never forget.
Anyway back to the pool. Sunday at 9:30 I was up and ready to play
my last 8 match but I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel
the affects from the night before therefore I have learned never to
do it again :). Fellow country woman Michelle Rooney was my opponent
and she stormed into a 3-0 lead, I had to pull everything out of the
bag if I wanted to get into another semi. I manage to take out a great
clearance which gave me the confidence to push on winning 6 out of
the next 7 frames to take the match 6-4.
A rematch of the last tour final of 2007 was lined up in the semi
against Carly Smith. I went 3-1 up and played a careless shot giving
Carly a chance to get back into it. It was a tough match and the day
seemed to be getting longer but again I fought hard and I got through
it with a repeat score line from my previous match 6-4.
Sue Thompson was the surprise exit of the day losing to Collette
Hendrikson in their semi which meant I was to play the winner. I was
disappointed with the final considering I was cueing well. The balls
never quite fell for me and Collette was very steady and clinical
in every frame. I lost 7-2 which doesn’t actually reflect the
flow of the match I felt every frame was close and I had some chances,
but in all honesty Collette was playing the most consistent pool all
weekend and deserved to win.
I will take the positives from this tournament and hope I can carry
them forward into my next competition to help me prepare for the worlds.
