2004 English Professional Pool Players Tour : Event Four: Barking, Essex - 2004-10-22 00:05:54
The event venue may have changed from Kentish Town to Barking but it was an all-too familiar figure whose hands clasped the winner’s trophy when the fourth event of the 2004 English Professional Pool Players Tour (EPPP Tour) drew to a close on 2 October..

2004 World Professional Eightball Pool Champion Andy Lucas took the spoils 11-10 in the final against his arch rival Rob Hill, the 2003 World Professional Eightball Pool Champion whose world title Lucas claimed in a thrilling final earlier this year. It was also the third final these two hugely experienced eightball exponents have contested on the EPPP Tour this year with Lucas winning event one and now four and Hill winning event three. ‘The final was close all the way and there was never more than two frames in it,’ said Lucas. ‘But it’s always like that whenever the two of us play. It could very easily go either way and it’s always very hard to predict who the winner will be.’ ‘It’s also quite strange to be constantly playing each other as we’ve become good friends over the past few years so there’s the little bit of you that feels guilty at beating a mate but there’s the professional side of you that wants to win and get the job done.’ It’s certainly been Lucas’ year so far with the two EPPP Tour titles, the world crown and a victory on the South-East Tour. And with Andy’s partner, Scottish Ladies international Shona Harper, also claiming the European Ladies Championship earlier this year, the Lucas mantlepiece is currently boasting more silverware than most stately homes. ‘I think the secret this year is that I’m just really enjoying playing,’ says Andy. ‘I first joined the Professional Pool Players Organisation (PPPO) in 1999 and the third event I played in was the World Professional Eightball Pool Championships and I won it. But playing seemed to get a bit harder after that victory and practising became a bit more of a chore.’ ‘But my sponsors, Cherry Automatics, have taken a lot of financial pressure off me since then so I can just go out and enjoy playing. Myself and Shona also have a table at home and we practice a lot together which is good as it obviously means we spend lots of time together, so I think the fact that I’m happy in my own life is breeding confidence on the pool table.’ Lucas and Hill ended the EPPP Tour season ranked one and two respectively and are both in separate halves of the seeded EPPP Tour Grand Final draw and are again scheduled to meet in the final at Kentish Town. Can anyone stop them? ‘I think there are a lot of very good players on the EPPP Tour so it’s quite possible,’ admits Andy. ‘Derek Murphy is a super player and he’s always there or there abouts, while Jimmy Carney has impressed me this year – and he’s still only young.’ ‘John Sullivan is also a fabulous player and I only edged past him 9-8 in the quarter-finals of the last event, but I think the fact that the matches are longer means experienced players like myself and Rob have a slight advantage in that we can’t get blown away if someone has a run of three of four frames like you can if the matches are over a shorter distance.’ And that could be bad news for everybody else at Kentish Town... More details on these end-of-season rankings and the seeded Grand Final draw will be posted nearer the event. For more information, please check out www.englishprotour.co.uk.