Paddy whacks field at Kentish Town - 2002-02-19 07:01:17
The much-anticipated Kentish Town Invitational event was held this weekend (16-17 February) at Kentish Town Pool and Snooker Club in London - and it was East Fife PPPO professional Paddy Moir (pictured below) who took the honours without losing a match in this double-elimination event involving the cream of the eightball world...

The idea of many of the top players from both the IPA and PPPO professional pool codes coming together to play in a tournament was an exciting prospect to say the least. And considering the talent on display, with the likes of twice World Champion Rob McKenna, eightball legend Ross McKinnes, reigning World Champion Chris Melling, the effervescent Pat ‘The Chat’ O’Kane and former World Champion Carl ‘Houdini’ Morris heading the field, it was difficult to know which match to watch. When the first-round draw was made - and it was decided that Federation Rules would apply in the winners section and World Rules would apply in the losers section - any spectators could have done a lot worse than watching John O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan was the only amateur brave enough to part with the £250 entrance money for a crack at the big boys and he came very close to causing a big upset against PPPO star Colin Downie, who eventually struggled through for an 11-10 win in a great match. The other first-round matches also produced some games to savour with eventual winner Paddy Moir beating Carl Morris by the narrowest of margins at 11-10. Keith Jones, meanwhile, looked to be flying as he battered PPPO star Andy Croasdale 11-2, while Ross McKinnes had to use his years of experience and superior tactical acumen at Federation Rules to out-fox Phil Harrison 11-6. Another close match saw Barking star Rob Hill beat Pat Holtz 11-7 and Rob McKenna opened his account with an 11-7 win over Brian Evans. Pat O'Kane and Chris Melling both got byes. As this was a double-elimination tournament the draw now took on two very distinct shapes. The eight winners now all played off to produce an eventual winner from their half, while the first-round losers all played to find a champion from their half, which of course kept growing with losers from the winners half also coming into the draw. The winners side also continued to play Federation Rules, while any losers from that half then had to join the losers draw and play World Rules. The winners side continued to play and produced some cracking games. First up was Paddy Moir, who beat Chris Melling 11-8 in a very tight game. Keith Jones continued his impressive run by destroying Colin Downie 11-2, while Ross McKinnes had a close game against Rob Hill, who lost 8-11. Finally, Rob McKenna was involved in a corking match against Pat O'Kane and came through 11-10. With Melling, Downie, Hill and O’Kane now joining the losers section, the winners section was down to four players and these matches produced some surprise results. Paddy Moir continued his excellent form to beat the flying Keith Jones 11-5 and Ross McKinnes beat Rob McKenna 11-4, after many had predicted that it would be a much closer game. The winners group was now down to one match and it went to Paddy Moir, who played superbly to beat Ross McKinnes 11-7 in a very open and rarely dull game. This, of course, now meant that McKinnes would have to play the winner of the losing group and beat him for another crack at Moir, who he would have to beat at both Federation Rules and World Rules to win the event. Over on the losers side it was now World Rules and Carl Morris and Brian Evans both had byes into the second round of losers matches. The first casualty of the event was amateur John O'Sullivan, whose open and attacking style of play came close to beating the much-fancied Andy Croasdale, who came through 11-8 in the end. Soon joining O’Sullivan on the sidelines was Pat Holtz, who went down 6-11 to Phil Harrison. In the second round of the losers side, there were soon more players out of the event after Carl Morris edged past Pat O'Kane 11-9. In fairness ‘The Chat’ had little luck all day and later commented: ‘If I fell in a barrel of tits I’d come out sucking my thumb at the moment...’ Pool poetry from the event organiser who still had a smile on his face! Marvelous... Andy Croasdale also ended the title hopes of Rob Hill with an 11-9 win, while Phil Harrison beat Colin Downie 11-5 and Chris Melling started to buzz against Brian Evans as he came through 11-8 in another tight and very classy game. Round three saw a bit of a turn-up for the books as Carl Morris bowed out after losing 9-11 at World Rules to PPPO professional Andy Croasdale. Close friend Phil Harrison also joined him as he was beaten 5-11 by a now on-fire Chris Melling. Round five, however, saw the departure of Croasdale, who was blasted off the table 11-4 by Keith Jones. Chris Melling also put out Rob McKenna, the man he beat in that memorable 2001 World Championships final last year, by the score of 11-7 The penultimate match in the losers group now saw Chris Melling against Keith Jones. The loser won fourth place and the winner then had to play Ross McKinnes at World Rules for the right to play Paddy Moir in the final. Both Melling and Jones served up an absolute classic with some superb clearances from an on-fire Melling winning the day with an 11-6 win. The final match in the losers side had all the makings of another classic. Two World Champions at their respective codes playing each other at World Rules, with the winner getting a chance to take on Paddy Moir for the title. Melling oozed confidence and McKinnes claimed not to know World Rules too well. So was it to be goodbye to the flying Scotsman? Hardly... McKinnes stood toe to toe with perhaps the best potter the IPA has and dished him off the table in one of the matches of the weekend. It was true that Melling didn’t have too much luck, but McKinnes played exceptionally well and took out finish after finish to leave Melling needing to run three or four frames at a time just to get back into the match. On another day the result could have gone the other way, but this particular match and the performance of the weekend certainly belonged to McKinnes. The final brought back together Paddy Moir and Ross McKinnes. McKinnes needed to beat Moir at World Rules and then beat him at Federation Rules to win the title. McKinnes had one life left and Moir had two. But it was Moir who took the first World Rules match 11-10 with another display of solid clearing and potting that left McKinnes with the runner’s-up spot and £800. Meanwhile, Andrew Breen won the open event after beating Pat Holtz 5-2 in the final. All in all it was an excellent weekend. Paul Bebb did a superb job of levelling and reclothing the tables and then helping run the event; Big Ron (the patron saint of Kentish Town) was his usual jocular and welcoming self; Dragon Cues supplied some very nice trophies; and it was great to see Boon and Chilts watching the matches alongside Jersey organiser Howard Miller, Professor Pool and many others. But the weekend really belonged to two people. Paddy Moir, ranked a lowly number 12 in the PPPO, played exceptionally well to win the event. He beat big name after big name and impressed everybody with his consistent play and solid, workmanlike no-frills approach to the game. He also picked up £100 on top of his £1400 winner’s prize money for the player with the most dishes from his break with 20 in all matches. The other person worth a special mention is event organiser Pat O’Kane. His vision and work ensured that Kentish Town held one the of the best events of the year, regardless of what else happens in 2002. It was fantastic to see so many top players from both codes proving that politics do not exist on the table when it comes down to top players potting balls and competing against one another. Let’s hope the powers that be in the pool world soon show the width of vision that ‘The Chat’ did this weekend and make this sort of cross-code event the norm rather than the exception. We’re looking forward to the next event already - and who knows who’ll be on the guest list... First round proper Federation Rules: Chris Melling (IPA) beat bye (PPPO) 11-0 Paddy Moir (PPPO) beat Carl Morris (IPA) 11-10 Keith Jones (IPA) beat Andy Croasdale (PPPO) 11-2 Colin Downie (PPPO) beat John O'Sullivan (Amateur) 11-10 Ross McKinnes (PPPO) beat Phil Harrison (IPA) 11-6 Rob Hill (PPPO) beat Pat Holtz (IPA) 11-7 Rob McKenna (IPA) beat Brian Evans (PPPO) 11-7 Pat O'Kane (PPPO) beat Bye (PPPO) 11-0 Winners side round one Federation Rules: Paddy Moir beat Chris Melling 11-8 Keith Jones beat Colin Downie 11-2 Ross McKinnes beat Rob Hill 11-8 Rob McKenna beat Pat O'Kane 11-10 Winners side round two Federation Rules: Paddy Moir beat Keith Jones 11-5 Ross McKinnes beat Rob McKenna 11-4 Winners side round three Federation Rules: Paddy Moir beat Ross McKinnes 11-7 Losers side round one World Rules: Carl Morris (IPA) beat Bye 11-0 Andy Croasdale (PPPO) beat John O'Sullivan (Amateur) 11-8 Phil Harrison (IPA) beat Pat Holtz (IPA) 11-6 Brian Evans (PPPO) beat bye 11-0 Losers side round two World Rules: Carl Morris (IPA) beat Pat O'Kane (PPPO) 11-9 Andy Croasdale beat Rob Hill (PPPO) 11-9 Phil Harrison (IPA) beat Colin Downie (PPPO) 11-5 Chris Melling (IPA) beat Brian Evans (PPPO) 11-8 Losers side round three World Rules: Andy Croasdale (PPPO) beat Carl Morris (IPA) 11-9 Chris Melling (IPA) beat Phil Harrison (IPA) 11-5 Losers side round four World Rules: Keith Jones (IPA) beat Andy Croasdale (PPPO) 11-4 Chris Melling (IPA) beat Rob McKenna (IPA) 11-7 Losers side round five World Rules: Chris Melling (IPA) beat Keith Jones (IPA) 11-6 Losers side round six World Rules: Ross McKinnes (PPPO) beat Chris Melling (IPA) 11-5 Losers side round seven World Rules: Paddy Moir (PPPO) beat Ross McKinnes (PPPO) 11-10