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UK OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP PUTS ON A SHOW AT TELFORD INTERNATIONAL CENTRE

By Chris

The UK Open Championship took place from the 6th until 11th May at the Telford International Centre. This 9-ball pool event saw 256 players from all over the World with 55 nationalities represented.

Some of the players in this event were pros and alongside it there was a Juniors Event sponsored by player Jayson Shaw and this was a fully mixed gender event.

Not easy to play but this player had no problem potting the balls

The decision to come to Telford was made mostly by the CEO of Matchroom Multi Sport, Emily Frazer and explaining the decision she said “We made the decision, a cost-effective decision to bring the UK Open to Telford, we have a good relationship with the venue here, we do some snooker under the Matchroom umbrella so that was the decision”

The previous home of the UK Open was the Copper Box Arena in London but for the second year running it was held at the International Centre. Last year’s event was won by Robbie Capito, and he was in the field for this event.

The event followed the theme of the Players Championship in snooker which had recently returned to Telford following years of being held elsewhere. Matchroom now promotes the pool and has been doing so since 2021, with them establishing a tour in 2023. These events are known as Matchroom majors and currently no-one has retained the trophy after winning it.

Furthering her reasons for coming to Telford Emily said “When choosing locations for our events, obviously we have a global tour with people all over the world, so we have to make sure there are lots of hotels close by, there’s restaurants, the venue is close by that you can walk to, and I think it’s a great location for us”

Jayson Shaw from Glasgow but now living in the US was the home country favourite for this tournament. He eventually reached the semi-finals and said of being in Telford “I actually do enjoy Telford, before the UK Open came here I used to come quite regularly like 2/3 times a year at a hotel for the GB 9-Ball Tour.”

Jayson Shaw prepares to break off

“I always came here, so when it was coming back here, I was like at least we know it, it’s got a lot of nice places around to just kind of walk around chilling, the foods good and it’s a nice little place” Jayson added talking about his experience of Telford.

Telford seemed quite popular amongst the players with Aloysius Yapp, the eventual winner, commenting “Telford is beautiful, it’s really nice, really peaceful, it’s good for me after a stressful day of tournament just being outside it’s quiet and I feel more peaceful”

With so many tables in the venue there were lots of games going on simultaneously and lots of people around, many being players but spectators also being able to chat with the pros in between matches which is far cry from other sports such as snooker.

Fraser Patrick, a quarter finalist in the tournament explained he hadn’t been about much in Telford but went on to say “I love the setup, I love the way the tournaments are ran, it’s different than snooker, it’s more relaxed there is music playing whilst you’re playing, there’s 27 or 28 tables and there’s top class players all playing, I just love the these tournaments, the way they are run.”

Lots of action at Telford International Centre with so many games simultaneously

With so much support for Telford there could be more, Emily Frazer said “If there is opportunity then great but for that we need more support I’d love to be walking around this arena and seeing a day out from kids from local schools or pool halls, so for us to really come back we need more support”

The biggest event in Pool is the Mosconi Cup, pool’s answer to the Ryder Cup with it being contested between Europe and America and this has driven popularity in 9-ball Pool.

Emily said she was always open to offers and would always pick up the phone and discuss things even going as far to say that The Mosconi Cup which is always staged in London could be changed explaining “If Telford, the venues or local council can offer support then we’ll bring that event here but I can’t do anything, it takes two to tango a little bit so hopefully there is an opportunity here”

Next major event for the 9-ball pool tour is the World Championship from Jeddah Saudi Arabia and this will be staged in July.

The UK Open Championship Trophy

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