the second TV match of the day has been selected, Pro Cup Last 16 at 11:45 (approx):
Tony Drago v Chris Melling
What a game that will be! I don’t expect it to last very long either, both players are quick and very attacking.
Tag Archive for chris melling
What a Day of Live Pool!
It is confirmed, MMTV 6 was the biggest yet in terms of live viewers with a total of 2078 tuning in to watch at some point across the day.
So a really big thank you to everyone that supported the event and also a big thanks to Ben Moore, Lee Rigby, Tone Weafer, Roger Haddon, Adam Benn Smith and Chris Melling for doing a stint in the commentary box. It works well with spreading it around a bit.
The pool was awesome, and the application that Lee Rigby developed to record match stats was simply awesome (even though there was a bit of micky taking as Lee became Statto!)
One of the most amazing stats was Adam Benn Smith breaking and running 9 of his 21 racks in the win against Shane Appleton, after Shane had only missed four balls all match he went on to lose!
Mike Valentine proved his class with a 21-17 win over Chris Melling, and Arfan Dad, Mike Gibney and Phil Newman all recorded there third consecutive MMTV wins. The other winner was Barry Briggs against Mark Lovell.
Our next live event is this coming weekend from the GB9 Northern Masters: 27th & 28th November.
Category: 9-ball Pool, Live Event News, money matches /
Tags: 9-ball, adam smith, chris melling, mike valentine, mmtv 6, money matches, pool, shane appleton
MMTV 6 Coming to Your Screen
Money Match TV 6 (MMTV 6) is live this coming Saturday (20th November), exclusively on Cuesport TV. This one is being billed as the best so far with 6 cracking matches, 3 of which will be on the TV table.
The matches once again start at 11:00am and will be live throughout the day, the session times and matches are all listed below:
11:00
Mike Gibney v Martin Taylor (TV Table)
Barry Briggs v Mark Lovall
14:30
Adam Smith v Shane Appleton (TV Table)
Arfan Dad v Neil Cummins
18:00
Chris Melling v Mike Valentine (TV Table)
Phil Newman v Tem Dixon
All times listed are UK times, all matches on MMTV unless otherwise stated are race-to-21, 9 Ball, winner break with 3 point rule in operation. Watch it all live and uninterrupted on Cuesport TV. If you require further information about the events then go to the Money Match TV website.
Category: 9-ball Pool, money matches /
Tags: challenges, chris melling, cuesport tv, mmtv, mmtv 6, money matches
£10,000 Scotch Doubles Match Exclusively live on American Pool TV
On Saturday 15th August American Pool TV will be providing live pay-per-view coverage of the hottest money match in the UK this year.
£10,000 is at stake as four of Britains best pool players with multiple International titles go head-to-head.
Karl Boyes, world bronze medallist, is partnering twice WEPF World 8-ball Champion, Chris Melling, as they take on World Number 1 and World 10 Ball Champion Darren Appleton and his partner, Nations Cup winner, Imran Majid.
The action will be live from 5pm with an undercard match between Scott Higgins and Alan Millership, a nice warm-up for the main event.
To watch this match you have two options, buy a PPV ticket in advance for just £4.99 or purchase on the day of the match for £7.49
PPV tickets go on sale on Saturday 8th August so do not miss out.
The main event is played to WPA Ten Ball rules and will be a race-to-35 racks. Expect some awesome shot making, an intense atmosphere and a very tense and thrilling result.
Do not miss out, PPV tickets on sale now.
Further Information:
American Pool TV is a new sister channel of Cuesport TV that will be offering standalone PPV tournaments and challenge matches in addition to Freeview content.
You can find the channel here: http://americanpool.cuesport.tv
If you wish to contact the channel please use enquiries@cuesport.tv
Category: 10-ball Pool /
Tags: chris melling, darren appleton, imran majid, karl boyes, live stream, ten ball
Challenge Matches on the Horizon
Over the next two weekends (August 8th and August 15th/16th) Cuesport TV are involved in live streaming three separate big money match ups.
Burford vs Gray – Saturday 8th August, 5pm (UK Time) – Cuesport TV
The first on August 8th features, European Junior 9-ball Champion, Phil Burford and former European number 1, Mark Gray. These two stalwarts of the British 9-ball scene go head-to-head for £1000 per man. The game is 9-ball and it will be a race-to-30, winner breaks.
The action for this event will be live over at Cuesport TV to paid up subscribers, something you can do for as little as £2.95. The action starts at 5pm with an undercard match between Andy Appleton (brother of World Number 1 Darren Appleton) and young up-and-coming player Louis Clarke. They are playing for £500 per man race-to-21 I believe and will be live also in advance of the main event.
£10,000 Scotch Doubles Challenge – Saturday 15th August, 5pm (UK time) American Pool TV
Another evening of entertainment that starts with a tasty undercard match, UK Pro players Scott Higgins and Alan Millership match up for £500-per-man. Race-to-15 9 Ball action. A good precursor for what is to come at around about 7pm.
The big match up on the cards on this particular night is an interesting one. Rarely do we see scotch doubles matches outside of the Mosconi Cup so this will be a treat.
Karl Boyes & Chris Melling take on World number 1 Darren Appleton & Imran Majid.
The Prize?
A killer £10,000 winner-take-all pot. The match is 10 ball with a race-to-35 in operation, I expect a very close match, Boyes/Melling have a 5 rack start to make it even more interesting.
This live event will be the first one shown on American Pool TV where you can buy the match in advance for £4.99 or on the night for £7.49 make sure you buy it, amazing match up.
Simon Ward v Craig Reynold’s – Sunday August 16th, 3pm (UK Time) Cuesport TV
Another match for Cuesport TV subscribers.
Simon Ward, one of the most consistent players of the 2008 season plays renowned money player and IPA professional Craig Reynol’ds for a £6,000 pot.
Played to WEPF World Rules this one will appeal to the small-ball fans throughout the UK and Europe, possibly further afield.
To watch this one a subscription is required.
An Excellent Advert for the Game
English Pool (the small ball game played in an large number of pubs in the UK) doesn’t exactly have the best reputation in the industry and has struggled to grow outside of the UK (there are small pockets elsewhere but not like 9-ball). In my opinion over the last 10-15 years this has been caused in part by the in-fighting amongst the organisers and the fact that there are two governing bodies playing slightly different rules.
This weekend (6th – 7th Sept) we did a live broadcast from the Oracle Super Tour in Leicester. It was massively refreshing to see players from both rule sets playing in a tournament with a decent amount of priz money. Throughout the weekend there was no bickering or sneering about who plays what rules just simply getting on with the action and putting on a performance.
To give you the information, the tournament was being played to WEPF World Rules and had a first prize of £3400.00. The tournament featured former and current world champions and someone called Tony Drago!
I don’t want to go into much detail about the actual tournament because that can be found elsewhere online, what I want to talk about is the quality of some of the matches.
Four matches spring to mind and three of them involved Chris Melling (who it has to be said was flying all weekend!).
The first was Mellings match against Neil Toms, the first frame was utter dross and lasted 26 minutes but then the next 10 frames only took the same amount of time with Melling in particular playing some awesome stuff. The next match featured Mick Hill and Craig Marsh and for me was the pick of the day, I haven’t actually looked through the tapes yet but there must have been 9 or 10 break & runs by either player with Marshy eventually winning 8-7. One of the best adverts for the game of 8-ball pool in my opinion.
Why I suggest it’s a good advert for the game is due to the fact that we recieve viewers from 110 countries and this weekend was no exception with 1300 viewers tuning in to watch the Oracle Super Tour live. If 8-ball pool in is country is going to develop internationall then it is the example set by these players (including the semi-final and final in my list) that will reach the masses. It was almost all out attack and that is ultimately what viewers want to watch and the tactical, defensive shots that were played were also of the highest order.
Since I have owned CueSport TV this is probably the best days pool we have had on the channel and further gives me drive to push both the channel and the game forward.
Category: English/UK Pool, Uncategorized /
Tags: 8-ball pool, chris melling, club 147, leicester, oracle super tour, wepf world rules
Oracle Super Tour – Event 2 – This Weekend
Many of you may well know that it is time for the second ‘episode’ of the Oracle Super Tour. This new tour, born out of the Gangsters Grand Prix, features some of the world’s best 8-ball pool players, including World Champion Gareth Potts & former World Champion Chris Melling.
Why do these player participate? Simply due to the prize money on offer, £44,000 across the four event series, with £3,400 to each event winner (events 1-3) and £9,400 to the winner of the final event in November.
A lot of tournaments in the UK do struggle for numbers but it shows when you combine a guaranteed prize fund with an interesting handicap system (Pro players give up to a 4 start in a best-of-15 frame match!) the players will turn out. This tour has a full list of 128 players signed up in advance, with a few more waiting in the wings should spots become available.
Credit for the success has to go to Keith Brewer and Oracle Hotel Refurbishments Ltd, one for Keith bringing a sponsor of this size on board and two for Oracle having the vision and confidence to put money into what is still a fringe sport.
CueSport TV came on board late in the day, I have personally known Keith for a number of years, and offered our services to the tour which they gladly accepted. This is part of our vision as a company, there is no hiding the fact that we are in this business to make money however, I always have the best interests of the sport in the back of my mind when I do anything.
The first event (from our point of view) was a dissapointment as we could not broadcast live, it is these live events that are going to lay solid foundations for the sport and give it a worldwide audience. Every month CueSport TV receives viewers from 110 different countries worldwide, these come from some very obscure places but they sit and watch for long periods of time. There is no other broadcaster or network that can allow users/viewers to dive in and try something of this nature for free.
The more countries that continue viewing this sport the more chance there is of the game progressing on a world stage.
The second most popular viewing country from the list is the USA, a country that plays 8-ball but not the game that we play. I have had conversations with a number of US viewers over the game of English 8-ball and they are all positive. Especially once you explain that the pockets are like snooker pockets and you play on a slow napped cloth. They do not realise how difficult the game is to play until you explain the nuances. I am not suggesting for one minute that the UK game is going to take over the world, but what could and should happen is that the game is given more respect from players all over the globe.
You can watch the Oracle Super Tour Live this weekend (6th/7th Sept) only at CueSport TV.
Category: English/UK Pool /
Tags: 8-ball pool, chris melling, gareth potts, keith brewer, oracle super tour, wepf world rules
