And we are Here

After a 2 hour bus ride, 1 hour delay at Airport, 2 hour flight and 3 hour Bus journey to Lublin, we arrived at the Europa Hotel yesterday evening, what a journey but well worth it. Got checked in, washed and changed ready to go to the opening ceromony at 8pm only to find it wasn't casual dress, had to get changed into waistcoats and bow ties....

Here are some photographs of the Globus sports arena, which if you look closely is actually an Ice Hockey Stadium!! Below is the opening ceromony and match tables laid out ready to go.




......and a Birds eye view of the tables, I had to climb to the top steps of the stadium to get this photograph, it shows all of the tables and the scale of the event. (My first match today was on the fourth table down from the left, number 17)



And a few photographs of the city centre.


Not sure what the Castle is in the background so will have to do some exploring tomorrow after my match. Speaking of Snooker, the reason I am here :o) today I was lucky enough to win my first match in the group stages, defeating Norman Caunter from Germany 3 frames to 0. Tomorrow morning we start again, will update the results here.

Kiefer, Megan and Joanne....if you are reading this (you better be!!!!) maybe you want to find out about the Castle for me?? will talk to you all later, Dadz xxx.

Getting Ready...

Well, only 2 days to go before we fly out to Lublin. Will be flying out of Dublin to Warsaw, not sure if we stop anywhere, and then picked up from airport direct to our Hotel. With the draw made everything is now falling into place, received my sponsorship from HCL today, great support from work.

Have tried to get some practice in, played in the INF club on Sunday and managed a couple of hours, couple of total clearances were encouraging enough, worked wonders for my confidence ahead of the trip.

Must phone Seamus Mitchell tonight and see about the waistcoat, he showed my a copy of the new club badge and it looks great, cant wait to try it on! Didnt get it in time for the article in Tyrone Times (Click Here) but I dont think you could have made the badge out anyway.

The full draw is online and there will be live scoring available during the tournament (Click Here) which will be good for keeping track of the other matches, including my own.......remember Kids!!
Nice surprise also, Jimmy White will be playing an exhibition on the last night, nice one organisers!!

Draw is made

Busy week this week, with work and everything else haven't spent much time on the practice table. Spoke with Seamus on Friday and waistcoat will be ready for me before Wednesday this week, I feel great about representing Mitchells Snooker Club in Cookstown, a real club run by a real snooker enthusiast.

Received a phone call from John in Tyrone Times, there will be a feature in the paper before I leave and John wants to get a few photographs to accompany the report. As I had played all of my leave snooker with the INF in Dungannon I suggested we meet there on Sunday, I could maybe get a few frames in also. Change of Plan. Will now get the photos taken at Patrick Wallace's table, wow what a setup....lighting, table, everything perfect. Patrick has kindly arranged a practice session or two before I leave which will be a help.

End of a busy week and just checked the www.ebsa.tv website (European Billiards & Snooker Association) ...looks like the draw for Poland has been made. My opponents in Group E will be:

PHILLIP WILLIAMS (WALES) - SUN 8th June
ANDRIS KRITNERS (LATVIA) - SAT 7th June
NORMAN CAUNTER (GERMANY) - FRI 6th June
RAYMOND BOTTERO (FRANCE) - MON 9th June
MAREK KULAGO (POLAND) - TUE 10th June

Looking forward to it, all my matches are at 10:00 which will give me the rest of the evening to do some sightseeing, chat to kids and T and generally chill out. There are 8 groups of 6 from all over Europe including Russia, click here for full draw. I think a top two finish in the group will get me through to the final stages. Only a week and half to go...passport arrived this week so things moving pretty quickly now...note to me...more practice needed!

Practice Hard

Not much chance of practice with work, and the snooker season is drawing to a close so the chance of real match practice is coming to an end. Having said that the Northern Ireland Championships is fast approaching, I have a match on Sunday 18th May which should give me a good indication of my current game before the Poland trip.

Managed a sneaky game lunchtime Tuesday with CCD which was good fun, what a practice partner...another 12 months and he will be looking forward to the NI Championships!!

I will try and get a few hours in over the next couple of weeks, as my club is Mitchells Snooker Club in Cookstown (I will be representing them as well as NI in Poland) Seamus has arranged for some practice time at his club which is great, will try and make the most of that.

Logistically, flights have been organised and accomodation has been booked so roll on Lublin, just get a few more games under my belt and see how things pan out.

And so it begins...

Wow..what a day. I received a phone call last Monday, the day after my 40th Birthday. "Would I like to come down and enter the qualifying tournament for the European Masters Snooker tournament?"

Give it a go, why not. I have been playing since I was 12 and have had plenty of success in the local game, Cookstown Individual 3 years in a row competing against some great natural talents. Here was an opportunity to experience the thrill of playing in a major amateur snooker event, the only problem being....the competition is being held in Poland. Not to worry.

I agreed to call down to the Fountain Snooker Club in Antrim on Saturday, at the ripe old age of 40 years and 6 days to try my hand against my peers. The funny thing was, I wasn't the least bit nervous or apprehensive. Hey, I am the new kid and would have to be the youngest competitor in the seniors circuit! My first match got off to a flying start, tight safety play and good use of the balls when amongst them, first game in the bag.

Halfway through the next, my opponent decides his heart isn't in it and decides to retire, which was a shame, since I was looking forward to pitting my new senior status against one of the best. Anyway, this resulted is a three way playoff, first to win two matches guaranteed to go through. I won my next match 3-1 and the following 3-0 to book my place on the plane to Warsaw.

I suppose the next 6 weeks should be used to practice hard which I will try and do...not always easy with a full time job, part time job, and a loving family but I will try. Maybe try the little line up of balls on the left. My wife maintains I play better when I don't practice...but she would say that, wouldn't she!!

So, off to Poland on the 5th June for 10 days snooker, looking forward to it and maybe seeing some of the sights. The European Masters circuit seems to be huge and very well supported, something that I would really like to get involved in and get my competitive game back in shape. Perhaps life does begin at 40!