on-Trent (UK) – It's a pool of tears as Potts's title bid fails
It’s a pool of tears as Potts’s title bid fails
0 Comments | Sentinel, The; Stoke-on-Trent (UK), Jul 9, 2010 | by Trevor Baxter
GARETH Potts cried tears of sadness not joy in Blackpool last night after failing to regain his Foster’s World 8-Ball Pool title.
The Norton Heights star played his part in one of the highest quality finals in the 18-year history of the tournament, Three-time winner Potts finished on the wrong end of an 11-8 score line as Dudley’s Mick Hill joined a select group of players to have lifted the trophy twice.
The number two seed was so disappointed he could hardly speak when interviewed in the arena immediately after the match at Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel.
“It’s the first time I’ve lost in a world final and it’s not a nice feeling,” he said after collecting a Pounds 5,000 consolation prize.
“Mick’s a fantastic player, but it’s just a shame there had to be a loser – me.”
There was never more than two frames between the former England team mates.
However, Hill, back from a six-month sojourn in American Pool, clinched the tournament’s deciding frame.
He did so helped by a fortuitous final break when a yellow dropped into a pocket after every other ball had stopped rolling.
Indeed, Hill won the last three frames after Potts fought back from 8-6 down to level at 8-8. “From 8-8 to 11-8 I hardly got my hand on the table,” added Potts, as Hill avenged his 2007 final defeat to his Potteries rival.
For Hill, it was his first world crown since 2004.
“I remember after that win saying to a former sponsor that the next few years were going to belong to me,” he recalled. “But Gareth was there and he said ‘watch out for me’.
“He was right, because it’s taken me six years to break the stranglehold.”
Potts’s day ended badly after a promising start, as he helped England win the men’s team title for the fourth successive year.
Potteries skipper Lee Kendall completed an 8-4 victory over the Welsh Federation by beating former European champion, Oly Bale.
Adam Davis, of Meir Hay, chipped in with frame wins over Ben Davies and Andy Macdonald.
“We normally lose a couple of matches or really struggle at some stage of the tournament,” said Kendall.
“But this year was different. Without being big headed, it was very comfortable.”
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