Archive News 2007

Another consistent performance by Phil this weekend, reaching the quarterfinal stage.

The last BPPPA youth tournament of the 2007 season turned out to be the predicted battle between the current top two under 18's in the country, Phil Burford (16) and Thomas Ainsworth-Smith (18) Having reached the quarter-final Phil lost just one rack and sailed through to the semis where he also took control, eventually winning 9 - 5, having given his under 16 opponents a 2 rack start in both matches. From the opposite side of the draw Thomas Ainsworth-Smith also qualified to the final stage of the tournament. Phil took an early 2 - 0 lead but Thomas soon hit back by running the next rack. Phil wasn't giving up his lead lightly though and finally arrived at 8 - 5 in front, needing just one more rack for victory.		Phil Takes a Long Shot
Thomas however, produced a late run narrowing the lead to 8 racks a piece before Phil eventually sealed victory in the last rack to win 9 - 8. "Matches between Tom and I are always close so I was pleased to come out on top this time" said a happy Phil.

Making a Jump Shot

Phil's Final Results : Quarter-Final    Semi - Final    Final      9 - 3  *   (9 - 1)   9 - 5  *   (9 - 3)   9 - 8 * Opponent under 16 years of age receives a 2 rack start In The Money!

Phil got off to a good start on Saturday by beating eventual finalist Craig Osborne 9-8. However, defeat came with overall tournament winner Karl Boyes winning 9-4 against Phil in the first match on the second day of play. Essentially another creditable perfomance from Phil in this season's 9th pro tour event, reaching the second day without losing a match to be included in the last 16.

More than 180 players from 25 countries gathered together in Willingen, Germany, to take part in the European Pool Youth Championships.

9-Ball : race to 8
8-ball : race to 7
straight pool : race to 100

GREAT BRITAIN WIN SILVER!

Report by Will Scott - The Northern Echo. Friday 24th August

Nine-ball ace Phil Burford was part of the Great Britain three-man team which only just missed out on being crowned European Junior Pool Champions this week. The British side narrowly went down to Austria 2-1 in the final, held at the Sauerland Stern in Willingen, Germany, and returned home with a silver medal.

The Darlington teenager triumphed 8-3 in the 9-ball final, but team mate Ben Clayton lost his 8-ball match 7-2, leaving Thomas Ainsworth-Smith fighting out the decider in the straight pool. Ainsworth-Smith's contest against Austria's Albin Ouschan turned out to be an epic, with the Brit narrowly going down 90-100. Earlier in the tournament Ouschan had run 97 balls at one visit to the table to secure the individual straight pool title.

Despite closely missing out on gold the team weren't too despondent after taking the notable scalps of favourites for gold, Poland and the Ukraine, as well as Spain and the Netherlands on their way to the final. To come second without the backing of any qualified coaches or funding is a remarkable feat against the best junior pool players throughout Europe.

(Junior team) Ben Clayton, Philip Burford, Thomas Ainsworth-Smith - - (Pupils) Jonny Cooper

MORE PHOTOS

Phil played extremely well this weekend, a great victory coming in the third round against number 4 ranked player, Ian West, who he beat 9 -6 after making a recovery from being 6-2 down in the early stages. Phil reached the second day of play, making the last 16 once again. Defeat came against Tommy Donlon, ranked number 3 in the UK, who won 9-4.

Phil is now looking forward to the Youth Championships in Germany, starting next week. He goes without too much expectation, but with his hopes high and a postive, confident attitude. We all wish him and team GB the best of luck!.

Phil has been selected to represent Great Britain in the European Championships for the third year in succession. This year the event is to be held in Germany, 11th to 18th August.

This tournament played out as almost an exact replication of the March event. Phil qualified through to the last 16 players then found defeat in the next round when drawn against consistent number 1 UK player, Mark Gray, who won 9-4.

Phil, who has generally been in good form at the tour events, never looked totally comfortable this weekend. A couple of unfortunate misses at crucial moments lead to his demise from the tournament by the last round on Saturday. Not looking too discouraged though, Phil said "A few months ago I would have been delighted to get this far, to the last 32, but I just want to keep pushing myself to improve."

Unbeaten on Saturday, Phil qualified through the winners side to the second day of play, to be one of the remaining 16 players. He started the tournament with an impressive 9 - 0 victory in his first match, followed by two more wins, firstly over Thomas Ainsworth-Smith then Gavin Oldman. Defeat came against Kevin Uzzell in his first match on Sunday, where Phil lost 9 - 4.

Congratulations must go to Thomas Ainsworth-Smith, the only other junior player to reach the second day of play, who went through as far as the semi-final, beating Tony Drago and Mike Rogers along the way.

Talisman is a small company located in the north of Thailand in the northern capital of Chiangmai. The company was formed in 1999 after gaining experience in making laminated cue tips for other brand names. They then took all their expertise and made significant improvements in the production process and launched Talisman Cue Tips. All their products are guaranteed best quality and Phil is very pleased to be associated with their name and sponsorship.

Phil uses a  Talisman Original Cue Case  and  Talisman Professional Layered Cue Tips

Phil put in another good performance this weekend, making the last 32. Phil's exit from the tournament came after losing 9 - 4 against UK number 1 ranked player Mark Gray.

Although Phil failed to qualify for the second day's single elimination stage he put up a fine performance again this weekend. After getting off to a good start by winning his first match 7 - 3, Phil was then put in the double elimination stage by losing 9 - 7 to Andy Worthington. His next two matches proved to be more satisfying, winning 7 -3 against Lee Rigby, then following up with a 7 -1 win. Defeat finally came in his fifth match with a very respectable 7 - 4 loss against Britain's number 2 ranked player, Daryl Peach.

The APN National 9-ball Championship at Riley's Harrow in London is Phil's first national adult tournament win. A tough two days of competition ended with Phil beating his old adversary, and good friend, Tony Burton 9 - 6 in the final. After a slow start Phil put in some excellent performances to battle though to the semi-final where he just overcame David Hood 9 - 8 before meeting his Doubles partner Tony in the final.

Phil and Tony were also winners of the Doubles tournament on Friday night, with Phil following up with another success in the break competition on Saturday night. All in all a great weekend, and thanks must go to the tournament organisers and Riley's Harrow for a fantastic event.

MORE PHOTOS