Glasgow native Jayson Shaw overcame Poland’s Wiktor Zieliński in a stunning hill-hill climax to land the first edition of the JFlowers Scottish Open in his home city. Shaw collects the $9,600 top prize and moves inside the top four of the World Nineball Rankings – and second in Team Europe’s Race to Mosconi Cup standings.
Eagle Eye was the conqueror of a star-studded field that descended on McGoldrick’s Pool and Sports Bar, featuring nine of the top 16 players on the World Nineball Tour Rankings – with WNT No.1 Francisco Sánchez Ruíz, UK Open champion Joshua Filler and newly-crowned World Pool Masters winner Ko Pin Yi amongst the stellar line-up.
View World Nineball Tour Rankings
Zieliński, who won the Ljubljana Mezz 9-Ball Open – another WNT Ranking event – earlier in the month, continued a strong start to the year with victories over Ko Ping Han, Jack Whelan and Denis Grabe on course to a runners-up finish in Scotland.
Two-time world champion Albin Ouschan was defeated 10-8 by Britain’s Imran Majid in the first round, leading him down a loser’s path to third-round elimination at the hands of Spain’s Jonas Souto Comino. World Pool Championship runner-up Mohammad Soufi’s first round defeat to Hong Kong, China’s Robbie Capito set up a similar defeat in the third-round to Kelly Fisher.
Nineball veteran Ralf Souquet enjoyed a strong run to the semi-finals. The Kaiser overcame both of Spain’s World Cup of Pool duo in David Alcaide and Sánchez Ruíz before taking champion Shaw to the hill in a thrilling contest.
Filler’s preparations ahead of a UK Open title defence were dented by Austrian star Mario He, who followed up on a quarter-final finish at the World Pool Masters with another spot in the final eight of a World Nineball Tour event.
©Matchroom Multi Sport
The tournament featured cross-cue sport representation, with English 8-ball star Jack Whelan recording an impressive run to the quarter-finals. World Snooker Tour top-16 player Gary Wilson featured ahead of his second appearance at the UK Open Pool Championship.
Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer was delighted with how well-run the latest World Nineball Tour event was:
“Firstly, congratulations to Jayson on what was both an entertaining and dramatic final,” Frazer said.
“This World Nineball Ranking event acts as the perfect primer for Shaw and all players as they head into the UK Open Pool Championship.
“Thank you to Elliot Sanderson, Paul Corrigan and the team at McGoldricks Pool and Sports Bar for hosting such a professional event; the pros have already expressed how great it was to play under the Matchroom rules – especially with it leading into a Major ranking event.
“Across the three days, the Scottish Open stream reached over 380,000 views on Matchroom Pool’ YouTube channel, setting the stage for more ranking events to come in Scotland. The World Nineball Tour presses on!”
Next World Nineball Tour Event
The second-ever edition of the UK Open Pool Championship takes centre stage on the World Nineball Tour, as a 256-strong field of the sport’s very best take to the Copper Box Arena in London between May 30th and June 4th.
Find out how you can watch all of the action here.
Tickets are available from £15 a day to enjoy the action inside one of London’s most historic sporting venues. A season pass is available for £95 with access to all six days whilst a weekend pass giving access to Saturday and Sunday for only £40. Tickets are limited for the weekend sessions. Buy tickets here.