EVENT REPORT
I.P.A. QUALIFIERS AT THE EUROPEANS IN MALTA
IPA qualifiers CarlMorris and Steve Thompson certainly made the most of their passage to the European Championships in Malta. And the duo flew the flag superbly for the IPA in the face of some top class opposition.
Former world champion Carl Morris went all the way to the final before losing by a deciding frame to local hero Clayton Attard.
The IPA’s other representat ive, Steve Thompson, reached the last 16 only to lose to formerWorld Junior champion, Jordan Church - another prominent IPA player.
At one stage, both players suggested there would be two qualifiers in the final which would have been some result.
However, congratulations to both our entries. They did us proud and also enjoyed a relaxing week away fromthe table in the beautiful sur- rounds of St. Pauls Bay, staying at the 4-star Dolmen Hotel.
Steve played against five different nationalities in his progress to the last 16, startingwith a 6- 5 win against Zach Taylor of Wales followed by a 6-2 defeat of Scotland’s Alan Scott. In the second round he faced a Tour opponent, Charly Verwaerde (France), but came out on top 6-4.
STEVE THOMPSON Preliminary round: bt Zach Taylor (Wales) 6-5 Round One: Round two: Last 32: Last 16:
CARL MORRIS Round One: Round two: Last 32: Last 16:
Quarter-Finals: Semi-Finals: Final:
bt Alan Scott (Scotland) 6-2
bt Charly Verwaerde (France) 6-4 bt Chris Tabone (Malta) 6-3
lost to Jordan Church (England) 5-6
bt Stuart Campbell (Scotland) 6-2 bt Arnaud Viard (France) 6-3 bt Tony Kay (England) 6-2 bt Lee Kendall (England) 5-3 bt Clint Azzopardi (Malta) 7-3 bt Adam Davis (England) 7-2
Lost to Clayton Attard (Malta) 7-8 37
Steve Thompson - Malta Qualifier
Steve then enjoyed a great 6-3 win against Chris Tabone of Malta who had been one of the title favourites.With a bit more good for- tune he might have gone onto the quarters. However, Church (England), ranked 21 on the I.P.A. Tour, just took the deciding frame.
Our other contender, CarlMorris, started with a 6-2 win against Stuart Campbell (Scotland) and then defeated Arnaud Viard of France 6- 3.
He removed Tony Kay (England) by 6-2- to earn a meeting with England skipper Lee Kendall.
Carl came through 6-3 before taking out Clint Azzopardi of Malta in the quarters. As could be expected, the semi-finalistswere top notch and Carl had no problems defeating Adam Davis by 7-2 before that thrilling defeat to Clayton Attard in the deciding frame.
The atmosphere in the final was electric with a mass of home supporters giving great support to Clayton who played the game of his life.
In a brilliant match either player could have taken the title but on this occasion, Carl had to accept second place.
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