A good weekend :)

Hey all... hows everyone doing... I'm coming off a blast of a weekend... so the weekdays are quite the anti climax... well VERY the anti climax to be honest... first off I won something for the first time in my life... I've never won anything big at sports before... but I got an impressive third place for IACT's pool tournament at Club 7... well not really that impressive la... but to me its impressive... so bite me! :p

the tournament started off with a group stage... where 8 players are put in a group and play each other one time each... the runner up and the winner from each group proceeds to the quarterfinals...

I was checking out my opponents for weaknesses during the first round... seeing if there would be any easy games... and to my horror... every one in my group was as sharp or sharper than me... PLUS.. PLUS!!! There was a Malaysian 9ball player in my group... it was indeed the group of death... really scary stuff...

I won my first three games... but they were by the skin of my teeth... Really close racks... then on my 4th game... I lost to this guy whose name I can't remember... he really outplayed me... and I couldn't get my rhythm going... I won the next game due to luck... my opponent scratched after potting the nine ball... Scratched as in 'yum sui' (sank the white) ... not disqualified for scratching his balls during the game :p...

then it was time to play the national player... he totally outclassed me... his shots and savings were a level way above mine... I only managed to take two shots before he finished the rack... so my back was against the wall... at this point I had two losses and most people lost only once... to qualify I'd have to win my next two games... I told myself to play my best and give it a shot... to my amazement I won my next two games easily and finished runner up... the national player finished first of course...

there was a small crowd watching the quarter finals... it made me nervous at first... but I decided that I wanted to win this... and go for first place! so I fed off the crowd and played some of the best pool I've ever played... I won the race to three in like five minutes... it was like I couldn't miss a shot! I told myself to ride this feeling and go all the way to the finals!

the semi's were really tight too... I was playing well and leading 4 -2 ... the crowd was amazing I tell you... I really got a high from having all these people watch and cheer... I just wanted to do my best and show them that I got into the semi finals cause I deserved to... not by pure dumb luck... any way.. alfred (my opponent) made a mistake and parked the nine ball at the pocket... it was a SUPER easy shot... but I had to use a rest to take the shot... and if I made the shot... I would be in the finals! ONE SHOT AWAY I told myself... just ONE EASY shot... and I took it.... AND BLOODY MISSED!

I was so pissed with myself that I lost my concentration after that... the crowd were like 'How did he miss that!?'... and it kept playing in my head... so I wasn't playing my normal game... Alfred took advantage of this and kicked my ass... beating me 5 - 4 in the end... all credit to him... he's a sharp and consistent bugger!

I thought that was the end of my pool experience... when Justin asked me if I wanted to take a break before playing the 3rd / 4th playoffs... At that point I was quite disheartened so I said 'Lets get it over with...'

And I really meant it... I just wanted to get the games over with and go home... but then... the crowd was really great again... encouraging and cheering... and I started to enjoy playing in front of so many people again... I got an adraneline rush from all of it... a high that no drug or alcohol can give you... so played my best... it was really close... my opponent went up 1 - 0... then I drew level... 1 - 1.... then he took the lead again at 2 - 1.... then my streak began... and I won 3 games in a row... but he was persistent and drew close at 3 - 4...

the nightmare of losing after going up 4 -2 to alfred came to haunt me... I got nervous as hell and started making mistakes... plus I was really mentally exhausted from playing the whole day... normally I play pool just for 2 hours max a day... but that day I had been playing for around 5 hours already... I was at my limit... I really thought I was going to lose 5 - 4 again...

then my opponent made a mistake... he placed the cue ball directly above the nineball... so there was no shot for him to take... EXCEPT... a really tough shot with the cue ball banking off the rail to hit the nine ball into the pocket... and he had the balls to take it... if he missed I would win the playoff... but he took it... and ALMOST made it... the nine ball was centimetres from being potted... leaving me an easy shot and the win!

I must say I really enjoyed playing in front of our IACT students... kudos to all of you for making a great event even more fun for the students... I know I had a good time... and I really enjoyed every moment of my 15 minutes in the limelight...

only complaint I have is that I played for six hours... and won a 30 buck voucher... the bloody entry fee was 20 bucks... so I spent 6 hours toiling over the pool table to win 10 bucks! But then again nothing can buy the high I got from playing infront of my friends and college mates... so thats not a big deal :)