Ford Holds Nerve To Win First Ranking Title
Tom Ford won the 9Club Shoot Out in Leicester, beating Liam Graham in the last few seconds of a dramatic final to win his maiden ranking title, 23 years after turning professional.
World number 100 Graham, in his second season on the tour, looked set for a fairytale victory when he led by 20 points with little more than a minute remaining in the one-frame knockout event where every match lasts a maximum of ten minutes. But a missed red proved costly for the 20-year-old as it handed Ford the table, and his break of 23 gave him the title.
It’s a landmark moment on home turf for Leicester’s 41-year-old Ford as he was widely recognised as one of the best players not to win a ranking event but has now made that breakthrough. His previous career highlights had included two Players Tour Championship titles in 2010 and 2011, three other ranking finals and a UK Championship semi-final appearance, but this is without doubt his finest moment.
And Ford was overcome with emotion during the celebrations as he remembered his long term friend and sponsor Brian Todd, who sadly passed away last month. Ford was at the funeral on Wednesday and came close to pulling out of the tournament, but decided to play and has paid tribute to Todd in the perfect way.
Having climbed into the top 16 last season, Ford had a woeful start to the current campaign, winning just two matches before this week. He was 110th on the Johnstone’s Paint one-year rankings but the £50,000 prize boosts him to 32nd on that list and he’s up from 22nd to 19th on the official list.
“Brian was with me for eight years,” said Ford. “He went everywhere with me. I said to my wife before the event that I didn’t want to play, I was down in the dumps. She told me to go because you never know what might happen. The money, the trophy, is not what I was thinking about this week. It has been so hard. But winning the tournament for Brian means so much.
“When I got a chance in the final I just tried not to think about anything expect potting the balls. I had to put everything to one side for a few minutes and get the job done.”
Defeat will be heart-breaking for Graham who had showed tremendous spirit throughout the event, knocking out the likes of Mark Selby and Ali Carter and gaining the support of the enthusiastic crowd. Having never previously been beyond the last 32 of a ranking event, the Scot broke new ground and more than doubled his career prize money as he added £20,000 to his previous total of £19,000. But having come so close to becoming arguably the most unlikely ranking event winner of all time, he will look back on the week with mixed emotions.
Graham, who will jump 15 places to 85th in the rankings, said: “It has been a great run. The red I missed in the final was one of the few balls I missed all week. Well done to Tom, he’s a great guy. But I’m gutted for myself because I thought I had it. One ball made the difference. It will take me a while to get over it but I think I will gain confidence from this. Hopefully I have shown that I have the bottle to win under pressure.”
Earlier in the semi-finals, Graham beat Selby, coming from 20-0 down to win it with a vital break of 31. Ford won a dramatic blue ball shoot out against China’s Wu Yize after their match finished 32-32. Wu potted a tremendous long red and added the brown in the closing seconds. But after Ford slotted in the blue in sudden death, Wu missed the target.
Article by WST.
