The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Magic Mark Gray moved to the top of the European pool rankings after securing an impressive Euro Tour victory in Austria over the weekend.
Gray, who is a regular for Bourne SC in the Spalding and District Snooker League, pocketed the €3,500 first prize as he clinched his sixth career win on the Euro Tour.
Played at the picturesque Sankt Johann resort in Austria, ‘Granite’ was one of a whopping 217 entries at the event.
Wins over Italian Bruno Muratore (9-5) and Sweden’s Christian Fischer (9-4) saw him safely negotiate the first two rounds, before a 9-7 victory over former world champion Karol Skowerski (Poland) sealed his place in the last 32.
A nervy 9-7 success over Spanish number one David Alcaide followed, then Gray dispatched fellow Englishman Imran Majid 9-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
A pair of 9-6 victories over German duo Sebastian Staab (last eight) and Joshua Filler (semi-finals) booked Gray’s place in the final against Swiss number two Ronald Regli.
There, the 42-year-old played his best match of the tournament, enjoying five break and runs as he won the event 9-5.
Gray’s win in Austria continued his fine run of form. Prior to that event, he stormed to a domestic double with two triumphs at the latest GB9 Ball Tour Event at Raddison Park Hotel in Telford.
The Bourne potter took top spot in both the main event (96 Runners) and the 16-man pro event.
In the main event Gray took the scalps of current 8-Ball world champion Gareth Hibbott (9-1) and Scotland’s number one Jayson Shaw, who he defeated 9-3 in the semi-finals. ‘Granite’ then came back from 6-2 down to beat Manchester’s Stewart Colclough 11-7 in the final to win the trophy and £1,100 in prize money.
Some 24 hours later Gray was at it again. In the latter stages of the pro event he beat London’s Imran Majid 10-6 and UK number one Craig Osbourne 10-3 in the semis, before playing ‘lights out’ pool in the final. There, he beat saw off Barnsley’s Elliott Sanderson 11-2 in a display that included seven break and runs.
That secured him another trophy and a cheque of £1,000. Gray is now ranked number two in the GB9 rankings.
