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WORLD SNOOKER PRO CHALLENGE World number 2 Stephen Maguire (right) beat his fellow Glaswegian Alan McManus 5-2 to win the first World Snooker Pro Challenge Event at Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds. World Snooker announced the series to supplement the ranking events, and the event was welcomed by 40 players from Main Tour, who relished the chance for some match practise the week before the ranking season started. Maguire beat Ben Woollaston 5-2 in the semis while McManus beat Ken Doherty 5-1. Home club professional Peter Lines beat Tom Ford 4-3 but lost 4-1 to Dave Harold next time out. Maguire was the only top 16 player to enter, but former World Champions Doherty and Graeme Dott embraced the event although Dott was using a new cue after his old one was broken by baggage handlers and was beaten in the first round. Jimmy White was also due to appear but unfortunately had to withdraw due to another commitment. A full photo gallery is available to view on the Photo Gallery page. SILVER FOR GRACE IN TAIWAN David Grace made his long trip to Taiwan worthwhile by picking up a silver medal at the 2009 World Games. Although beaten 3-0 by former World Finalist Nigel Bond in the gold medal match, he was quite content with silver after being a ball from defeat in his first match. Grace cleared the colours to edge Main Tour professional Atthasit Mahitthi 3-2 on the final black in the last 16, before beating local favourite Shu Hung Lin 3-1 to reach the semi finals. There, he made a break of 103 in beating Iran’s Soheil Vahedi 3-1 to secure a medal. However, he was frozen out in the showpiece final by Bond, who gained revenge for Grace’s win in the final of last years Pontins Open. The Cue Sports events included men’s and women’s 9 Ball Pool, and Carom, which is similar to Billiards but is played on an 8 foot table with no pockets. The women’s Pool was won by former ladies World Champion Allison Fisher, who is now based in America on the lucrative 9-Ball circuit. The World Games are a prestigious multi sports event, held every 4 years, and includes sports which are seeking Olympic status. Snooker was one of the more high profile sports taking place, among such other events as sumo wrestling, water skiing and extreme frisbee. PAUL HUNTER ENGLISH OPEN Stuart Bingham, pictured above with EASB Director John Hartley, collected the prestigious English Open trophy after a 6-0 victory over Simon Bedford in the final. Bingham was in imperious form throughout the event, and stamped his mark on the final immediately with a break of 124 in the first frame. Further breaks of 55, 62 and 95 carried him into a 4-0 lead and he wasted no time completing victory winning the final two frames. Bingham ended the group stage with one of the best four records, earning him a bye into the last 32, where he beat Pete Fisher 5-0 with breaks of 54, 68, 71, 106 and 116. Bingham did not hit those heights in the last 16 but still disposed of home favourite Peter Lines 5-1. Into the quarters, Bingham added a break of 101 as he beat Michael Holt 5-2. His semi final was a much closer affair, edging Gary Wilson 5-3 despite Wilson’s first frame 91. Bedford began the knockout rounds with a 4-2 win over fellow Bradford cueman Gareth Green, before beating local hope Richard Binns 5-2, Binns making 63 and 51 in the frames he won. He then edged the popular Tony Drago 5-4 in a thrilling last 16 clash before fighting back from 3-1 down to beat Chris Norbury 5-3, making breaks of 97 and 77 in the last two frames. Breaks of 62, 65, 80 and 126 were forthcoming in the semi finals, but he still only edged Robbie Williams 5-3. Williams showed great form beating three Main Tour players to reach that stage, Ben Woollaston, Rod Lawler and Mark Joyce. With the strongest field yet since the event was revived in memory of the late Leeds cueman Paul Hunter, there were numerous centuries, with home club coach Kuldesh Johal making a personal best 145 in the group stage. Despite this he failed to qualify after losing to Drago. OPEN PRO-AM David Grace emerged victorious for the first time in this series of pro-ams with a 4-0 win over Jamie Barrett in the final. Grace was first to admit that he rode his luck in the final, but was delighted to be back in the winners enclosure and £100 better off. Grace opened with a 4-2 win over world number 68 Simon Bedford, before a comfortable 4-1 win over Callum Waite. He then beat Ian Burns by the same score to reach the final. Barratt beat Luke Gilboy 4-0 before his closest match, 4-3 over the previous event winner Kuldesh Johal. He then progressed past Gene Lam and Kevin Firth with relative ease to reach the final. Lam had provided the shock of the day with a 4-2 win over regular pro-am winner and new professional Craig Steadman in the first round, despite Steadman’s breaks of 50, 60 and 113. Lee Shanker beat Richard Binns to win the plate consolation prize. UNDER 21 OPEN Mitchell Travis won the second Under 21 event to be held at the club defeating home favourite Gene Lam 3-1. Travis reached the final in comfortable fashion, beating brothers Anthony and Gareth Green in the quarters and semis respectively. Lam, who works at the club part time to earn free practise, beat Joe Roberts and recovered from 2-0 down to beat Oliver Calland 3-2 to edge into the final. Previous event winner Damian Wilks was beaten in the quarter finals by Gareth Green, the player he had beaten to win the first event. OPEN PRO-AM Kuldesh Johal won the latest pro-am event to be held at the club, defeating Sheffield’s Mitchell Travis 3-1 in the final to collect the £90 first prize. Johal had earlier beaten Lee Shanker 3-1 before ending Peter Lines’ monopoly on the series with a 3-2 win in the quarters, before beating Daniel Womersley to reach the final. Travis reached the final through beating Gene Lam, Jason Stockton, Tony Massey and Michael Gaughan in the semis, Gaughan having put out three of Bradford’s finest to reach that stage. Oliver Lines, the reigning English U14 Champion, made his second competitive century, 101, but was edged 3-2 by Massey. Shanker recovered from his first round loss to win the plate competition, beating young Dylan Mitchell in the final. OPEN PRO-AM Peter Lines returned to winning ways in the most recent Pro-am to be held at Northern SC. Lines emerged unscathed from a field of 36 runners to collect the £150 first prize with a 3-0 defeat of Simon Bedford. Lines began with a 3-0 win over Callum Waite, before his biggest test, coming from 2-0 down to beat non other than his son, Oliver Lines, 3-2. He was then untroubled in reaching the final with 3-0 wins over Chris Hall and Tommy Doherty. Bedford survived a test from the events in form player, Kuldesh Johal to win 3-1 in the semis. Johal had preoduced breaks of 114, 110, 115 and the events highest break, 140 in reaching the semis before running out of steam. Shock of the day must go down as Anthony Green’s 3-0 win over David Grace in the preliminary round, and Grace was also defeated in the plate semis by Gene Lam who went on to collect the £40 consolation prize. UNDER 21 OPEN A pleasing entry of 22 entered the first Junior Open event at Northern SC, with some of Yorkshire’s most promising youngsters battling it out. Despite half the field being club regulars, it was Damian Wilks who emerged the 3-1 winner in an all-Bradford final with Gareth Green. The first round saw Luke McEvoy recover from 2-0 down to edge Sanderson Lam 3-2, while newly crowned English U14 Champion Oliver Lines beat Gene Lam 3-1. Into the second round, the only real shock saw young Dillon Mitchell upstage Jake Nicholson, who competes on the PIOS tour 3-2. Wilks was then too experienced for Mitchell winning 3-0 in the quarters. Anthony Green, younger brother of Gareth, ensured 3 out of the 4 semi finalists would hail from Bradford beating Carl Mottershaw 3-1. Daniel Womersley flew the flag for Leeds in the penultimate round but lost out to Gareth Green, with Wilks edging Anthony Green 3-2 to make the final. Wilks then forced Green snr to settle for the £50 runners up prize while he collected £90. Tommy Doherty beat Sanderson Lam to win the plate competition. Entries are expected to rise and more Junior Open dates have been added to the calendar, see above. PRO-AM ROUNDUP David Craggs won the latest midweek pro-am to be held at Northern Snooker Centre beating Tom Kerslake in the final. Craggs, who reached the final of the English Amateur Championship and came within a ball of the Main Tour in the EASB Play-offs, came through a field of 22 to claim the prize money. Craig Steadman, a regular winner on the pro-am circuit, was again in the money in the previous event, sharing the prize money with Scott Raper in the final. Raper edged favourite Peter Lines 3-2 in the semis. ENGLISH FINALS WEEKEND Oliver Lines (left) emerged victorious in the final of the English Under 14 Championship with a 5-2 victory over Darryl Hill (right) during the EASB finals weekend at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. Lines and Hill had already reached the final (see below) and it was Lines, son of professional Peter Lines, who made the better start, winning three of the first four frames to surge into a 3-1 lead, impressively winning the second frame 81-0 including a break of 31. Hill reduced his arrears after the interval but Lines stole the next despite a break of 35 from Hill, the highest of the final. Lines then completed his 5-2 victory in the next frame to clinch his first national title. Lines follows in the footsteps of such players as Judd Trump, who won the title as a junior and is now ranked in the top 32 in the world. Lines’ success was the first match of a weekend of finals which brings the main EASB season to a close. Sam Craigie beat Tom Maxfield 6-3 to win the Under 16’s event, while Liam Highfield defeated Stuart Carrington 8-3 to win the Under 19s. At the other end of the age scale, Mark Rowing, a former English Amateur Champion and professional, edged Colin Norton 6-4 to win the English Seniors (40+) title. Another experienced campaigner, Mike Faulkner, was beaten 5-0 by Alex Dunkley in the final of the Club Players Championship. Manchester (Craig Steadman, Michael Wild, Chris Norbury) were 5-3 winners over West Midlands (Daniel Ward, Rob James, Lee Payne) in the English Team Championship. The English Amateur Championship is the oldest competition in the history of the game, having been staged first in 1916 and been won by many of the greats of the game, including Ray Reardon, John Spencer, Terry Griffiths and Jimmy White to name but a few. David Craggs and Jimmy Robertson, having come through the North and South finals, were left to contest the title and it was Robertson who emerged 9-8 in a tense finale on the pink. Club Coach Ian Williamson presented the trophies to the various winners, representing Northern Snooker Centre, the EASB events main sponsor. ENGLISH UNDER 14 & UNDER 16: LAST 16 Oliver Lines (above) will play Darryl Hill in the final of the English Under 14 Championship after progressing through the Last 16 stage at the Northern Snooker Centre. Lines made a break of 50 in a 4-0 win over Haydon Pinhey before beating Liam Clark 4-2, despite a break of 40 from the loser. He then defeated the favourite, Shane Castle 4-2 to reach the final. Castle became one of the youngest players ever to produce a match century break at the tender age of 11 two years ago. Hill’s run to the final included comfortable 4-1 victories over Jordan Winbourne and Joseph O’Connor, making a break of 51 in the latter match. He then progressed to the final with a 4-2 win over Adam Bobat, making the highest break of the finals, 64. Lines was also in action the following day in the finals of the English Under 16 Championship as he attempted to conquer a much higher age group. He made breaks of 41 and 48 in an opening 4-2 win over Andrew Smith before seeing off Martin Ball by the same scoreline. However his great run was ended by Tom Maxfield 4-1, although the match was much closer than the scoreline suggests, with Lines potting the blue and going in-off to level at 2-2. Maxfield will play Sam Craigie, younger brother of Main Tour Professional Stephen Craigie, in the final after he beat Sam Harvey 4-1. The finals will be played during the EASB finals weekend on 23rd/24th May at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. OPEN PRO-AM SUNDAY 12TH APRIL Peter Lines made a triumphant return to the Pro-Am series beating Scott Raper 3-2 in the final. It was a closely fought affair, Lines securing victory on the colours in the last frame. Lines opened with a pre-lim win over Mick Savery, followed by wins over Brian Pritchard and Craig Steadman. He then beat Steve Donner 3-1 to reach the semis where he faced James McGouran, who he beat in the previous final. However a century break helped Lines to a 3-0 win. Raper was taken the distance three times on his way to the final, opening with a 3-0 win over Chris Hart, but then extended to 3-2 in his other three matches. Firstly against Jamie Barratt, then Sadj, and finally against Mark Livingstone in the semis. Barry Frankland and Farakh Ajaib shared the money in the final of the plate. OPEN PRO-AM WEDNESDAY 8th APRIL With the Easter holidays in full swing, a strong field of 35 was attracted to the Northern SC although previous event winner Peter Lines was not among them due to work commitments. The remaining pros in the field were given a rough time, David Grace just edging Mark Livingstone 3-2 after both players made breaks in excess of 80, but shock of the round was Callum Waite’s 3-1 win over Kuldesh Johal. Simon Bedford did survive the opening round but was then edged 3-2 by James McGouran. Grace was also put to the sword 3-0 by Craig Steadman. Richard Binns posted a break of 105 but was beaten 3-1 by Liam Thewlis, who had also beaten him in the quarters of the Leeds City Championship. Waite could not match his first round form and lost 3-0 to Mitchell Mann. Into the quarters, Gene Lam opened with a break of 68 and pushed Steadman all the way before succumbing 3-2. In the first round Lam had beaten his younger brother Sanderson 3-2, ironically the siblings have been paired together in the first round 3 times since the pro-ams were re-initiated. Scott Raper edged Mann 3-2 despite Mann’s breaks of 50 and 58, and McGouran beat Ian Burns 3-0. Gyles Behbood was also a winner, 3-0 over Thewlis. Behbood had taken a couple of years out of the game but now appears to be returning to the form with earned him England junior caps. The semi finals saw Steadman edge Raper 3-2 and McGouran beat Behbood 3-1, and the finalists opted to share the prize money. Shaun Wilkes beat Daniel Womersley to win the plate competition. ENGLISH U19 LAST 16 Stuart Carrington will meet Liam Highfield in the final of the English U19 Championship after both players came through the final stages. Carrington was pushed hardest by PIOS finalist Jack Lisowski, who he beat 5-4 on the final black in the semis, while Highfield eased to a win over Shahrukh Nasir. Of the local hopes, Sanderson Lam was beaten by John Roberts while Daniel Womersley beat Damian Wilks to reach the quarters, before being edged 4-2 by Nasir. OPEN PRO-AM Peter Lines won his second Pro-am in a row, beating James McGouran in the final. However, after losing only one frame in the Midweek Open (see below), he had a much tougher ride this time. In fact, four of his five matches went to deciding frames, beating Richard Binns, Sanderson Lam, Gareth Green and McGouran all 3-2. There were notable runs from senior Brian Pritchard, who reached the quarter finals, and Tony Massey, who beat David Grace on his way to the semis, losing 3-0 to Lines. McGouran had recoverd from 2-0 down to Scott Raper to win 3-2 in the semis and reach his second final at the club in recent weeks following his capture of the EASB Pro-Ticket event (see below). Quarters (£10): MIDWEEK OPEN Peter Lines was the winner of the second Midweek Open event for a high quality field of 17 players. After not losing a frame in reaching the final, Lines defeated Kuldesh Johal 4-1 for the title. Nigel Bond was the highest ranked player to enter but after edging David Grace 4-3 he was on the wrong end of a decider as Johal beat him 4-3. Johal certainly had value for money winning 4-2, 4-3, 4-3, 4-3! Gene Lam was the most unfamiliar of the quarter finalists, losing 4-0 to Lines. Quarters: ENGLISH AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP REGIONAL QUALIFIERS The premier event in the English Amateur calendar got underway recently with the regional qualifiers for the prestigious English Amateur Championship. A total of 7 players made it through to the next stage which will see 16 players in the North and 16 in the South battle to gain a place in the final. The pre-lim rounds saw Chris Melling record a 4-1 win over his Bradford team mate Sajid Khan, while the closest finish saw Damien Wilks edge Richard Binns 4-3 on the pink in a titanic tussle. Wilks however lost next time out 4-1 to Lee Postil, while his namesake Shaun Wilkes (no relation), was ousted by James McGouran by the same scoreline. Shaun Parkes scored heavily, breaks of 87, 75 and 62 to beat Anthony Kerr 4-0, while Stuart Carrington posted three breaks over 80 in beating Gyles Behbood 4-2. Jake Nicholson was a 4-3 winner over Sam Thistlewhite on the final blue, while Gene Lam scored a notable scalp beating Sheffield’s Dave Portman 4-2. The third and final round saw Scott Raper surge into a 3-1 lead over Paul Hunter Scholar Adam Duffy, but Duffy produced breaks of 91, 78 and 58 to recover to win 4-3. Lam lost 4-1 to Carrington while Melling’s run was ended by Jonathan Bagley 4-2. The other qualifiers were, Ian Glover, James McGouran, David Birley and Jamie Barratt. EASB PRO-TICKET EVENT 5 James McGouran won the 5th event in the EASB Pro-Ticket series with a nailbiting 5-4 win on the final black over Sean Bullock in the final. McGouran is a former professional who completed the notable double of the Pontins Spring and Autumn Opens a few years ago. Bullock had led 4-1 in the final before McGouran’s come back. In the quarter finals he edged Rob James 4-3 and followed up with a 4-2 win over Sam Baird in the semis. Bullock enjoyed a 4-0 win over Callum Downing in the quarters followed by a 4-2 win over Stuart Carrington, who had the opportunity to take the lead in the rankings had he won the event. Scott Raper fared best of the local hopes, reaching the quarter finals but was beaten 4-0 by Carrington. The event was depleted however by an unfortunate clash of dates with the PIOS tour at Pontins, which started the same day. This left many of the top players with a dilemma, particularly those who ranked highly on both tours, and many were forced to choose the PIOS and scratch from this event. Jimmy Robertson still tops the rankings despite a quarter final exit to Baird. However, with the English Amateur Championship counting as double points, the top spot and the Main Tour place that goes with it is still up for grabs. The next 32 players will compete in the play-offs for a second place on the professional tour. ON THE RIGHT LINES Peter Lines (above) came through a strong field to win the Open Pro-am on Wednesday of the half term school holidays, with a 3-0 win over surprise package Joel Walker. 42 entries were recorded, including no less than 6 Main Tour Professionals topped by Nigel Bond and Jimmy Michie. Bond however was eliminated at the first round stage with a 3-1 reversal to Craig Steadman while Michie was edged 3-2 by Callum Waite after disposing of another pro, Kuldesh Johal. In a cruel twist of fate, the first round draw saw Lines v Lines as Peter played son Oliver, although Lines snr showed no mercy winning 3-0 with a 104 along the way. Early rounds also saw David Grace scrape past Richard Binns and Wayne Cooper both 3-2 before being blown away by Steadman in the last 16. After Callum Waite’s great win over Michie, he then fell 3-2 to Mitchell Travis in the quarters while Joel Walker overcame Gene Lam by the same scoreline. Walker had earlier beaten former Leeds and Yorkshire Champion Scott Raper 3-1. Steadman fell 3-1 to Ian Burns while Lines beat Anthony Green 3-0. Into the semis, Lines beat Burns 3-1 while Walker was again taken the distance but prevailed 3-2 over Travis. The plate event was won by Johal, who beat Bond on his way to collecting a £40 consolation. Please note the next event in the £10 series has changed, due to a clash with the University Championships. It will now be a week later on Sunday 22nd March. The next event is the preceding Wednesday, 18th March, £20 entry and handicaps for professionals and PIOS players removed. SLAM-DUNK! Sanderson Lam (above) won the 4th event on the EASB Regional Junior Tour on home turf at Northern SC, Leeds. Lam, who made his debut for the England Junior team in last years friendly with Scotland, came through a large field to prevail at gone midnight after a long days play. Lam finished second in his qualification group after winning 4 of his 5 matches, losing only to Ashley Hugill 3-0. The group was topped by another Northern SC prospect, Daniel Womersley ahead of Lam and Elliot Slessor, a young potter from the North East. Into the knockout rounds, Lam then made short work of Oliver Lines and Zac Barton before a narrow 2-1 win over John Roberts put him through to the final. He faced Sean Pritchard, who had beaten Jack Orrell and Womersley 2-1 before a 2-0 win over Slessor in the semi finals. But despite the late hour and the hard days play Lam was not to be denied and triumphed 2-0 to collect his first Regional title. He follows fellow NSC player Thomas Wealthy who won back to back events last season. Although the cream of English Junior snooker compete on the Premier Junior Tour, Lam’s achievement is still remarkable considering his tender age of 15 in a field open to anyone under the age of 21. Of the other local hopefuls, Mark Lunn finished 4th in Group C while Will Byrne was 5th in Group D. Wealthy was disappointed to finish 3rd in Group E and Sanderson’s brother Gordon finished 5th in the same group. Daniel Womersley scored the highest break with 76 while Chris Keogan made 74. EASB PRO-TICKET EVENT 4 Adam Wicheard was the winner of the 4th event in the English ranking series after a 4-2 win over Jimmy Robertson in the final. That Wicheard is even playing at all is a real inspiration after undergoing a major operation to remove a tumor on his spine 2 years ago. At the time doctors feared he may never even walk again yet this victory proves he is back to full strength. Wicheard was relatively untroubled in reaching the last 16, making breaks of 112 and 113 in a 4-1 win over Alan Taylor to qualify. Returning on the Sunday, he beat Northern SC ‘A’ team member Scott Raper 4-1, making a break of 96 along the way. Raper made a break of 104 in the only frame he won. He then beat Sam Thistlewhite 4-2 and came from 2-0 down to beat Stuart Carrington 4-3 to reach the final. Robertson, who finished top of the Pro-Ticket rankings two seasons ago but did not keep his place on the Main Tour, came into the event in 1st position after winning the second event and reaching the semis of the third. He survived a titanic struggle against England International Matt Wilson in his opening match, making breaks of 98 and 84, Wilson replying with 86 and 81 until 3-3. In the decider, Wilson made a break of 64 but Robertson cleared in two visits to win in the black. Reprieved, Robertson comfortably reached the quarter finals where he beat Jeff Cundy 4-1 with a 113 break, and beat Sean Bullock 4-1 in the semi finals. He retains the lead in the rankings by 130 points from Stuart Carrington, with Alfie Burden 3rd another 100 points adrift. Wicheard moves up to 8th after his win. Of the local players involved, Raper and Jonathan Bagley reached the last 16, while Callum Waite lost 4-2 to Bullock in the last 64 and Richard Binns lost 4-3 to Greg Batten in the first round. OPEN PRO-AM EVENT 1 Craig Steadman and Paul Metcalf shared the prize money at the end of another successful £10 Pro-am event at the Northern SC. With Alex Crum celebrating his 75th Birthday, congratulations Alex, the Tournament Director role was filled by Peter Jackson, and he was on his toes from the off with 48 runners in the field. Early rounds saw James McGouran post the highest break of the day with 114 in a 3-0 demolition of Barry Frankland, and shock of the day Bradford’s Gareth Green ousting Main Tour Kuldesh Johal 3-1 receiving just 8 start. Wayne Cooper, another entrant from the professional circuit, was knocked out by Paul Metcalf from Grimsby. Into the quarters, David Grace was pushed all the way by a determined Richard Nelson before winning 3-2, while Steadman beat Mike Walsh 3-1. Metcalf overcame Scott Raper 3-0 and Halifax’s Luke McEvoy scored an impressive 3-1 win over McGouran. McEvoy’s run came to an end in the semi finals losing out 3-0 to Metcalf, although his run to the last 4 will be a huge boost in confidence after making the decision to leave education and pursue a professional career in snooker. Steadman beat Grace 3-1 although Grace missed a pink on a break of 54 in the 3rd frame and eventually lost it on the black to put Steadman 2-1 up. With Steadman already in the final and the second semi not even under way, the players opted to share the prize money again. The plate event saw Malcolm Bilclough triumph over Barry Frankland in the final, after Frankland had ensured Kuldesh Johal’s miserable day continued with a 2-1 semi final win. Quarters (£20): MIDWEEK OPEN EVENT 1 Kuldesh Johal rediscovered his PIOS form of last season in winning the first Midweek Open event at Northern SC. Johal came back from 3-1 down to beat Peter Lines 4-3 in the final and collect the £140 first prize. 16 players lined up for the first event of 2009, including four Main Tour professionals. The first round was relatively shock free, with Damian Wilks producing the best recovery from 3-2 down to beat Adam Sharman 4-3. The quarter finals saw Lines make a break of 111 to win 4-1 against Malcolm Bilclough, a player who briefly turned professional in the 1990’s and is back playing regularly again. David Grace made a break of 103 to lead Robert Valiant 2-0 but from 3-1 up was frozen out as Valiant secured 3-3 with a break of 88 and the decider with an early run of 40. Wilks gave a good account of himself against Johal, leading 2-1 but Johal fought back to win 4-2. Jamie Barratt edged Wayne Cooper 4-3 to fill the other semi final berth. Lines was a 4-1 winner over Valiant in the first semi, while Johal was in imperious form during his 4-0 demolition of Barratt. Johal was simply irresistible as breaks of 74, 68, 52 and 101 transported him into the final with the minimum of fuss. Johal had appeared to be struggling to adapt to life as a professional but a confidence boosting run in the Masters qualifying competition was followed with two wins in the Maplin UK Championship and he now has a realistic chance of remaining on the Tour for a second season. The plate event was won by Adam Chalkley, beating Sam Thistlewhite in the final to collect £40. YORKSHIRE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS Chris Keogan of Doncaster was crowned new Yorkshire Under 19 Champion following a 3-1 victory against Sanderson Lam at the Northern SC, Leeds. He follows in the footsteps of many of Yorkshire’s finest players, including Peter Lines and three times winner David Grace who are both now professionals. Keogan, who is coached by Steve Prest, trod a precarious route to the final, but showed great resilience in the quarter finals when he produced a 62 clearance to beat Thomas Wealthy 2-1. He then edged Ross Doyle 2-1 to reach the final. Lam, the youngest of three brothers who all play at the Northern, made a break of 54 to beat Daniel Womersley 2-0 in the semi finals. The Under 15 event saw Lam again reach the final, but he was beaten to the title by Oliver Lines, who prevailed 2-1. Lines, confident after reaching the Last 16 of the English Under 14’s (see below), was a 2-1 winner over Ashley Hugill in one semi while Lam edged Joe Roberts by the same scoreline. Most impressive in this event was the two finalists breakbuilding, Lines making a break of 45, and Lam runs of 40, 41, 44 and a superb 74 during the event. Both players will be in action in the senior Yorkshire Championship in February, in this form they may cause a few surprises! ENGLISH UNDER 14 QUALIFIERS Oliver Lines, son of Main Tour professional Peter Lines, was the only player from Leeds to reach the Last 16 of the English U14 Championship. Lines finished 2nd in his group, beating Toby Simpson 3-0 and only losing narrowly 2-1 to the highly rated Darryl Hill (Isle of Man). Among the other qualifiers was Joe Roberts of Featherstone, who made a break of 52, although his group was topped by Aaron Davies. Liam Clark won his group and also made a break of 46. In the Southern section, Jordan Winbourne topped his group and made the highest break, 55, while Michael Rogers and hot prospect Shane Castle also finished top of their respective groups. The Last 16 stage will be played on 18th April at Northern SC, Leeds. NORTHERN SC CHRISTMAS PRO-AM Craig Steadman and Wayne Cooper shared the money in the final event of the 2008 Pro-Am Series, in the prestigious Northern SC Christmas Open. Perhaps due to the event being so close to Christmas, only 22 entries were recorded although it was a high quality field, comprising four current Main Tour Professionals and a number of PIOS players. Steadman was paired in the first round with Kuldesh Johal, who was full of confidence off the back of the UK Championship qualifiers where he reached the third round for the first time in his career, losing 9-5 to Michael Holt. However, it was Steadman who triumphed 4-1 to progress. Cooper started in blistering fashion in a 4-0 win over Ashley Hugill, compiling the events highest break a superb 142. Another Main Tour entrant, Simon Bedford, was crushed 4-0 by Gary Wilson, an incredible scoreline considering Wilson was not in the best frame of mind after being crashed into on his journey down. Fortunately, no damage to Wilson, and only superficial damage to the car. Into the quarter finals, Ian Burns defeated Callum Waite 4-1, and Steadman defeated Chris Norbury, who had made sure Wilson’s miserable day continued with a 4-0 win in the last 16. Cooper beat his fellow Bradford-ion Gareth Green, but David Grace produced the story of the round. He trailed 3-0 to former Pontins Open Champion James McGouran, but fought back to 3-3 and secured a memorable win with a break of 88 in the decider from his first chance. Steadman was a 4-3 victor over Burns in a tight semi final, while despite another Grace fight back from 0-2 to 2-2, Cooper held firm to win 4-2 and reach the final. Due to time pressures, the final remained unplayed, although from 2009 players will be allowed to shorten the length of the final in order to achieve a result for the competition. Adam Chalkley continued his recent good run of form at the club to defeat Johal 2-0 to win the plate event and pick up £50. Semi Finals (£50) Final (£250/£125) Plate Final OPEN PRO-AM EVENT 4 The last £10 event of 2008 was another resounding success, attracting 50 entries, and more dates have been added for 2009, see diary above. Jamie Barrett and Adam Chalkley were the finalists, but due to pressing time were forced to share the prize money. With the Masters qualifying event on in Sheffield, the field was made up entirely of amateurs, although a number of PIOS players entered. The early rounds produced few shocks, although Gene Lam put his younger brother Sanderson out 3-0 to restore family superiority after England Junior International Sanderson’s win in a previous event. Into the last 16 and David Craggs beat his travelling partner Gary Wilson 3-1, while Richard Binns, runner-up in event 2, ousted Gene Lam 3-0. Kevin Firth (100) and Wilson (106) both recorded centuries but highest of the day came from Pete Fisher with a 125, although he lost 3-2 to David Silson. In the quarters, Craggs saw off Mark Walsh 3-0, and Barrett disposed of Daniel Knight by the same scoreline. The other two matches went the distance, Binns edging Silson and Chalkley beating Wayne Wooton. Binns put on a strong showing in the semis, but in the end found the 10 point handicap too great and succumbed 3-2 to Barrett, while Chalkley beat Craggs 3-1 to reach the final. The plate event saw Lee Stevens edge Tony Massey to take the £45 consolation prize. Quarters (£20): Semis (£45): Final (£180/£90): Plate Final (£45/£20): EASB PRO-TICKET EVENT 2 Jimmy Robertson defeated Michael Wild 5-3 to win the second event on the English Pro-Ticket Tour, the winner of which will receive a place on the World Snooker Tour next season. Robertson trailed 2-0 but fought back and will shoot up the updated rankings having lost in the first round of the first event. Wild may well be the early leader after a quarter final in the first event. Event 1 winner Chris Norbury was ousted 4-3 in a long battle by Shaun Parkes. Robertson defeated Gary Wilson 4-1 in the semi finals, having beaten Ben Woollaston 4-2 in the quarter finals. Wild beat Stuart Carrington 4-0 before surviving a few anxious moments in his semi final with recent PIOS Event winner Craig Steadman. Wild had led 3-0 but Steadman responded with a break of 104, missing the 14th red with a possible maximum in sight, and also closed to 3-2. The match seemed set for a decider but Steadman missed the pink clearing up and Wild fell over the line. Of the local hopefuls, Jonathan Bagley faired best and progressed to the quarter finals, where he was beaten 4-0 by Wilson. Bagley had earlier beaten Scott Raper 4-3 on the black in their eagerly awaited first round encounter. Callum Waite was edged 4-3 by Shaun Parkes, and Jake Nicholson lost 4-1 to Jack Lisowski. Gareth Green beat Womens World Champion Reanne Evans 4-3 but lost his next match. Richard Binns lost his first match 4-2 to Geoff Williams. Williams made the highest break with a 132. The Tour now moves on to Woking before back-to-back events at the Northern SC which will shape the possible candidates for the number one spot and also the 32 man play-offs which will decide the further place on the professional circuit for next season. PRITCHARD DOES THE DOUBLE Brian Pritchard, seen here with top 16 player Joe Perry, created a piece of club history by adding the Club Championship title to the Handicap crown he won a few months ago. Since the beginning of the Club Championships in 1998 no player has claimed both titles in the same season. Former winners of this event include Kuldesh Johal and David Grace, both now members of the professional circuit. Pritchard’s latest success came with a 3-2 win over Chris Driver in the final. Now semi-retired, Brian is a regular at the Northern but his sporting ambitions do not end with snooker. He is also a keen golfer as is his wife, Donna, and is also fully qualified to pilot small aircraft! He certainly knows how to fly on the green baize! NORTHERN SC AUTUMN OPEN David Grace (above left) and Chris Norbury (above right) were the finalists in the Northern SC Autumn Open, unfortunately due to time pressures the final remained unplayed and the finalists shared the prize money. With an increased entry fee and no handicaps for professionals, it was hoped more Main Tour members would compete but possibly due to the Bahrain Championship qualifiers the following morning, just Grace and Kuldesh Johal were present from the Tour. The entry was boosted however, with a large number of players from Liverpool, Chester and particularly Preston, a hot bed of snooker, which is home to professionals Ian McCulloch and Stuart Pettman. Johal was first to strike form, compiling a break of 101 in a 4-2 win over Neil Jones, while the youngest entrant Sanderson Lam suffered a 4-1 reverse to Gareth Green. The clash of the first two rounds was Jeff Cundy, a professional for many years who narrowly missed out on a return last season, against another former pro Leigh Robinson, who once beat none other that John Higgins in the World Championship. Robinson triumphed 4-2 to set up a quarter final against Norbury. But it was Norbury who ended his run with a 4-2 victory. Elsewhere, Grace beat England International James Welsh 4-0 and Lee Stevens beat Liverpool youngster Anthony Jeffers 4-1. But possibly the shock of the quarters was Johal’s demise, whitewashed 4-0 by Adam Chalkley. Both semi finals were classics. Grace faced Stevens, who had defeated him in the previous event (erroneously entered as Lee Dagher, he changed his name some time ago). It was Stevens who cantered to a 2-0 lead, and after Grace had pulled one back he made the highest break of the day, 107, suffering a kick on the yellow looking good for a 134, to open up a 3-1 lead. Grace replied with 73, breaking down with a maximum in mind after 10 reds and 9 blacks, and after levelling at 3-3, secured a nervy decider with a break of 70. Norbury and Chalkley also went toe to toe until the score reached 3-2 to Norbury, when Chalkley produced a superb green to black clearance to take the match to a decider. He also led by around 50 points in the decider, but Norbury cleared only to miss the final black. After chances on both sides, it was Norbury who sank the final ball to emerge victorious. Neil Jones secured some petrol money by winning the plate competition with a 2-1 win over Neville Whalley. Quarters: Semis (£70): Final (£300/£135): Plate Final (£40/£10): Next pro-am event is the final £10 pro-am of 2008, on Sunday 23rd November. Also we have the Northern SC Christmas Open, probably the last stopping point before the festivities begin for most players! See above for full details. EASB PREMIER JUNIOR TOUR EVENT 2 Jack Lisowski prevailed in an all-Gloucester final with Michael Wasley to take the first prize in the second event on the English Premier Junior Tour, after a long hard weekends play. Lisowski potted the black ball to win 4-2, after his opponent had threatened to take the match to a decider. Lisowski’s victory all the more spectacular in that he is shortly to complete his treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma, which has left him so short of stamina that this was one of the first few events in which he has been able to compete this season. Lisowski will now be looking to recover full fitness and fulfil his undoubted talent. The winner only qualified from his group in 3rd position, but his class shone through on the second day with wins over Mitchell Travis 4-2, then Bradford’s Gareth Green 4-3 from 3-2 down with breaks of 84 and 73 to finish. In the quarters he defeated Kyren Wilson 4-1 and finally John Astley 4-1, closing the match out with a break of 84. Wasley was in superb form on the Saturday, compiling the highest break of the event with a 134 total clearance, before beating Sam Craigie, James Silverwood, Darrell Whitworth and Nick Jennigngs to reach the final without being taken the distance. Wasley made his second ton, 103 against Jennings in the semis. Richard Binns was the main local hope and he topped his tough group on the Saturday before losing 4-3 to Tom Maxfield in the first knockout round. Such was the quality of Binns’ group that non-qualifier Darren Cook beat Binns 3-1 with breaks of 70, 92 and 123. The next stop on the tour is in early December at Stockport. Full rankings and results at www.englishsnooker.com PRO-AM EVENT THREE After the success of the first two events in the series, a staggering 54 entrants lined up at the Northern Snooker centre for the latest Pro-am event. With the second day of the EASB Premier Junior Tour also in action, it was a very busy day! With usual Tournament Director Alex Crum donning his white gloves for the EASB event, in stepped Andy Brook who throughout his years has developed key skills in this area and was more than capable of doing the job. The preliminary round saw Sanderson Lam overturn a 2-0 deficit to beat PIOS player Adam Chalkley 3-2, but the shock of the round was Lee Dagher’s 3-2 win over an out-of-sorts David Grace, Dagher making a break of 40 in the decider to add to his 18 point start. Peter Lines edged to a 3-2 win over Billy Castle, who had been playing in the Junior Tour event the previous day before being eliminated. Into the second round, Daniel Womersley continued his run of good results in the series, beating Alan Taylor 3-2 after the England International had led 2-0 with a break of 95. Craig Steadman, who will represent England in the World Amateur Championship in Austria later this month, defeated Dagher 3-1, while Lines again won 3-2, this time from 2-1 down to the ever-improving Gene Lam. Lam’s brother, Sanderson, made a break of 63 in the decider to beat Daniel Ashworth 3-2. Last event’s surprise finalist Richard Binns fell 3-0 to Damien Wilks, but the form of the round came from Chris Melling and Wayne Cooper. Melling, who has twice competed on the Main Tour and is one of the top English Pool players in the World, constructed breaks of 89 and 70 in a 3-0 win over Johnny Bradley. Cooper meanwhile was in devastating form in a 3-0 win over Mitchell Travis, compiling breaks of 91, 117 and 132, the highest of the day. Travis commented afterwards that he had five shots in the entire match! The last 16 saw Melling and Cooper meet, and it was Bradford’s Cooper who won 3-2 in a more modest encounter. Thomas Wealthy fell 3-1 to Steadman, while Paul McHugh continued his efficient progress with a 3-2 win over Chris Hall. Sanderson Lam is another player who appears to be enjoying these events, and he chalked up another very notable win by beating rookie professional Stephen Craigie 3-2. Womersley’s quarter final debut ended in disappointment when he lost 3-2 to McHugh, while Steadman put paid to Coopers good run with a 3-0 win. Lines stepped up a gear to beat Lam 3-0, and Carl Mottershaw, who travels by train from Normanton twice a week to practise at the club, was bitterly disappointed to let slip a 2-0 lead in his quarter final. Mottershaw had taken command against former World Under 21 Champion Gary Wilson from Wallsend, but in the end the PIOS player used all his experience to recover the result. Steadman ended McHugh’s progress with a 3-1 victory in their semi final. While in the other semi, Wilson produced a quickfire 3-0 win over Lines to leave the event two winner’s hope of winning back to back events unfulfilled. With a very long days snooker had by all, and long journeys home to be made, Steadman and Wilson opted to share the prize money, each taking home £140. Stephen Welsby won the consolation plate competition with a 2-0 win over David Grace. Quarters (£20): Semis (£50): Final (£190/£90): Plate Final (£40/£20): The next Pro-Am event is the Northern Snooker Centre Autumn Open, which takes place on Sunday 26th October, see above for full details. Remember, this event is £25 to enter and all matches are off scratch, although the increased entry fee will mean considerably increased prize money. PRO-AM EVENT TWO Peter Lines (above), back on the professional circuit this season, won the second event of the new £10 Pro-Am series at the Northern Snooker Centre with a 3-1 win over Richard Binns in the final. With the Qualifiers for the Royal London Watches Grand Prix the following day, a number of local professional braved the 18 point handicap, for some vital match practise. After attracting 44 entries to the first event, a slightly smaller field of 33, possibly due to the previous weeks’ Pontins Festival, assembled for the start of play, although the day started on a sour note for Richard Nelson who unfortunately thought it was an 11:30am start and was therefore scratched from the main event. The first round was relatively shock-free, although Gene Lam was beaten by Anthony Green, younger brother of PIOS player Gareth Green. Richard Binns, who has decided not to compete in the remaining PIOS events after a disappointing start in snooker’s second division, beat PIOS number 26 Leighton Gauci 3-2, while David Grace was hauled back from 2-0 to 2-2 by Phil Blackburn but held firm in the decider. Into round two, Wayne Cooper made a break of 102 in a 3-0 win over Sam Walker, and veteran Howard Brazil showed glimpses of a return to form with a 3-1 win over PIOS player Mark Livingstone. Two of the youngest players in the field clashed with Sanderson Lam beating Oliver Lines 3-1, but it was David Grace who stole the show. Level at 1-1 with Anthony Green, he produced a superb 137 total clearance, the highest break of the day, and an 80 to win 3-1. Two of the Main Tour Professionals clashed in the Quarters, with Peter Lines overpowering Wayne Cooper 3-0. Grace again lost the opening frame against Howard Brazil but made breaks of 72 and 88 to win 3-1. Sanderson Lam, who recently made his debut for the England Junior Team (see EASB page), pushed ex-pro Chris Norbury all the way before losing 3-2, but the match of the round proved to be Richard Binns against Chris Hall. Hall had led 2-1 thanks to superb breaks of 84 and 90, but Binns produced a break of 102 to level, and won a nervy decider on the pink to progress. Lines trailed 2-0 to Norbury after the Accrington player made breaks of 70 and 74, but fought back to 2-2 including an effort of 92. However, he appeared to be heading for defeat in the decider when left trailing by 20 with just the blue remaining. But Lines is nothing if not gritty, and secured the snooker he needed before clearing to black for a memorable victory. In the other semi, Binns faced Grace in a battle between two players who ironically share the same birthday. With the match nip and tuck all the way, Grace made a break of 96 to level at 2-2, but the in-form Binns was not to be denied as he added a break of 40 to his 8 points start, which was just enough to see him over the line. Binns unfortunately could not re-produce any of his earlier scoring form on the tight match table, and in was reprieved man Lines who edged the final with a 3-1 victory, to collect the £115 first prize. Binns collected £60 as runner-up and put his good form down to recent solo practise routines, which he has been working hard on. He intends to compete in the local Pro-Ticket events and if he keeps up this form he will be a match for anyone on home turf. Leighton Gauci recovered from his early defeat to Binns to win the plate competiton, beating Damien Astre in the final. Quarters (£15): Semis (£30): Final (£115/£60): Plate Final (£20/£10): The next event in the series is on Sunday 12th October, see above for full details. PRO-AM EVENT ONE The first event of the new series of Pro-Am tournaments at the Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds proved to be a huge success, with no less than 44 enthusiastic players cueing up to enter. And for just £10, they got plenty of snooker for their money. With amateurs receiving 18 start from Main Tour professionals and 10 from PIOS players, it is hoped the numbers will increase still further for the next event on Sunday September 21st. Tournament Director Alex Crum was the first man in action, as he paired the entrants up, resulting in some interesting early round clashes, including Peter Lines against top PIOS player and England International Michael Wild from Oldham. Wild won to resign Lines to the plate competition for the day. Also in the first round, David Grace was pegged back from 2-0 up to 2-2 by youngster Richard Binns, only to prevail in the decider. Gene Lam was surprisingly beaten 3-2 by his younger brother, Sanderson, while James Lawless, affectionately known on the circuit as Hair-Bear, was put into hibernation by Bradford’s Wayne Cooper, but the shock of the opening two rounds was the 3-2 victory for Daniel Womersley over England captain and European Championship runner-up Craig Steadman. Womersley was then beaten 3-1 by former junior Pot Black winner Mitchell Mann. Grace was the star of the last 16, making breaks of 75 and a superb 124, the highest break of the main event, to beat Damian Wilks 3-1. Wild recovered from 2-0 down to beat Leeds’ Jonathan Bagley 3-2, while Jake Nicholson was put to the sword by the North East’s Mark Livingstone 3-0. Menston’s Leighton Gauci dropped just one frame in reaching the semis, where he faced Cooper. Gauci led 2-1 and by 30 points, but Cooper made a superb 74 to level and took the decider with an early contribution of 40 to make the final. In the other half, Wild had seen of Grace 3-0 with three breaks over 50, and then defeated the longest traveller of the day, Kyren Wilson 3-1 in the semis. Wilson made the long journey from Kettering in the Midlands, but took home £40 for his trouble. Due to the lateness of the hour, and a long days snooker had by all, Cooper and Wild elected to share the prize money, each taking home £110. The fact that the tournament did not have a clear winner did not detract from the huge success of the day, and a number of players commented on their pleasure at having a cheap days competition in superb conditions. Lines bounced back from his early defeat to win the plate competition, with a 2-0 win over Anthony Massey, making a break of 142 earlier in the competition. Quarters (£20): Semis (£40): Final (£150/£70): Plate Final (£40/£20): Next event: Sunday 21st September 2008 PAUL HUNTER ENGLISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP Xiao Guodong, a 19 year old from China, won the 2008 Paul Hunter English Open with a series of superb performances rounded off by a 6-2 win over Ben Woollaston from Leicester. Guodong’s victory is the first time an overseas player has triumphed in this event, although until its re-launch in 2007 the tournament was open only to English born players. Guodong started in one of the toughest groups, including Malta’s Alex Borg, and Adam Duffy but all three progressed to the last 64 knockout stage. Guodong then defeated Lee Shanker 5-2, followed by a 5-3 win over Anthony Parsons which included a break of 103. Another ton, 111, followed in a close 5-3 win over Alan Taylor in the last 16 before he ended the brave run of Sourav Kothari in the quarters. Kothari, staying in the country following the World Billiards Championship in which he also reached the quarters, demonstrated his ability as an all-round cueist in beating two former members of the Main Tour, Jamie O’Neill and Jimmy Robertson, before Guodong triumphed 5-2. In the semi finals, Guodong faced the highest ranked player in the event, Joe Perry, who had compiled four centuries in reaching this stage. Perry was fancied to progress and took an early 2-0 lead, but Guodong showed his superb temperament to fight back to win 5-2 to claim his place in the final. Woollaston had topped his qualifying group losing only one frame, and made emphatic progress to the semi finals, beating Jamie Brown 5-2, Daniel Ward 5-0, before another whitewash at the expense of Pontefract professional Jimmy Michie. Woollaston made breaks of 64, 68, 121 and 134 during a superb display, before beating Chris Norbury 5-1 in the quarters. In the semis Woollaston faced the Northern SC’s own Peter Lines, who led 2-0 and 3-2, but undoubtedly the key frame proved to be the 7th. With the match score at 3-3, Lines led by 37 with only one red remaining, but in playing a safety watched in horror as the cue ball trickled in-off, leaving a free ball. When Woollaston eventually cleared to black to snatch the frame, a huge blow was struck in the context of the match and Woollaston comfortably won the closing frame to progress. The final was a quick affair, between two of the games rising stars, ironically both dropped off the Main Tour last year and will compete on the PIOS this season. Guodong has previously won the Asian under 21 Championship, and defeated Jimmy White 5-0 in a ranking event last season, but inevitably for someone so young found life in the qualifiers tough, so far away from his homeland. He has been helped, though, by living in Sheffield with his fellow Chinese players and practising at the World Snooker Academy. Woollaston reached the final stages of the Grand Prix and Welsh Open in recent years, but failed to earn enough points to remain on the Main Tour. A former European Under 19 Champion, Woollaston will be among the favourites to regain his place this year. Guodong made a break of 63 in the second frame, and surged away to lead 4-0 at the interval, before making a break of 55 in the 5th frame. A whitewash was well on the cards but Woollaston grittily cleared with 52 to win on the black and with a break of 60 reduced his arrears further. However, with the match now well and truly back on, Guodong held his temperament together superbly. A break of 84 assisted him to 5-2 without Woollaston potting a ball, and when Woollaston lost concentration and missed a basic red with a lead of 48, Guodong made a controlled clearance of 72 to clinch the match and the £3,000 first prize. He would have only won £2,500 but for the Northern SC’s kind gesture to add another £500 to the winners purse shortly before the event began. Woollaston collected £1,000 as runner-up. The standard of play was extremely high, and with the tables recently re-clothed for the World Billiards Championship, over 35 centuries were recorded. Matthew Couch led the chart after the group stage, compiling a break of 137 against Richard Binns, but it was Joe Perry who collected the £100 break prize with a superb 143 in the first frame of his last 32 win over Adam Duffy. Couch’s title defence ended with a 5-0 loss to Mark Joyce, although he was visibly struggling with a cold. Lines fared best of the local hopes and included a good 5-1 win over perennially dangerous pro-am campaigner Stuart Bingham in the quarters, David Grace lost 5-2 to Hugh Abernethy in the last 32 while Kuldesh Johal was on the receiving end of a 5-1 battering from Michael Wild in the last 64. Daniel Knight finished 2nd behind Lines in their qualifying group and pushed Jimmy Michie to 3-3 in the last 64 before succumbing 5-3. Last 16 QUARTER FINALS SEMI FINALS FINAL Full Photo Gallery now available on Gallery page… 2008 WORLD BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP Mike Russell (above) claimed his ninth World Professional Billiards Championship with a convincing 1,821 - 1,342 victory over top Indian Geet Sethi in the final. Russell was already considered the best player of his generation but in easing to his second consecutive title at the Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds has further enhanced his claim as one of the all-time greats. Sethi started the final with a break of 120, to which Russell instantly responed with an effort of 176 in a blistering start for both players. But it was Russell who soon took command, making a superb break of 315, adding a further run of 133 to lead 1,041 - 443 after the first session. Last year, Russell opened a huge advantage over Chris Shutt only to see this reduced to less than 200 but this time Sethi could not recover. Breaks of 120 and 183 from Sethi were responded to with 118, 189 and 193 as Russell kept his advantage for the remainder of the match, eventually winning by the handsome margin of 479. Russell collected £6,000 for his latest win and afterwards praised both his opponent and the Northern for providing the event with top class facilities yet again. Russell started the event with a bang on the first morning, firing in a break of 588 in crushing Austrian Michael Kreuziger, and was untroubled in either of his other two group games. In the quarter final he defeated young Indian Sourav Kothari 838 – 526, making breaks of 295 and 301. In the semi final, he was superb in beating the quick fire David Causier 1788 – 1149, making breaks of 104, 183, 204, 209, 231 and 492 in averaging 51.1 over 4 hours of play. Causier’s breaks of 95, 95, 114, 130 and 173 keeping the scoreline respectable. Sethi had topped his group but trod a precarious path to the final, overcoming another young Indian, Pankaj Advani 960 – 713 in the quarter finals, although the most tense finish to a match in the tournament came in the semi finals. Sethi faced last years runner-up Chris Shutt, and after 3 hours 35 minutes of their 4 hour clash the scores lay exactly level. Sethi then made 103 to all but clinch his place in the final, Shutt having insufficient time to recover. Victory was eventually secured by a 1426 – 1293 margin. Northern SC coach Ian Williamson came 3rd in his tough group, losing to Shutt and Advani, although he did have the satisfaction of recording one of the highest averages in the tournament in defeating Mark Hirst. Williamson averaged over 50, a feat which only the eventual winner managed to better. Full photo gallery from the 2008 World Billiards Championship available to view on the Gallery page… NORTHERN SC BILLIARDS OPEN Billy Bousfield (far left) defeated professional Alok Kumar (far right) to win the Open title, which included the group losers from the professional event. Bousfield defeated Paul Bennett in the quarters and local hero Jonathan Bagley in the semis, while Kumar beat fellow professional mark Hirst in a tight finish to make the final. PIOS EVENT 1 With our three most experienced players, Peter Lines, Kuldesh Johal and David Grace all qualifying for the Main Tour, it was left to our younger brigade of stars to shine in the first Pontins International Open Series event of the season at Prestatyn. Whilst none of them reached he latter stages, there were encouraging performances from two of our players who lost narrowly to extremely experienced players. Callum Waite scored a hard fought 4-3 win over Adam Chalkley, the player responsible for Lines’ exit from the English Amateur Championship last season, before losing 4-2 to Lee Walker. Walker is an ex professional who reached the quarter finals of the World Championship only 5 years ago so to run him so close will give Waite great encouragement for the remaining events. Jake Nicholson also pushed hard before succumbing 4-3 to another ex professional, Stuart Mann, in the first round. With a record PIOS entry this year, there are a number of pre-liminary matches which are drawn out at random, and Richard Binns can consider himself unlucky to have to play one of these. He went down 4-1 to York’s Steven Gregson although most of the frames went down to the colours. Waite, Nicholson and Binns are competing on the PIOS for the first time this year and with 7 events to go will no doubt gain invaluable experience along the way. Menston’s Leighton Gauci, who has received coaching from the club’s Ian Williamson, recorded a personal best by reaching the last 16, losing 4-0 to Durham’s David Craggs. Leeds’ Jon Bagley, runner up in the Yorkshire Championship, reached the second round before losing to Stephen Welsby 4-2. EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS David Grace converted his final chance to join next season’s Main Tour by winning the European Amateur Championship in Lublin, Poland. He defeated fellow Englishman Craig Steadman in a tense decider to win 7-6 and claim the trophy. Grace had narrowly missed out on the two EASB nominations for the tour after losing the final of Pro-Ticket event 6 to Wayne Cooper, and the semi final of the Pro-Ticket play-offs to Andy Lee. However, his victory in the English Amateur Championship (see below) earned him a trip to Poland and he was not to be denied this time. Inside the Globus Sports Hall in Lublin, Poland, Grace sailed through the group stage, winning 7 matches for the loss of just 6 frames in total, which earned him the number one seeding for the knockout stage. Along the way he missed out on a possible maximum break against Sweden’s Christopher Koba after missing the 10th black on 73. The knockouts started with a relatively routine 4-1 victory over Hungary’s Ede Dunai in the last 32, followed by a 5-2 win over France’s Gregory Kopec. Kopec had recovered from 0-2 to draw level at 2-2 but Grace made breaks of 56 and 85 to account for the last two frames. In the quarter finals, Grace again surged away, this time from 3-3, to record a 5-3 winning margin against Belgium’s Yvan Van Veldhoven, making a break of 90 to clinch the match. Welshman Andrew Pagett awaited in the semi final, and having already clinched his professional status through topping the Welsh rankings, was many people’s favourite to progress, but luck was not on his side. Grace fluked a ball in the first frame and went on to clear the table with a break of 113, but the killer blow proved to be the 8th frame. With Pagett 26 points in front, Grace missed the yellow employing the rest, leaving the Welshman an unmissable pot for frame. However, in potting the yellow he inadvertently knocked in the green, and left Grace a free-ball. Grace took the colours including a superb pink up the side cushion, screwing back for the black. Although he left himself glued under the side cushion, Grace managed to roll home the black to clinch a 5-3 lead. Although Pagett recovered to 4-5, Grace won the next frame to move into the final. Craig Steadman from Bolton was number 2 seed after the group stage, and despite a testing last 32 draw overcame Martin McCrudden 4-3, before beating Scotland’s Anthony McGill 5-2. In the quarters he defeated former professional Stefan Mazrocis 5-0, although Mazrocis had already qualified to regain his professional status through winning the International Open just before the Championships started. In the semi finals, Steadman faced former world number 5 Darren Morgan from Wales. Morgan had many years at the top of the game but still loves competing, and after previously winning the European and World Masters (over 40s) titles decided to have a go at the much stronger mens event. However it was Steadman who triumphed 6-3 to set up the all-English showdown. With the final played in front of a large crowd and being transmitted live on Polish television, both players looked predictably edgy. Steadman led 2-1 and 3-2, by winning a black ball game to rival that of Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor in 1985, both players missing chances until Steadman finally potted the final ball. Grace however took the final frame of the morning session to level at 3-3. Grace was first out of the blocks on the resumption, making a break of 71 to go 4-3 up, but back came Steadman and this proved to be the pattern up until the almost inevitable decider. With so much at stake, Grace did well to make a composed 39 early in the last frame, and after a safety battle took another three reds, and with Steadman needing snookers, he stepped forward to shake hands with Grace and concede defeat. It was a successful Championships all round for England, with womens World Champion Reanne Evans defeating Emma Bonney 5-3 to win the ladies title, and Grace’s fellow Leeds cueman Alan Trigg winning the Masters title for over 40’s. Trigg, who last won the title back in 2004, defeated Kieran McMahon 6-4. Every finalist was English with the exception of Northern Irishman McMahon. Grace will now join Kuldesh Johal and Peter Lines on next seasons Main Tour, meaning that the Northern Snooker Centre has a club record 3 professionals using the club as their practise base. EASB PRO-TICKET PLAY-OFFS Andy Lee (above), a 27 year old from Hinckley near Leicester will play on the professional circuit next season after winning the EASB Pro-Ticket Play-offs at Northern SC, Leeds. Lee came back from 3-1 down to beat Sheffield’s Adam Duffy 6-3 in the final. Lee’s parents are from Hong Kong but he has been at the business end of EASB events for a number of years now, most notably runner up to Mark Joyce in the English Open in 2005. Also a former English Under 21 finalist, he played solid snooker all weekend as the fancied players crumbled. He began with two 5-0 wins over Nathan Williams and Alex Dunkley, before beating former World Under 21 Champion Gary Wilson 5-1. In the semi finals, he defeated the home club’s David Grace 5-1, crucially winning the 4th frame to lead 3-1 after Grace had opened with a break of 51. Duffy also won through to the final convincingly, opening by beating Robbie Williams 5-2 with breaks of 87,60,87 and 72. He then defeated Ben Hancorn, runner up to Grace in the English Amateur Championship (see below), 5-0, before holding off Lee Page to win 5-3, making a 77 break along the way. Finally in the semi finals he beat Matt Wilson 5-1 with just a 53 break, after Wilson won the 1st frame with a 56. Wilson had beaten another of the favourites for the tournament, Craig Steadman 5-1 in the quarters. Lee pinched the 1st frame of the final on the pink with a 48 break after Duffy had broken down on 50, but Duffy won the 2nd with a run of 40 and the 3rd with a 64. Despite a break of 55 in the 4th frame, Duffy only eventually won the frame on the pink for a 3-1 lead at the interval. Lee then put his foot on the gas, winning the 5th frame with a 47, the 6th a 67 break, the 7th on the brown after opening with 36, and the 8th solidly with runs of 30 and 38. Lee closed out the match in solid fashion with a break of 67 to deny Duffy, who recently became the 2nd recipient of the Paul Hunter Scholarship, a scheme designed to help a promising young player fulfil their potential. Not surprisingly given what was at stake, there were only 3 centuries, Adam Wicheard making the highest, 103. EASB FINALS WEEKEND David Grace’s superb run of form continued as he clinched the 2008 English Amateur Championship with a 9-7 win over Bristol’s Ben Hancorn. He is pictured above being presented with the trophies by EASB Chariman Clive Brown. Grace started the final superbly, making a break of 103 in the very first frame, and despite leading 2-0 and 4-3, was level at 4-4 going into the final session. Grace again pulled away to go 2 frames clear at 6-4, before Hancorn again drew level at 6-6 and 7-7. With the match firmly in the balance, the exchanges grew ever more tense and the 15th frame was decided on the pink after both players had missed chances to clinch the frame. However it was Grace who potted brown, blue and pink to take the lead, and lady luck was to conspire against Hancorn early in what proved to be the last frame. Grace missed a red on just 12, only to fluke it to a middle pocket and went on to construct a break of 45 to take a commanding lead. When a Hancorn safety went wrong with three reds left, Grace took three reds with colours to put the frame and match out of reach and win his second English Amateur title, three years after his first. The final was the highlight of the EASB Finals Weekend, held at Sheffield’s World Snooker Academy, where a further 5 titles were decided. Adam Duffy won the English Under 19’s, with a 8-3 win over Ben Harrison, while Sam Craigie (U16’s) and Joel Walker (U14’s) collected the other junior titles. Brett Miller won a new event, the English Club Players Championship, which was open only to players not on the PIOS or Pro-Ticket tours. Former professional Nick Pearce won the English Seniors title (40+), while Rileys Exeter caused something of a shock in the Team Championship by beating the Durham team that won the World Team Championship in California last year. For full details of all EASB events, see www.englishsnooker.com PONTINS SPRING FESTIVAL A number of our players flocked to Pontins, Prestatyn, for the annual festival of snooker, and it was David Grace (above) who was the star of the show as he won the prestigious Pontins Open title. The roll of honour includes no fewer than 7 World Champions and such names as Steve Davis, Alex Higgins, Ken Doherty and Mark Williams amongst others. Grace’s name will now be added to the prestigious trophy. Grace came within a ball of defeat in just the 2nd round, as former Junior Pot Black winner Mitchell Mann recovered from 2-0 down to 2-2 before missing the final black, which Grace gratefully potted to progress. Grace then confidently strolled into the last 16, where he overturned a 2-0 defecit against English Open winner Matt Couch to win 4-2. In the Quarter Final, he faced World Under 21 Champion Michael Georgiou and despite trailing 3-2 at one stage, he showed tremendous resilience to win 4-3. Next up was world number 17 Jamie Cope from Stoke, who stormed into a 2-0 lead in double quick time. However, Grace again showed great character to launch another recovery, highlighted by a 90 clearance in the 3rd frame. Cope was conceding 18 start per frame as a Main Tour player, and the handicap proved too great as Grace chalked up a 4-2 victory to move into the final for the first time, after twice losing at the semi final stage. In the final he faced former World Finalist Nigel Bond, who like Cope was forced to give 18 start per frame. After winning the first frame on the pink, Grace constructed breaks of 103, 44 and 68 to move into a 4-0 lead, and despite Bond’s 50 to get a frame on the board, victory was not long in coming. Grace clinched the next frame to record a 5-1 score line and collect the famous trophy and £4,000 first prize. Bond collected £1,500 as runner-up. Jake Nicholson fared well in the Junior events, reaching the last 16 of the Under 20’s, losing 3-2 to Welsh International Robert Ford, while he went one better in the Under 16’s, losing in the Quarters to Jak Jones, who took a frame off Grace in the first round of the Open. The Under 20’s title was won by Mitchell Mann, another of Grace’s victims, with a 3-1 win over Scottish prospect Anthony McGill, while the Under 16’s went to Billy Castle. Anthony Massey won the Pontins Masters title for over 40’s, beating Andrew Milliard 3-2 in the final after compiling a break of 103 earlier in the week. The other Seniors title, for over 60’s, went to Graham Lewis. Stuart Bingham is a regular winner at the North Wales holiday camp, and did not leave empty handed as he collected the 20-40 Trophy. Lastly, the Plate title went to Essex’s Stuart Mann, with a 3-1 win over Anthony Cutler. Callum Waite reached the Quarter Finals before losing 2-0 to professional Alex Davies. ENGLISH UNDER 19 - LAST 16 Sheffield’s Adam Duffy again performed well at the Northern SC, to reach the final of the EASB English Under 19’s, where he will face Ben Harrison. Duffy has recently been awarded the Paul Hunter Scholarship by World Snooker, which entitles him to a year of training at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, which is also where the EASB finals weekend is taking place. He will receive not only snooker coaching, but also psychological advice and media training. Duffy was awarded the scholarship in recognition of his talent and performance in various events over the past few years. None more so than at the Northern SC, where he has won two Premier Junior Tour events and reached the semi finals of a Pro-Ticket event. He will line up alongside 32 of the country’s top amateurs in the EASB Pro-Ticket Play-offs on May 24/25th. Having qualified for the finals at the same venue last year, Duffy beat Bradford’s Gareth Green 4-0, Darrell Whitworth 4-1 and finally Stephen Craigie 5-4 to reach the final. Craigie is another outstanding prospect, and having won the European Under 19’s Championship in Glasgow recently is expected to receive a wildcard for next season’s professional tour. Harrison is a relative newcomer to national events but grew stronger as the day went on, beating PIOS player Alan Moore 5-3 to proceed to the final. Harrison had earlier put paid to the Northern’s two remaining hopefuls, beating Gene Lam 4-3 and Callum Waite 4-2. Lam had led 3-1 but could not clinch the match and was made to pay the ultimate price. Stuart Carrington, who won a Pro-Ticket event this season, made the only century of the day, 100, but was beaten 4-2 by Craigie in the Quarter Finals. PIOS event 8 winner Liam Highfield lost 4-1 to Moore, also in the Quarters. But performance of the day is undoubtedly the brave appearance of Jack Lisowski. Lisowski is an outstanding prospect but has been out of the game since he was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, and is undergoing chemotheraphy treatment. He made the long journey from Gloucester and despite losing 4-0 everyone was delighted to see him back on a snooker table. On behalf of everyone at the Northern SC we send him our best wishes. EASB PRO-TICKET EVENT 6 Bradford’s Wayne Cooper won the 6th and final EASB Pro-Ticket Event of the season and with it secured the number one ranking and the Main Tour place that goes with it. Cooper defeated Leeds’ David Grace 5-3 in the final in a repeat of the Northern final of the English Amateur Championship (see below). Grace now lies 2nd in the rankings, and although he can secure another 160 points if he wins the English final, he cannot now catch Cooper. He will however be involved in the play-offs and possibly the European Championships in Poland. Cooper came through a tough section, beating Jeff Cundy, Sam Baird and Michael Wild all by 4-2 score-lines. He trailed Wild 2-1 but made the highest break of the event, 136, to level and won the last two frames. Cooper returned on the Sunday to beat former English Amateur runner-up Martin O’Donnell 4-1, and former professional Nick Pearce 4-2 after trailing 2-0. Pearce once beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in a ranking event. Grace dropped just 5 frames on his way to the final, disposing of Nathan Williams 4-2, Ian Burns 4-1 and Stuart Watson also 4-1. In the Quarter Finals he beat PIOS qualifier (see below) Peter Lines 4-0, and in the Semi Final defeated the methodical Brian Cox 4-1, winning a lengthy 3rd frame on the black to lead 2-1. Grace led 2-1 in the final, and was in the balls with a chance to lead 3-1 but suffered a horrendous kick on a simple red and was frozen out as Cooper surged into a 4-2 lead. Grace did make a swift 87 to close the gap but Cooper secured the win in the next frame. Grace went into the final knowing that he needed to win and then also win the English Amateur final, but will now have to concentrate on the play-offs, which he reached the final of last year. This year will see the top ranked 32 players compete for the 2nd Main Tour place that is allocated to EASB. PIOS UPDATE Kuldesh Johal and Peter Lines have both secured their places on the professional tour for next season, after the 8th and final event of the Pontins International Open Series (PIOS). Both players suffered relatively early exits, Johal losing 4-2 to youngster Kyren Wilson, and Lines, after beating Wilson 4-3, lost 4-3 to Justin Astley in the last 16. However, they had both already done more than enough to secure a top 8 finish. Astley went on to reach the final, but the winner was 16 year old Liam Highfield from Stoke, who surprised many by winning the title. Highfield had beaten the Northern’s other hope, David Grace 4-1 in the first round, although Grace admitted to being mentally depleted after winning the Northern section of the English Amateur Championship 2 days earlier. The final rankings are shown below, with the top 8 qualifying for the professional circuit for next season: 1 Kuldesh Johal Huddersfield 1070 ENGLISH AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP David Grace (above) made home advantage tell to win the Northern finals of the English Amateur Championship. Grace defeated Bradford’s Wayne Cooper 6-3 to advance to the final at Sheffield’s World Snooker Academy on 17th/18th May. Grace won this title back in 2005, and with the double ranking points this event carries has now earned himself a great chance of obtaining pro status for the first time. His last 32 opponent was Michael Rhodes from Durham, who recovered from 2-0 down to 2-2 before Grace edged the 5th frame on the pink and comfortably won the last for a 4-2 victory. Next up was Michael Wild, and despite breaks of 51, 104 and 56 from Grace the match went to a decider, which Grace won with the aid of a 51. His closest match, however, came in the Quarter Final, against Leeds’ Jonathan Bagley. Grace led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 but each time Bagley recovered to pull level and force a nervy decider. Bagley had earlier missed the brown but potted brown and a superb long blue to leave Grace 13 behind with 13 remaining. Grace then sank a long pink, which he described as ‘the best shot of my life’, and dropped ideally on the black to force a re-spot. After winning the toss he elected to put Bagley in, and to the amazement of the gathered spectators, Bagley attempted a long double, which came to rest in an un-missable position for a relieved Grace to roll home for the match. Cooper had made his way to the final with relatively comfortable wins over Jonathan Clark, Chris Leake and Andy Lee, all by 4-1 margins, and began the final with a superb 104 break. He led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 but he could not extend his lead and Grace moved in front for the first time at 4-3. Cooper required two snookers in the next frame, and got them before Grace potted blue to move within one of victory at 5-3. It was then that Grace produced his highest break of the contest, 72, to all but clinch the match. Grace will meet Bristol’s Ben Hancorn in the final, the pair have never met although they did compete in the same England team that won the Home Internationals two years ago. The match is over the best of 15 frames. Should Grace win, he has a chance of topping the pro-ticket rankings, which carries a Main Tour place, although he must first do well in the last pro-ticket event, which is taking place at the Northern SC on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th April. Cooper remains top of the rankings and it appears to now be a two horse race for the number one spot. DIABETES UK U20’s OPEN TOURNAMENT Oliver Calland was the lucky winner of two tickets to all three sessions of the 888.com World Snooker Championships at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre on Saturday 26th April 2008, by winning the Diabetes UK Junior Open held at the Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds. Calland defeated the home club’s Richard Binns 2-1 in the final after a long day’s play to win the first prize. Binns had been favourite to prevail in the final, after beating in-form youngsters Daniel Womersley and Thomas Wealthy in earlier rounds, but failed to produce his earlier form in the final. Binns collected a cue and case as runner-up. The raffle included fabulous prizes including bowling vouchers, a DVD player and the top prize, a free coaching lesson from World Snooker Coach Steve Prest. All proceeds went to Diabetes UK. YORKSHIRE CHAMPIONSHIP This years Yorkshire Championship final line-up is complete, and will see defending champion Wayne Cooper facing Jonathan Bagley. Cooper overcame Ian Glover 4-2 then beat youngster Gareth Green to reach the final, while Bagley scored a good win over Simon Bedford, who is returning to the professional circuit next season. Bagley then beat Leeds’ last surviving player, Alan Trigg 4-1 to reach the final. The eventual winner will receive £300 prize money. Details of the final will appear here as soon as they are available. Quarter Final Results: Monday 17th March Tuesday 18th March Wednesday 19th March Friday 21st March Semi Final Results: Wayne Cooper (Bradford) 4-1 Gareth Green (Bradford) Jonathan Bagley (Leeds) 4-1 Alan Trigg (Leeds) Final (on a date T.B.C): Jonathan Bagley (Leeds) vs Wayne Cooper (Bradford) Pro Ticket Update Wayne Cooper (Bradford) won the 5th event on the EASB Pro-Ticket Tour, beating Robbie Williams (Wallasay) 5-4 in the final from 4-2 down at Woking SC. The event had originally been scheduled for Keynsham, Bristol but due to unforeseen circumstances the event had to be moved to an alternative Southern venue. Cooper now lies third in the rankings but with Peter Lines (1st) and Craig Steadman (2nd) both out of the English Amateur which carries double points, is in a great position to challenge for the Main Tour place which goes to the rankings winner. Cooper had been 10th before the event, but incredibly none of the top 9 made it past the last 32, demonstrating what strength in depth we have in the English Amateur game. Cooper had reached the final after a ding-dong battle with Tam Mustafa, eventually winning 4-3 after leading three times. Williams, who is coached by the Northern’s own Steve Prest, battered Lee Page in the semis including a break of 133, the highest of the event. Lines decided not to attend the event after the venue was changed at the last minute, and although he maintains top spot in the rankings he will qualify for professional status if he wins just two more matches in the remaining two events on the PIOS. David Grace defeated event two winner Stuart Carrington (Grimsby) 4-3 in the last 64 but was then beaten 4-2 by Adam Wicheard, who made a break of 101. He drops to 11th in the list but is still in the English Amateur. Full results: http://www.englishsnooker.com/admin/sitefiles/file/PDFDocs/PT5.pdf Rankings List: http://www.englishsnooker.com/admin/sitefiles/file/PDFDocs/ProT%20Rankings.pdf The final event is on 19th and 20th April at the Northern SC, Leeds. EASB English U16s Championship EASB English U14s Championship The finals of both competitions will be played as part of the EASB Finals Weekend on May 17th/18th at Sheffield’s World Snooker Academy. Duffy at the Double Adam Duffy (above) must like playing at the Northern SC, as he collected his second EASB Premier Junior Tour event of the season by defeating Alex Dunkley 4-3 in the final of event 5. The final proved to be a see-saw affair, with Duffy missing the brown to win 4-1 and Dunkley forcing a decider only for Duffy to make a well constructed 43 to all but clinch the match. Duffy also won Event 1 at the club back in 2007, and returned to the scene of that triumph to once again emerge from a field of over 40 of the country’s elite junior players. Duffy topped his group on the Saturday, then returned on the Sunday to beat Alan Moore 4-0, Stuart Carrington 4-3, and finally Daniel McCann 4-0 to reach the final. Duffy made breaks of 101, 99, 92, 88 and 75 along with five other breaks above 50 during the event. Carrington made the weekend’s highest with 133. Our home players continue to struggle with the very high standard, as none of them made it through the group stage although Richard Binns and Callum Waite both finished 3rd in their respective groups. Wealthy Winning Streak Rolls On Thomas Wealthy won his second consecutive Regional Junior Tour event at Liverpool Academy of Snooker. Wealthy was successful in the previous event at Bradford and kept his good form up in Liverpool beating Martin Ball to win the latest event. Wealthy’s success is even more remarkable as he has not progressed from the group stage in any previous events this season. He puts his success down to recent hours on the practise table, and hopes to qualify for the Premier Junior Tour for next season. If he keeps this run up, he will take some stopping! PIOS Update Bradford’s Bedford had battled back from 4-0 and 5-3 down in the final but despite his disappointment should also have done enough to ensure his return to the Main Tour. Peter Lines, who won event 5, lost 4-0 to Jeff Cundy in the last 16 but is third in the rankings and needs only a couple more match victories in the remaining two events to secure his Main Tour place. David Grace occupies 46th place, and needs what he described as ‘a miracle!’ to make the top 8, however he still has a chance of earning his professional status through the EASB Pro-Ticket Tour. Yorkshire Under 19’s Championship Northern SC’s Gene Lam won the prestigious Yorkshire Under 19 Championship, and with it £100 prize money by emerging from a field comprising most of the best juniors in the county. Lam started off in blistering fashion with a 58 break against Simon Baldwin, and bettered that mark with a 60 in his 2-0 win over Elliot Glover in the 2nd Round. The breaks then dried up but he nevertheless defeated the Northern SC’s other two ‘form’ youngsters with a 2-0 win over Daniel Womersley, and a 2-1 verdict over Thomas Wealthy in the Semi Finals. In the final, he faced Sheffield’s Mitchell Travis, who had overcome Daniel Ashworth 2-0 in his Semi, but there was to be no denying Gene who triumphed 3-1 and collected £100. Travis earned £50 as runner up while the losing semi finalists received £25. Yorkshire Championship 2nd Qualifier Defending champion Wayne Cooper, Bradford, came through his section to reach the quarters and keep his title defence on track, winning four matches culminating with a 3-1 win over Northern SC ‘A’ Team member Daniel Womersley. Womersley had earlier edged he vastly experienced Andy Brook 3-2 in the first round. In the quarter finals Cooper will face Doncaster’s Ian Glover, who defeated Leeds’ Anthony Massey to qualify. Glover had also beaten Thomas Wealthy, who is in fine form on the junior circuit of late. While the top half saw experience come through, the bottom half saw two talented youngsters battle through, and they will meet in what will be an interesting quarter final. First through was teenager Gareth Green, a Sunday Handicap regular, who won three matches to qualify. Opposing him will be Brett Miller, 21, who came through four rounds to seal his quarter final place. The quarter finals will be played at the Northern SC on dates TBC, details will appear on this website as soon as they are available. Regional Junior Tour Event 4 Northern SC employee Thomas Wealthy performed superbly to win the 4th event on the Regional Junior Tour at Bradford, finishing with a 2-0 win over Sam Thistlewhite (Sheffield). Wealthy, who works part time at the club cleaning tables, only finished 2nd in his group but grew stronger as the day went on, defeating Sean Pritchard, Thomas Pendlebury and Mitchell Travis to reach the final. Thistlewhite would have been favourite to claim the title as he competes on the Pontins International Open Series (PIOS), which is the Main Professional Circuit’s main feeder tour. However there was to be no denying Wealthy his win as he triumphed 2-0. It was Wealthy’s first win in the series, as he seeks promotion to the Premier Junior Tour for next season, and his win lifts him to 8th in the rankings. Thistlewhite made the highest break of the day with 112. Yorkshire Championship 1st Qualifier Simon Bedford, who won the first PIOS event of the season, was the first qualifier, with a 3-1 win over Sheffield’s Martin Finnegan in the final qualifying round. He also accounted for Shaun Wilkes, Peter Fisher and Liam Thewlis in the opening round. He will face Leeds’ Jonathan Bagley, who once again rolled back the years to put out Kuldesh Johal 3-1. Johal was first to post a high break, making 120 in his match against Shaun Parkes. This was then overtaken by David Grace, who made a superb 125 in the first frame of his 3-0 win over Scott Croley. Grace then survived an edgy encounter with Barnsley’s Adam Chalkley, winning 3-1 on the black to qualify. In the quarter finals he will face Leeds’ Alan Trigg, who bettered Grace’s effort with a brilliant 129 clearance, potting pink and bringing the white off three cushions for the black, in his 3-1 win over Sajid Khan to qualify. The second set of qualifiers will provide a further four quarter finalists, and is played on Sunday 17th February. The Quarter Finals onwards will be played on dates T.B.C. EASB English Amateur Championship The major shock was EASB Pro-Ticket Rankings leader Peter Lines failure to qualify, losing out 4-3 to Barnsley’s Adam Chalkley in the second round. Chalkley then went out to Jonathan Bagley in the final qualifying round. Bagley had earlier come from 3-2 down to beat Richard Binns 4-3. 2004 Runner-up Wayne Cooper (Bradford) made it through with a strong 4-1 win over Paul Hunter English Open Champion Matthew Couch, and Jeff Cundy saw off two Northern SC youngsters, Daniel Womersley and Jake Nicholson before beating Sajid Khan to qualify. Paul Davison, who was on the professional tour last year and played on television at the Grand Prix in Aberdeen, was edged 4-3 by York’s Steven Gregson in the final qualifying round. 2005 English Amateur Champion David Grace and Kuldesh Johal, who both use the club as their practise base, qualified with 4-0 victories over Adam Duffy and Anthony Massey respectively. Duffy had edged Scott Raper 4-3 on the black in the previous round. The remaining 32 players will compete in April, 16 in the North, 16 in the South and play down to the finalists, who will then face each other on the EASB Finals Weekend at a venue to be decided. EASB English Seniors Championship Leeds’ Alan Trigg was another qualifier, as he looks to add the English Seniors title to the European Seniors title he won back in 2004. Club regular Brian Pritchard, a former Semi Finalist of the Pontins Super 60’s, stepped down an age group and was edged out of qualification by John Barnes, an unrelated namesake of the former England footballer. Graham Cripsey has two claims to fame. He was a professional snooker player but he will perhaps be better remembered for being a ‘wall of death’ motorcycle rider. He even lost part of his thumb in an accident although this does not seem to affect his snooker as he qualified and made the highest break of the region, 87. In the Southern region, one of the title favourites Nick Pearce made a break of 102 and qualified comfortably. Pearce is another former pro and once beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1. The Last 16 will be played at Birmingham on Saturday 3rd May: EASB Junior Championships English Under 19 Championship Gordon Lam, younger brother of Gene, lost 4-0 to qualify against experienced North East cueman John Astley. Another last fence faller was Jake Nicholson, who lost out to John Astley’s younger brother Michael 4-2. Eckington’s Adam Duffy, an English Senior International at just 18 posted the highest break of the event so far, 135, while Sam Craigie (124) and Sam Thistlewhite (100) both made tons only to lose to Duffy in a tough section of the draw. Eight of the qualifiers play on the PIOS, which is the Professional circuit’s main feeder tour, and Grimsby qualifier Stuart Carrington recently won an EASB Pro-Ticket event. English Under 16 Championship Sanderson Lam played well with breaks of 51, 46 and 43 during the day, but was beaten 3-2 by Thomas Saddington who thereby took the sole qualifying slot in group D. Liverpool’s Daniel McCann made eight breaks over 40, topped by a 65 to comfortably win group E. The group F draw threw together four Northern SC regulars, and it was Luke McEvoy who came out on top with 3-2 wins over Jake Nicholson and Daniel Womersley. Mark Lunn finished 4th with a 3-0 win over Mark Keating. In the other regions, Tom Maxfield made a superb break of 128, and will be considered among the favourites to win the title. Darryl Hill, Jordan Rimmer, and Joel Walker have qualified in both the Under 14’s and the Under 16’s. The Last 16 takes place on Saturday 8th March at Northern SC, Leeds: English Under 14 Championship The Last 16 will take place on Sunday 9th March 2008, at Northern SC, Leeds. The line-up is: EASB Pro-Ticket Tour Update: EASB Pro-Ticket Event 1 The Northern SC hosted the first English Association for Snooker and Billiards Pro-Ticket Tour event, and it was the home club’s Peter Lines that ran out a convincing winner over the weekend. Lines dropped just 3 frames in his 6 matches, culminating in a 5-1 win over Andy Lee, including a break of 130. Lines had earlier beaten Greg Batten 4-0 and Bradford’s Wayne Cooper 4-1 in the semis, Cooper making 123 in the frame he won. The only other frame he dropped in the weekend’s play was to Kidderminster’s Lee Page in the last 16. Leicester’s Lee beat Adam Duffy 4-2 in the semis, Duffy forced into fixing a new tip to his cue trailing 2-1 after a number of miscues left his tip unplayable. Duffy, winner of the first Premier Junior Tour event at the club a few weeks earlier, did however construct the highest break of the weekend, a magnificent 141. The Northern’s other main hope, David Grace, started in blistering fashion with breaks of 74, 76, 96 and 124 to see off Chris Martin 4-1 but he went out tamely to Antony Parsons in the 2nd round. Lines’ win means he is currently in pole position for the Main Tour place available, although with another 5 events plus the English Amateur Championship to count, there is a long way to go. EASB Premier Junior Tour Event 1 Adam Duffy (above) beat Steven Gregson 4-2 to win the first EASB Premier Junior Tour event of the season at the Northern SC. He is pictured receiving his trophy from the Northern’s Vanessa. Duffy trailed 2-0 in the final to York’s Gregson, before reeling off four frames on the spin with breaks of 64, 59 and 52 to clinch the title and take the trophy back to Eckington, Sheffield. Duffy had beaten Jack Lisowski 4-1 in the semis, after overcoming Darrell Whitworth and Kyren Wilson by the same scoreline earlier in the day. Duffy had been in tremendous form in the group stages, including breaks of 134 and 135, the highest of the event. Gregson beat Harrogate’s Callum Waite 4-0, before recovering from 3-1 down to beat Kamran Ashraf 4-3 and clinched his final place with a 4-2 victory over Stephen Craigie, winning the 6th frame on the black. Of the Northern SC players in the event, Richard Binns made home advantage count to qualify from the groups as number one seed, but was then destroyed by Sam Craigie, younger brother of Stephen, 4-0 in the last 16. Luke McEvoy finished 5th in Group A, despite a great 3-2 win over Junior Pot Black winner Mitchell Mann, while Surjit Saund finished 6th in the same group. Jake Nicholson could only finish a disappointing 5th in Group B, while Gene Lam was perhaps unlucky to finish 4th in Group F, beating PIOS Tour player Alan Moore and losing two other matches 3-2. 2007 Paul Hunter English Open Championship Scunthorpe’s Matthew Couch (above left) defeated World number 7 Neil Robertson (above right) 6-5 to win the inaugural Paul Hunter English Open at the Northern SC, Leeds. Couch had led 4-0 and 5-3 in the final, before Aussie Robertson surged back to force a decider, which Couch won by clearing yellow to pink after Robertson had potted the last red but failed to get on a colour. Couch collected £4,000 for his victory. In the semi finals, Couch made breaks of 64 and 74 to beat Alex Davies (Clacton) 5-2, while Robertson was in superb form to beat 16 year old Michael Wasley (Gloucester). Robertson made breaks of 102, 113, and 100 in his 5-1 victory. The event has been re-named in memory of the late Hunter, who lost his battle with cancer last year. Paul began his career in the amateur ranks and reached the final of the English Amateur Championship before turning professional. His widow Lindsay was at the final to present the prizes and collect over £1,300 raised for the Paul Hunter Foundation from various charity events held during the week, adding that she was "grateful for all the contributions" and that "she had enjoyed watching the last few days of the event". And it was a fitting tribute that the final went to the decider, given the manner of Hunter's Masters wins in the deciding frame. The charity cash included £250 from Robertson, who bid successfully for a signed cue in an auction after the final. A total of £5 from every entry went towards the Foundation, Of the local players in the event, PIOS Tour event winner Kuldesh Johal (Huddersfield) went down 5-3 to Jimmy Robertson in the last 16, while 2005 English Amateur Champion David Grace, from Leeds, lost 5-2 to Alex Davies at the same stage after negotiating the first two rounds. Former Yorkshire champion Scott Raper was edged out 5-4 by Bolton's Craig Steadman in the first round. Drago was beaten 5-4 by Bradford’s Simon Bedford in the second round. Joe Perry lost to North East amateur Anthony Parsons in the last 16, Parsons making a break of 96 in the deciding frame. There were 14 centuries in total, Robertson's 134 earning him the £220 highest break prize. 2007 World Billiards Championship Mike Russell won a record 9th World title with a thrilling 2166-1710 win over 2005 winner Chris Shutt at the Northern SC, Leeds. Russell had led by over 700 after the first session of the final, making breaks of 274, 309, 382, 102, 55 and 91. Shutt countered with 85, 174, 132 and 94 unfinished, but still trailed 1319-584 going into the evening session. Shutt however started the final evening session like a train, breaks of 195, 246, 280 and 190 getting him as close as 150 behind with around 45 minutes left to play. It was then that Russell showed his pedigree with a superb 241 under intense pressure to secure what proved to be an unassailable lead. In the semi finals Russell played a sublime first session to open up a lead of over 1000 against Indian legend Geet Sethi, and although Sethi closed the final margin to 600 Russell was never in trouble. Shutt overcame David Causier by just 230 in the other semi, making a 421 break in the opening session and 281 in the second. Russell received £6,000 for his triumph along with £350 for the highest break, a superb 494 in the group stages. Shutt received £2,750 as runner-up. The Northern Snooker Centre’s very own Ian Williamson was a first fence faller, failing to qualify from what was dubbed as ‘the group of death’ featuring Russell, Sethi, and promising young Indian Sourav Kothari, although Williamson did lead Sethi for a while before succumbing by 70. |
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