Paul Harper reached the final of the Telford Snooker League (Sponsored by Golden Purse Jewelers) Individual competition for the third year in succession with a 4-0 victory over Coddon's Lee Szklarzewicz in last week's semi-final.

The Billiard Hall player will be looking for to make it three wins on the trot when he takes on Broseley's Mick Brezwyn in the final to be staged at Shifnal War Memorial Club on Tuesday 22nd May.

The semi was a repeat of last year's final which Paul won 4-2 and so it was no surprise when the opening frame proved to be closely contested with Paul edging home by a frame score of 61 points to 40.

A quick fire second frame saw Paul notch a 52 break to go two nil in front and although Lee responded well with a 37 break in the next, runs of 47 and 34 saw Paul safely into a 3-0 lead.

Paul then booked his place in the final when he took the fourth frame 63-48 to stay on course for what could be his fifth win on the competition. However he will first need to overcome Broseley's Mick Brezwyn who reached his first final with a 4-3 win over Darren Pountney in the other semi-final.

Darren still has a chance to put his name on the three-a-side trophy however when he and his team-mates Ian Duffy and Matty Bailey take on Maddocks' Dave France, Mark Finucane and Adrian Barraclough in the final at Coddon on May 22nd.

The End of Season Divisional Individuals will take place on Wednesday 23rd May with a prompt 7.30pm start. The competitions are open to any players who have played in the respective divisions during the season and entry is made on the night before the 7.30pm deadline. Entry fee is £1.

The first division competition will be staged at the Sir John Bayley Club in Wellington with the second division tournament taking place at the Shifnal War Memorial Club.

Division three players will need to turn up at the Wellington Billiard Hall for their competition.

Spencer Rowley and Paul Harper, holders of the Oakengates Carpets Doubles Trophy, once again reached the final when they beat fellow Billiard Hall pairing Nigel Fletcher and Steve Minshall at the Shifnal War Memorial Club last week.

They did so in some style too as Paul rattled in a magnificent run of 119 in his first visit to the table and then followed up with a 52 break in the next as they ran out 3-0 winners of the best of five frame semi final.

Spencer started the match when he broke of in frame one and although Steve Minshall sank a long red his attempted pot on the black rattled in the jaws. Paul then stepped up to clear the table all the way up to the final pink for a break of 119 which included a particularly impressive long red when the break stood at 89.

Although missing the last black prevented the break reaching 126, his effort put Paul at the head of the queue in the race for the highest competition's break, as well as securing the first frame for the reigning doubles champions.

Paul looked all set to make it two centuries on the trot as he knocked in a 52 break in the next frame to double his side's lead and they looked to be heading for a 3-0 win when Spencer pocketed two vital pinks to give them a 30 point lead in the next frame.

However a spirited comeback saw Nigel clear the last red and all the colours up to the pink to force the game to a black ball finish.

And he looked to have sunk the black ball too only to see his attempted roll along the top cushion fall millimetres short of pace allowing Paul to slot home the final black for a 3-0 victory.

In the final they will play the Hills Lane pairing of Ian Duffy and Shaun Harris who defeated the Anstice pairing of Neil and Keith Price by three frames to one.

Broseley's Mick Brezwyn was also celebrating last week as he reached the final of the Chris Ward Individual with a close 4-3 victory over Hills Lane A captain Darren Pountney.

In a match that swung first one way then the other, Mick went ahead when he took the first frame on the black by 61 points to 47.

Darren then levelled matters as he took the next on the pink only for Mick to regain the lead by taking frame three 69-22.

Back came Darren though to take the next two frames to lead 3-2. But a close 49-38 win saw Mick level the frame scores at three all before clinching the decider with runs of 28 and 19 to book his place in the final where he will play either Paul Harper or Coddon's Lee Szklarzewicz.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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