An entertaining night for the second division Individuals Competition was held at the Bayley Club. The matches continued from the quarter finals stage with some great snooker played.

The first match saw two Maddocks C friends compete against each other, Steve Hassack and Jimmy Hill. Steve tried hard but he caught Jim in great form to take the frame including a 29 break. The next match saw home man Jim Lewis playing “Grinder” Craig Davies and, after a tight frame, the Minnesota Fats man won on the black ball. Darren Wincott produced a great frame of snooker to leave Ray Whitehead little chance and proceeded to the semis. The last quarter final also saw team mates play each other, Neil Robinson and Paul Crooks from the 2nd Club. Neil took an early lead but Paul soon found his range and his way to the bar to buy his pal a drink.

The semi-finals were the best of three between Jimmy Hill and Craig Davies with Darren Wincott taking on Paul Crooks. The match between Darren and Paul was over quickly as Darren found great form in his first frame to take the advantage. His potting and safety play continued into the second and he took the match to progress to the final. In the other semi, Craig and Jim’s match was not what dreams were made of, but it did send some spectators to sleep. Jim took the opening frame on the pink with Craig taking the second on the brown. In a cagey third Jim just did enough to scrape over the line by taking the blue and reach the final to play his team mate.

The Final between Darren Wincott and Jimmy Hill was played in a light hearted match including barracking from the spectators! Jim found some form to take the first frame in a quick-fire contest. Darren replied by potting some great balls (taking advantage from a fluke!) in the second to take the final into a decider. The final game of the night was played to a high standard. Darren took control and an early lead but Jim managed to just keep in touch and it went to the colours. Darren missed a tough pink to win and left a chance for his team mate. Jim took on the pot and watched the pink go in and the white finish perfect on the black. After composing himself Jim took the black to win the title. The night was a great success with all players and even spectators helping out with refereeing and scoring. Thank you to all that attended.

The division three individuals also started from the quarter final stage at Little Dawley with Chris Hughes taking on G Walls, with Chris taking command early on to see him into the semis. Terry Askew took on Steve Weatherall in the next, both players potting well but it was the Shifnal man Terry who potted the deciding colours. In the third quarter final Iain Atkinson took on the nights organiser Simon Evans in another tight encounter. With just the three remaining colours left and Simon needing all three to win, he potted the blue and pink but then saw the cue ball drop in off the black to hand the match to his opponent. The fourth match saw Kev Whitehead take on Phil Cottey, with Phil in sparkling form, having breaks of 23 and 31 to see him through to the semis.

In the first semi final of the night, Chris Hughes took on Terry Askew with the prize of a final up for grabs. Both players started tentatively, Chris then forged in front with some excellent potting, Terry fought back well and took a 25 clearance to pinch the frame and book his place in the final. In the other semi, the invincible Iain Atkinson took on the in form Phil Cottey, with Phil yet again knocking in some decent breaks. Iain potted well but Phil took the remaining balls to see himself through to the final, in which he faced Terry Askew from Shifnal.

The final match saw a 32 break from Phil, with Terry coming back well, Phil held his nerve and held on to put himself one up. In the second frame it was a scrappy affair, with both players knowing the importance of the frame, this time it was Terry who potted the remaining balls to level the match. In the deciding frame, Phil showed grit and determination to put himself into a commanding lead, Terry fought back well but yet again it was Phil who took the last few balls to claim the division three individual title 2-1. Simon would like to pass on his thanks to the following for their immense help G Growcott and Pete Clarke.

The Division One Individual which was played back in October last year to a finish was claimed by Tom Maxfield beating Graeme long 2-1. Just like to finish by thanking those who made this a good night for the league players, Angus way division one, Jimmy Hill division two and Simon Evans division three. Without their help and assistance these nights would be very hard to organise.

I hope all players who took part appreciate all the hard work that’s put in by these volunteers and congratulations to all winners. Just as a footnote we are looking to standardise the rules for this competition and have them integrated into the rules, any suggestions players might have are welcomed via email to myself or any other committee members.

Nigel Stallard

Nigel.Stallard@telfordsnooker.com

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