Moving on from the regional competitions, the qualifiers were grouped into North and South sections to further reduce the field down to the last sixteen. All matches were held on Sunday 7th February, with the Southern Area split into two locations at Southampton and Newmarket. Phil Welham progressed with a good victory over last year´s finalist, Neal Rewhorn, who has been having a relatively lean season this year. David Nichols was unstoppable as he ran in three centuries in a aggregate of 1,629 to overwhelm Steve Russell. However, the highest break of the section went to Barry Russell who had a 141 which helped him to victory over Jerry Conba.
| David Rees 83, 61, 52 | 1008 | Bill Andress 66, 55, 54 | 919 | ||
| Michael White 72, 66, 60, 57, 52, 51 | 1154 | Ivan Chambers 57, 57 | 870 | ||
| Brian Harvey 82, 75, 75 | 1163 | Colin Ross 105, 91 | 908 | ||
| Phil Welham 126, 99, 83, 53, 50 | 1331 | Neal Rewhorn 100, 72, 69, 68, 53 | 900 | ||
| Terry Azor | 1119 | Colin Summers | 667 | ||
| Steve Brookshaw 62 | 1016 | Mark Leonard 68 | 987 | ||
| David Nichols 123, 109, 105, 104, 79, 77, 60, 55 | 1629 | Steve Russell 62 | 522 | ||
| Barry Russell 141, 50 | 987 | Jerry Conba 54 | 767 |
Paul Bennett had the highest break of the day with 166, made in the first session of his match against Jamie Moore. Bennett, who is looking for his third consecutive Championship, averaged 27.2 for the match. County Durham player Tony James supplied the shock of the round when he eliminated English International, Peter Shelley.
Lee Lagan produced an impressive performance on one of the two tables in the main arena. The top pockets of this table were measured at exactly 3" across the fall ! but giving a wonderful exhibition of precision billiards he made a total of 13 breaks over 50 in his match against Jim McCann, including three centuries.
| Eddie Fielding 61 | 865 | Steve Kershaw | 680 | ||
| Richard Lodge 74, 65, 55 | 1036 | Jim Temple | 657 | ||
| Paul Bennett 166, 145, 101, 90, 81, 70, 56, 54, 54, 51 | 1388 | Jamie Moore 139, 79, 79 | 891 | ||
| Stephen Crosland 157, 128, 117, 67, 64, 53, 50 | 1510 | Derick Townend 60, 56 | 804 | ||
| Paul Dunning 88, 84 | 1020 | Tony Keeling 83 | 691 | ||
| Darren Kell 125, 100, 57, 52 | 1118 | Mick Johnson 76 | 702 | ||
| Tony James 90, 75, 72, 57, 52 | 1043 | Peter Shelley 85, 72, 56, 55, 53, | 858 | ||
| Lee Lagan 159, 122, 104, 84, 80, 77, 69, 70, 64, 58, 54, 53, 51 | 1491 | Jim McCann 67, 59, 55 | 786 |
The closing stages of the Championship moved to the impressive surroundings of the Mechanic´s Institute in rural Derbyshire. With just two tables available in the oak-panelled billiard room, groups of eight players gathered on consecutive week-ends, each group playing down to the semi-final stage.
| Paul Bennett 128, 126, 105, 92, 74, 63, 58, 57 | 1374 | Barry Russell 76, 71 | 715 | ||
| Tony James 51 | 852 | Terry Azor | 612 | ||
| David Rees 59 | 860 | Paul Dunning | 712 | ||
| Stephen Crosland 88, 79 | 957 | Richard Lodge 92, 51 | 834 | ||
| Michael White | w/o | Eddie Fielding | scr. | ||
| Phil Welham 108, 86, 74, 74, 61, 52, 51, 50 | 1214 | David Nichols 86, 83, 65, 59 | 812 | ||
| Lee Lagan 92, 85, 77, 67, 62, 59, 59 | 1320 | Steve Brookshaw 83, 74, 69, 51 | 1054 | ||
| Darren Kell 197, 74, 64, 55, 52, 50, 50 | 1235 | Brian Harvey 92, 77, 51 | 821 |
Paul Bennett started proceedings on Saturday 20th March and proved to be too strong for Barry Russell. His win by almost half the game, included three century breaks. The standard of play in the remainder of the matches that day was rather disappointing—Tony James, David Rees and Stephen Crosland, all progressing to the quarter-finals in steady, if unspectacular fashion.
The following Saturday brought a surprise for Michael White, who arrived to find that his opponent, Eddie Fielding, had withdrawn due to a conflict between the match date and his holiday arrangements. White had the opportunity to watch his quarter-final opponent Phil Welham produce an impressive display to get past David Nichols in an entertaining match. Welham took command with an early century break, and by the interval had established a commanding lead of 346 points. Although Nichols produced a much better display in the second session, he was unable to make any inroads on the deficit as Welham completed a comfortable victory.
Steve Brookshaw, who had made the long journey from Plymouth, did not start well against Lee Lagan. Missing an easy red at his first visit after the break-off, Lagan took the opportunity to put 59 points on the scoreboard, and was never seriously threatened from this point. With Brookshaw improving as the match went on, Lagan always seemed to respond just enough to keep a couple of good breaks between them. Darren Kell also held the advantage throughout his match with Brian Harvey, although he never looked totally secure until a magnificent break of 197 right at the end put the result beyond doubt.
| Paul Bennett 100, 98, 92, 61unf | 1040 | Tony James 137, 95, 80, 59 | 894 | ||
| Stephen Crosland 112, 111, 104, 90, 84, 62, 60, 55 | 1233 | David Rees 72, 73, 54, 51 | 798 | ||
| Lee Lagan 241, 165, 147, 101, 75, 68, 67, 59, 56, 55, 52, 52 | 1805 | Darren Kell 96, 69 | 812 | ||
| Phil Welham 76 | 896 | Michael White 127, 79, 64, 60, 56, 50, 50 | 892 |
Tony James almost pulled off a memorable victory as he pushed the reigning Amateur Champion all the way. Second session breaks of 80, 137 and 59 kept the result in doubt right until the end, with Bennett finally making a decisive break of 61 unfinished to win by 146 points. Stephen Crosland returned to top form just at the right time, to turn in a sparkling performance against David Rees. Crosland included three centuries in a 435 point victory.
Playing on the same table which Lagan had won his match against Brookshaw the day before, Kell declined the offer of six practice strokes to get the “feel” of the table. He may well have regretted that decision as Lagan dominated their match from the start. An early break of 101 and three others over fifty, saw Lagan reach the interval with a 233 point advantage. Returning for the second session, Lagan produced one of the best performances of his career as breaks of 147, 241, 165 helped him to a two hour aggregate of 1,153 points. His double century was the first in the competition as he steam-rollered his way through to the semi-finals by an incredible margin of almost 1,000 points.
Michael White, who had been deprived of a match on the Saturday by the withdrawal of his opponent, had the added disadvantage of playing Welham on the table which he had used in his victory the day before. White took up the offer of six practice strokes, but still found himself trailing the more consistent Welham for much of the match. It was only late in the second session that White, with runs of 64, 50, 79, 127 and 56 closed the gap. With just seconds remaining he “rattled” a long in-off which would have given him the lead, and surely the match, as his opponent had sufficient time to take just one shot before the bell sounded.
| Lee Lagan 269, 264, 149, 82, 63 | 1041 | (19.3) | Paul Bennett 137, 127, 89, 89, 88 | 1025 | (19.0) |
| Phil Welham 144, 107, 82, 50 | 1078 | (13.3) | Stephen Crosland 136, 112, 107, 57 | 980 | (12.1) |
The semi-finals commenced on Saturday 10th April with the matches being played on the same table in alternate two hour sessions. In his introduction to the match between Bennett and Lagan, tournament director John Richmond said he expected to see "a good battle" and that is certainly what these players provided. The champion started well. A break of 89 helped him to a score of 168-5 before Lagan burst into life in dramatic fashion, running in consecutive breaks of 264, 149 and 63. Even so, Bennett kept in touch by producing a break of 137 and several lesser contributions to reach the interval just 43 points behind. On the restart, Bennett took an unfinished break of 64 to 127 and followed this with an 89 to take the lead. He had built up a 70 point advantage before Lagan produced another massive break of 269, the highest in the competition. From here the game became tactical, as Lagan seemed determined not to leave Bennett a chance to recover.
Even so, the champion was encroaching steadily on Lagan´s advantage, a break of 88 bringing him within 100 points of his Teesside rival. Under severe time-pressure Bennett continued to gain, but was eventually beaten by the clock, falling just 16 points short in an exciting finish.
Stephen Crosland never really recovered from a bad start against Phil Welham. With determined play, he had clawed his way back into contention when, midway through the second session, an unexpected miss at a drop-cannon let in Welham for a decisive break of 107. This gave the Norfolk player a lead of almost 230 points and although Crosland again came back with an identical break of 107, failure at a relatively easy pot red sealed his fate, as Welham successfully defended his advantage over the last 10 minutes to win by 98 points.
| Lee Lagan 182, 161, 111, 111, 105, 98, 85, 81, 68, 66, 56, 54 | 1658 | (25.9) | Phil Welham 88, 85, 75, 75, 61, 52 | 963 | (15.0) |
Lee Lagan had admitted being nervous going into his first major final, and this was not helped by noticing that a chair, marked with the name of "Mike Russell", had been strategically placed six foot from the head of the table. Probably aware of the effect of his presence, the World No.1 did not actually appear until the interval when he chatted briefly with the players and then retired to the back of the room to watch proceedings. Whether the phlegmatic Phil Welham was feeling any nerves was difficult to tell, but he certainly did not play up to his usual form, repeatedly terminating breaks with an unexpected miss. Given far too many chances, Lagan seemed to be finding top-of-the-table with uncanny ease and produced a series of big breaks to take him to an interval lead of 515 points and a two-hour average of 33.0.
Shortly after resuming the second session, Lagan produced his highest break of the match. This was ended at 182 by a bad kick, which stopped the cue-ball in its tracks when in perfect top-of-the-table position and looking certain to make his fourth double century of the competition. From this point, both players noticeably relaxed, and Welham with breaks of 88, 85, 61 and 52 started to match Lagan with some improved play. However, it never looked likely that he would threaten the Teessider´s massive lead and he eventually finished 695 points in arrears.
The prizes were presented by Mike Russell with Lee Lagan receiving a cheque for £300 plus £50 for his highest break of 269.
Phil Welham received £200 as runner-up. Alf Nolan, EABA President and raconteur, in a now traditional end-of-competition speech, completed proceedings by delighting the assembly with his observations and anecdotes. Special thanks were given to Jim McCann who maintains the Darley Dale tables to professional standards.