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The Amateur Billiard Player : May 1999

ENGLISH GRAND MASTERS

The Atack SC; Nuneaton (7th March 1999)

The last eight players remaining in the English Grand Masters met at the Atack Snooker Centre on 7th March for the closing stages of the 1999 Championship.

Open to any player over 50 years of age, regional heats had been played to determine the qualifiers. All matches in the competition were of two hours duration.

Quarter-finals
Brian Harvey
498 Richard Lodge
443 
Peter Shelley
71, 68
589 Tony Henke
373 
Bill Andress
94, 52, 52
829 Dick Watts
60, 50
409 
Stephen Crosland
86
454 Tony James
64
406 

In the northern region qualifiers, Tony James had eliminated some famous names from the history of the amateur game by defeating Jack Sinclair and Alf Nolan. He also came close to taking out Stephen Crosland in the quarter-finals, eventually losing out by 48 points in a relatively low scoring contest. In distinct contrast, Bill Andress was in full flow, compiling a two hour aggregate of 829 in defeating Dick Watts by 420 points. Peter Shelley was also an emphatic winner, while Brian Harvey just managed to hold off the challenge of Richard Lodge.

Semi-finals
Peter Shelley
112, 87
754 Brian Harvey
448 
Stephen Crosland
83, 77, 65, 55
732 Bill Andress
69, 67, 56
474 

Bill Andress was not able to reproduce the form of his previous match as he went down to Stephen Crosland by a margin of 258 points. Peter Shelley also had a comfortable win against Brian Harvey.

Final
Stephen Crosland
106, 90, 74, 74, 52
674 Peter Shelley
71, 58, 58
500 

Stephen Crosland produced some fine play, making a top break of 106 and four others in excess of 50 to clinch the veteran´s championship. Defending champion Peter Shelley, put up a good fight but finished 174 points behind the Yorkshireman.