Keith Corner (-50) of New Marske I.C. improved his remarkable record the individual billiards handicap of Cleveland Billiards & Snooker League, by winning the competition for the 16th time in 26 years. In the final at Redcar Unionists Club, he overcame Paul Bennett (-250) who was playing from Cowpen S.C. Although the 71 year-old veteran had a top break of just 51, he played consistently well to counter breaks of 103, 76 and 61 by Bennett, and win by 162 points in the 200 up match. The trophy has a family connection for Corner, the competition being named in honour of his father who was a League stalwart for many years.
Paul Bennett equalled the highest recorded break in the Stockton & District League when making a run of 121 in his game of 120 up for Cowpen S.C. Playing for Hemlington S.C he subsequently repeated the performance in the Southfield League, where he has now achieved this milestone for the fifth consecutive season.
Hemlington team-mate Lee Lagan also complete a perfect game in a later Southfield League match when he ran in a break of 120 unfinished at Newport.
Rapid games such as these are not uncommon in Teesside, but they are generally one-sided. A much closer affair in a Friendly League match saw Lee Lagan make a 71 break at his first visit only for his opponent, Mark Graham of the Priory, to respond with 108. Lagan then added breaks of 20 and 29 unfinished to win the game in just three innings, with Graham, who had accrued another ten points, standing at 118.
Robin Wilson made his personal best aggregate score in the Teesside Boys League when he rattled up a score of 368 points in his 30 minute game for Ormesby Institute. The 15-year-old included breaks of 66, 57, 54, 49 and 47 in his total. However, this still fell short of the League record for a player of that age, which stands at 404 and was made by Lee Lagan in 1990. The highest 30 minute aggregate by any player in the League is 507 by Chris Shutt which was made when he was 18 years old, and included a break of 220.
Darren Kell won the Cleveland area CIU Individual Billiards Championship for the third successive year. In recognition of this achievement he was awarded a replica of the permanent trophy. The concluding rounds were held at Guisbrough Quoit & SC and in the 200 up final Kell defeated Davy Weatherall by 89 points, making a break of 112. Weatherall had previously eliminated Paul Bennett in the semi´s, while Kell had progressed at the expense of Peter Reeve.