David Nichols of Norfolk took his first Eastern Counties Billiards Championship, defeating Sam Salter by 263 points in the one hour final held at the Newmarket Snooker & Bowl. In the semi-finals, Nichols had included breaks of 88 and 60 in defeating Phillip Welham (Swaffham), while Sam Salter (Newmarket) produced an 81 break to overcome the challenge of Jim Chambers.
In the Junior Championship, which was also played as one hour matches, Matthew Sutton (Kettering) took his second successive title by defeating Jim Chambers (Ely) in the final. A break of 115 by Sutton was the deciding factor as he completed a 112 point victory. Twelve-year-old Calvin Daws (Fakenham) was the youngest competitor and did well to reach the semi-finals where he lost out to Chambers. Dean Bavister was the other beaten semi-finalist.
An impressive display of "top-of-the-table" secured the Norfolk Billiards Championship for Phillip Welham at the Woodside Snooker Centre, Norwich. His opponent in the final, Fos Wilson (Norwich) had established a lead of 24 points with breaks of 64 and 91 when Welham ran to game with a break of 105 unfinished. Wilson also came close to producing a century break in his semi-final match against John Carman. Failing at 96 he went on to secure a narrow 15 point win over the Brinton player. In the other semi-final, Phillip Welham had a more comfortable victory, producing a break of 64 to defeat Roger Reynolds (Sherringham) 350-132. This was the fourth time Welham has taken the Norfolk championship.
Snowy Salisbury, playing for Cambridge, set record aggregate for an amateur player in the Eastern Counties Billiards League with a 90 minute total of 742 points. This helped his team win the First Division championship for the 7th time. Salisbury also recorded the highest break in the division with 134. Grimsby and Norwich, were promoted to the first division after finishing as champions of second division North and South respectively. It is anticipated that four new teams will join the League next season with applications having been received from Spalding, Peterborough, Bury St. Edmunds and Harrow. As one of the few leagues to admit professional players, it is also hoped that Mark Wildman will also be seen in action next season.