There were twelve entries for the Northern area, who played down to four qualifiers for the competition proper which rakes place in Lincoln in February. The Preliminary round saw Daniel Beagrie post the highest score of the day in his 310-181 victory over Daniel Britnell. No big breaks were evident in any of the matches although Michael Donnelly and John Hall managed to produce three of the day's five 30+ breaks in their encounter. John Hall had appeared to be well in control of this match until back-to-back breaks of 37 and 34 by Donnelly gave him an advantage which he managed to hold until the end.
In the qualifying round, all the winners of the preliminary round were again successful, only Stephen Bingham mounting anything like a serious challenge, although Jason Thomas ultimately managed to cope with this without too much trouble.
The Midlands Area turned out four entries for the under-16 Championship, who played down to find a single qualifier for the competition proper. Reigning champion, Peter Gamblin was outstanding in both his matches and took that qualifying place with ease.
The eight entries from the Southern Area entitled the region to three qualifying places. James Roberts and Calvin Daws took two of these comfortably, but Nathan Mann only came through as the final qualifier after a nervous encounter against Jamie Edwards which saw him win by a mere 5 points!