S.A.S BILLIARDS CHARITY CHALLENGE
Pinewood Park, Upper Sherringham, Norfolk (24th March 2001)
Mike Russell retained his S.A.S title in fine form by defeating Chris Shutt in the final. Russell saved his best of the day for the final when at his 2nd visit to the table he produced a break of 233, he followed this with a 203 and 267 on the 3rd and 4th visits respectively. After a contribution of 10, the World Champion added another excellent break of 267 (6th visit) to take his lead at the time to 1013-24. To his credit Shutt who had been given few chances, came back with an excellent cavalier break of 307 (scored in 17 minutes) to reclaim a little dignity, and also make the highest break of the day.
Earlier, during the round robin stages, there had been some surprises, most notably when 2000 English Amateur Champion, Phillip Welham, defeated Mike Russell. David Nichols gained a good scalp when defeating Paul Bennett, while Matthew Sutton played very well all day and was unlucky not to qualify for the semi-finals.
Russell collected £125 as winner, and Shutt £75 as runner-up. Nichols and Welham took £25 as losing semi-finalists. The Eastern Counties Billiards Association promoted the event which was again sponsored by Sands Agricultural Services of Pinewood Park. Next year it is planned to increase the field to 12 or 16 players, with an even greater prize pool, while the event itself will be played over two days (Friday/Saturday). Norfolk based charity "Break"' benefited by £466 from the proceeds of the event.
Round Robin (All games 75 minutes)
| Matthew Sutton 101, 95 | 363 | (24.2) | Phillip Welham 50 | 203 | (13.5) |
| Phillip Welham 133, 89, 69 | 480 | (30.0) | Mike Russell 181 | 343 | (21.4) |
| Mike Russell 232, 172, 84 | 549 | (61.0) | Matthew Sutton 147 | 215 | (23.8) |
| David Nichols 79, 77, 71, 56 | 466 | (24.5) | Paul Bennett 71, 63, 58 | 222 | (11.6) |
| Chris Shutt 220, 107, 80, 52 | 565 | (37.6) | Paul Bennett 146, 62, 56 | 418 | (27.8) |
| Chris Shutt 91, 89, 67, 66, 57 | 469 | (21.3) | David Nichols 60, 50 | 353 | (16.5) |
| Mike Russell 183, 139, 95, 89, 77, 68 | 718 | (47.8) | David Nichols | 184 | (12.2) |
| Chris Shutt 189, 167, 68 | 795 | (46.7) | Phillip Welham 69, 50 | 227 | (13.3) |
| Mike Russell 293, 267, 233, 203 | 1121 | (80.1) | Chris Shutt 307 | 386 | (27.5) |