AMATEUR BILLIARDS CIRCUIT
Cuedos Club, Bradford
Sunday 30th September 2001
The stalwart and ever faithful A.B.C. billiards supporters thronged to the Cuedos Club, Bradford, for the first tournament of the 2001/ 2002 series. Fifty two contestants of all shapes and sizes prepared themselves to do battle at this comfortable and well equipped Yorkshire venue which was well prepared for our comfort and pleasure.
A 'hefty' contingent of players from Teesside, including several bright eyed, precocious players from the boys billiards league, swarmed in to gather the spoils. A very good entry from junior's which was very much appreciated by the more experienced players present. The timely arrival of an enormous bowl of Auntie Janice's special mouth watering Chilli Con Carni gave us the promise of a late afternoon musical soirée, and the stage was set for a good day's sport. The preliminary round of the competition provided us with solid performances from Darren Kell (breaks of 195 and 91) in his defeat of the Yorkshireman Brian Cousen. Dave Nichols (92, 54, 59) took care of Teesside junior, John Hall, and Robin Wilson (56, 50, 113) took the scalp of Peter Ostrowski (Huddersfield). In a close encounter, Norman Routledge (Macclesfield) edged out Phil Welham the recently crowned Whitworth Masters Champion'. An apparently jet-lagged John Hartley scored well in the preliminary and first rounds but had no answer to John Smith (Worcester) in round two. Century breaks were in short supply.
An unusually quiet Lee Lagan made steady progress, but lacked a certain lustre on the way to his quarter-final defeat by his bogey man Robin Wilson. It's a long time since Lagan failed to register a century in an A.B.C. tournament. While on the other hand Wilson was playing with a quiet if somewhat aloof confidence. Steve Crosland was comprehensively beaten by Peter Shelley in their quarter-final, as was John Smith by Jim McCann in theirs. Tony Done was narrowly defeated by Brian Harvey.
The semi-finals had little excitement other than a 104 by Robin Wilson and a return of 104 in the next visit by Peter Shelley in their match. They remained close for the first half, before Wilson steadily pulled away to the closing bell. In the match between Harvey and McCann, the Derbyshire man took control and held his lead throughout. The stage was set for a final between two players who had fully deserved their places in the Bradford final. Jim McCann the stylish, mature and experienced match-player, against a first timer on the A.B.C. circuit, the well known, but little seen young man from the North East, Robin Wilson.
Wilson, this swanlike young man from Middlesbrough gracefully stroked his unruffled way through the final, leaving Jim McCann only to sit and wonder in his wake. Possibly Jim had time to reflect on Darley Dale Billiards League's lucky first prize win in the earlier E.A.B.A. 200 Club draw. Seventeen year old Robin Wilson, a former Junior Pot Black Champion, and a protégé of the late Albert Hanson, is a fine cueist whose style is reminiscent of more famous cue-men from the same stable. It only goes to show that an early training in the right company is invaluable. A worthy winner of a very enjoyable day's billiards he collected a prize of £180. Darren Kell took the high break award, his 195 in the preliminary round proving to be the highest of the day. All credit due to James Fisher and his very helpful staff for their hospitality. To Mrs Fisher for her lovely home made chocolate cake, and not forgetting our gratitude to the Cuedos Club for the generous sponsorship of this event.
Philip Welham who had been surprisingly defeated in the first round of the main competition, went on to take the Plate event, defeating David Rees 320-189 in the one-hour final. Young Dominic Mulhall, who has a growing reputation as a “Plate” specialist in the Junior tournaments, did exceptionally well to reach the semi-final of this senior event before losing out to Welham. Brian Cousen was the other beaten semi-finalist.