WHITWORTH MASTERS

Whitworth Institute, Darley Dale (26th-28 September 2001)

The long awaited 'Whitworth Masters' took place at Whitworth Institute, Darley Dale, on the weekend of 26/27/28th September. Eight English players were joined by Northern Ireland´s Paddy Donnelly (Belfast) and John McIntyre (Newtown Abbey) to compete for the honour of having their name inscribed as the first winner of the 'Whitworth Masters' trophy.

The idea of the 'Whitworth Masters' was first mooted during a conversation between Jim McCann, Derick Townend and Lewis Jackson, a trustee of the Whitworth Institute, some three years ago. Lewis had expressed a wish to help amateur billiards in some way and had volunteered assistance from himself and the trustees of the Darley Dale, Whitworth Institute. Permission was granted by the trustees to hold an annual event and Lewis promised to look for a suitable trophy. The whole idea was agreed in principal, but put to rest until further work could be put into motion, to set up a suitable and amicable arrangement for the timing and format of the competition. Everyone agreed that the event could make an attractive addition to the E.A.B.A. calendar, and members looked forward to the launch of the competition in 2001. The Whitworth Institute has a great English Billiards tradition and as well as supporting the 'Masters', for several years it has staged the annual 'Professional Invitation Tournament'. The last stages of the English Championship are also staged at the Whitworth and are set to remain there for the foreseeable future.

The 'Whitworth Masters' was envisaged as an invitation tournament, with players being invited by the E.A.B.A. committee from any players of a merit worthy background. The method of choosing English players is not cast in stone and the number of other competing nationals is not fixed. A decision on which players shall be invited to take part in any one year will be approved and decided at a meeting of the E.A.B.A. before the end of the previous season. The expense of staging this tournament will in future be provided by a worthy sponsor or from the E.A.B.A. funds. This tournament is seen as the icing on the cake of the E.A.B.A. calendar. It will be played in the true spirit of Amateur Billiards It will epitomise the character of those who play the game, of those who serve it, and those who enjoy watching it.

We thank the Trustees of the Whitworth Institute for allowing the E.A.B.A. to stage and set up this event. We thank the E.A.B.A. Referees Section who took care of the administration, and who very ably officiated at the Inaugural tournament. The committee is optimistic that this event will take its rightful place in our sporting year and thanks everyone who played a part in its inception.

The relatively short playing format of the 'Masters' gave a keen edge to the proceedings and all players agreed that one had to be on one's toes to succeed. The Section play in the round robin format was sprinkled with mixed fortune. Quite a lot of the matches were decided by just a handful of points. Paul Dunning and Michael White were particularly unfortunate to lose in this manner. Our two friends from Northern Ireland had good results in the section play, Paddy Donnelly being particularly successful. Progress to the semi-finals was decided firstly by game wins, and where these were tied, the winners were decided by aggregate score points difference.

On Saturday evening the players and officials joined local buffs and their ladies at a Sixties knees-up and buffet at the Whitworth Hotel. As we have now begun to expect, the evening was a huge success and thoroughly enjoyed by all those who attended. The billiards fraternity were congratulated by Lewis Jackson, the Mayor Elect of Darley Dale and he thanked the organisers for providing a splendid weekend of sport and entertainment.

Sunday saw the conclusion of the 2001 tournament. Paddy Donnelly took on Phil Welham, and Steve Crosland tackled John McIntyre. A one-sided match between Donnelly and Welham saw Paddy starved of opportunity throughout the match and only able to start moving forward when it was far too late to have any effect. On the other hand, Welham took the chances which were presented to him and forged ahead, managing to make the highest break of the tournament, a very sound 188.

John McIntyre has been slowly recovering from serious illness over the last five years and it was gratifying to see him playing so well to finish at the head of Group B. However, his semi-final against Stephen Crosland was a dour struggle, two sixty breaks by McIntyre and a century by Crosland kept the spectators interested. Both players had the opportunity to take a stronger initiative but at the crucial time both failed to capitalise. A struggle, but a fair result.

The final was also a close struggle with Crosland generally holding the advantage throughout the two-hour match, two breaks of 53 being the best contributions by the Yorkshireman. Entering the last five minutes Phil Welham held the table with a crucial run of 47, taking him to the bell and securing victory in the inaugural tournament by 42 points.

The presentation of trophies and personal mementoes concluded the event much to the satisfaction of all concerned. Everyone agreed that this had been superb tournament, well played, and thoroughly enjoyed by all those who had the privilege to take part.