AMATEUR BILLIARDS CIRCUIT

Sealand Leisure, Queensferry

Sunday 13th January 2002 - All games one-hour

Sunday 13th January saw the ABC circuit break new ground andmove abroad for the first time! The ABC was hosted by Sealand Leisure in Queensferry, North Wales, with the kind permission of the Corbett group of companies. The field of 52 included one or two local players who were about to experience a rude awakening regarding the standard of the Billiards played locally.

Before the commencement of play it was particularly pleasant for many of the players to meet Joe Bird again. As many know, Joe has been in hospital for nearly 22 months after being struck down with a paralysis called Guillane Barre Syndrome, which has left him, hopefully, not permanently confined to a wheelchair. With the physiotherapy he is receiving at the Maelor Hospital, the strength of his upper body is now good and God willing it will only be a matter of time before he is up and about again.

Joe played both Billiards & Snooker for Sealand Leisure for many years and represented both his club and country at the IBSF World Championships in Carlow in 1999. His desire to attend this event at Sealand was immense, in what he hopes can become a permanent fixture in our calendar.

The preliminary round commenced with no major shocks as Lee Lagan recorded a modest (you will see why later) 556 points in his opening game including only one century! Gareth Edwards was the first "local" to feel the strength of the ABC circuit standard, as he was on the receiving end of a 575-121 destruction from Peter Shelley including runs of 103 and four 60+ visits.

The 1st Round surprisingly yielded only one century break - a visit of 104 unfinished by Steve Crosland during his victory over practice partner and travelling companion Ronnie Haigh. The match of the round was definitely the meeting of Lee Lagan and Norwich's David Nichols. David has been experiencing some tough draws and cruel twists of fate in the ranking tournaments this season and today was to prove no exception. With about 10 minutes remaining, David was leading by 70 and Lee was faced with a double baulk—he contrived to fluke a pot red and continued the break to 72 to put him two in front. The game was then just a question of who was in at the end and Lee managed to fall over the line by 26 points.

The 2nd Round confirmed to the spectators the strength in depth of the talent at ABC's when there were six of the eight games won with an hourly score in excess of 300 points. Highlights included some great top of the table play by Lee Lagan in his 537-222 victory over Peter Shelley including a highest of 114. Darren Kell also produced a century and Steve Crosland was consistency personified with visits of 67,90 & 98 in his win over Worcester's John Smith.

Neal Rewhorn is a very good player, but it is doubtful if even his mentor Norman Dagley could have stopped Lee Lagan in the form he produced in this quarter-final. Lee's one-hour total of 784 is a record for an ABC and included two breaks of 354 & 235 which were quite simply Russellesque! At the same time as Lee was making his 354, Darren Kell was compiling a 138 on the very next table. The visit went almost unnoticed but was itself a beautifully precise break. Steve Crosland and Brian Harvey both progressed to the semi-finals with narrow wins over Jim McCann and Phil Welham respectively.

Lee Lagan couldn't continue with such high scoring could he? Ask Steve Crosland, who sat out the semi-final watching runs of 255, 105, 147, 126, 110 & 61 in another awesome display of top of the table billiards. Lee's touch was reminiscent of any player in the top eight of the professional game and even Steve admitted it was a joy to watch. Another solid display from Darren Kell including four 50+ breaks saw him defeat Brian Harvey 470-127.

It would be churlish to look at the scores from the final and say that Darren won because Lee hadn't produced the form of his earlier games. The reason that he didn't was because Darren dictated the game and allowed Lee very little table time. Darren compiled a break of 101 at a crucial stage of the final, which along with visits of 54 & 69 enabled him to build a lead of 93 with 5:35 remaining. At this time Lee raced around the table reaching 61 with still 2:21 on the clock, but thinking there was even less time than this to go, he missed an easy pot at the top purely through rushing. Darren who by this time was stood by the clock and fully aware that there was sufficient time for Lee to overtake him, breathed a sigh of relief as the red failed to drop.

To his credit Lee was generous in his praise of Darren after the game, acknowledging that Darren has the game to beat him, but more importantly can produce that form under pressure. The end of a fantastic day's Billiards was ended with the presentation and votes of thanks to Harry Wah for preparing the tables along with all the referees for their work during the day. Special thanks were added to Ian Purcell, Manager of Sealand Leisure, for his efforts with the catering and all the help he provided in staging the tournament.

Paul Dunning.

Preliminary Round

First Round

Second Round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

David Burgess earned some additional ranking points by winning the Plate competition, defeating Eddie Fielding 267-192 in the one-hour final. Burgess also made the highest break in this competition with 83 in his first match.

PLATE