ABC: Atack SC, Nuneaton, Sunday 10th November

On Sunday 10th November, 52 players gathered for the second ABC of the 2002-03 season at The Atack Centre, Nuneaton. This is one of our most established venues on the Billiards circuit and once again Bob Coales and his team, hosted both competitors and officials in their customary friendly manner.

The preliminary round brought some extremely close encounters with Billy Bousfield and Martin Phillips both emerging victorious by the margins of two and three points respectively. There was a century from David Rees, a decisive run of 84 from Darren Kell in his narrow win over Huddersfield's Tony Clegg and mention should also be given to Phil Whiteside playing in his first ABC. Unlucky to draw David Burgess "first up", Phil made two fifty breaks in defeat. Steve Crosland comfortably prevailed in the tie of the round against Peter Shelley.

Centuries in the next round ensured comfortable victories for Brian Harvey and Steve Crosland, Brian setting the High Break target for the day with a run of 151 during his win over Ronnie Haigh. Phil Mumford maintained his good form from Bradford including a break of 89 in his encounter with Brian Watson. A 53 unfinished from Justin Cole was insufficient for him to claw back his deficit against Dean Manders, while unluckiest loser was Phil Welham who lost the tip from his cue whilst suffering a three point defeat by Terry Colby.

Autumn's ABP highlighted the results now being produced at this level by Mark Hatton, these sentiments were re-enforced by his performance in the last 16. An hourly score of 583 included runs of 122, 59 and 51 as Mark continued to display the talent which is making him one of the in-form players in the country. A further century from Steve Crosland ended the run of Dean Manders. Jimmy Chambers produced his third good performance of the day disposing of Mike Allen, while David Burgess enjoyed a comfortable win in a potentially difficult encounter with Jim McCann.

The highlight of the quarter-finals was the tie between Jimmy Chambers and Brian Harvey. Despite a run of 97 from Jimmy, Brian ensured victory with his second century of the day. Mark Hatton turned the tables on David Burgess who had triumphed over him in Bradford at the same stage. Easy wins were recorded by Tony James and Steve Crosland.

Mark Hatton secured a place in the Final with consecutive ABC victories over Steve Crosland. Brian Harvey joined him as runs of 68 and 52 carried him to a 339-184 success over Tony James.

"I wanted to win so much, I couldn't play" was Mark Hatton's verdict of his first appearance in an ABC Final. The fact of the matter was that although he may not have played with the authority he had displayed all day, he played well enough to win and as a consequence record his maiden ABC victory. A break of 59 opened a lead for Mark which he was able to defend during a closing twenty minutes, which involved great baulk area Billiards as both players tried to negotiate openings.

Mark displayed a great tactical awareness during these exchanges and held on to register a 41 point winning margin.

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PLATE

The Plate Final was won by Peter Shelley who during the course of the game recorded the day's highest break with a run of 154.