Mini-Prix 1991-92

1st Event: 27th October, 1991

Scarborough, Marlboro Snooker Centre

Sponsored by Mr. Keith Mills

The Marlboro Snooker Center hosted the season's first event and was a new venue for the series. There is always some uncertainty coupled with some curiosity when putting a tournament on at an unknown venue though it is, of course, assumed that the venue and welcome will be fine as otherwise the club would not have agreed to host a tournament in the first place - especially billiards. The uncertainty was mingled with some editorial anxiety as this was the first Mini-Prix to be held under the auspices of the Billiards Quarterly Review. Any anxieties and uncertainties were entirely misplaced. The Marlboro is an excellent venue for a tournament such as Mini-Prix, the staff are very friendly and helpful, club-owner Keith Mills could not have been more welcoming. Days such as this make one more optimistic that the future of the Mini-Prix is as secure as can be hoped for.

The Marlboro is some 30 seconds walk from the sea frontage where a group of players met at the, "La Baia," hotel. The hotel owner is a member of the Marlboro and provides excellent B&B accommodation. Players congregated in the Marlboro for some practice and a group afterwards went to a very good Chinese restaurant. There are fourteen tables at the club, Jock McGregor and Ivan Stevenage worked their way round all of them. It was quite bewildering to exchange a word with Jock on a table, say, to the right, only to see him a minute or two later on one to the left, and a minute or two after that on one across the other side of the room. Jock knocked up an 80 break in this nomadic practice, heaven knows how as there was snooker going on at the same time on most tables. That didn't seem to bother the pair, they went on and played billiards as if the snooker players were just some kind of mirage.

Centuries from Russell, Gilchrist, and Hardcastle. Surprise win for Terry The World Professional Champion started with a break of 258 which eventually proved to be the day's highest. Steve Hardcastle had a break of 130 but was just pipped (15 points) by Ian Williamson. The Reeve family clash resulted in a comfortable win for Arthur over son Andy. Des Heald, playing in his first tournament for years without the burden of organisation to bother him, found the going tough against Brian Hoole. Perhaps the most unexpected result was that in which B.Q.R. Editor Tom Terry won by just three points in a low-scoring match with Brian Harvey - winner of the Huntingdon Mini-Prix and the Morley A.B.C.

Close goes out to Causier

There were some narrow wins; Tony Mackinder by 32, Tony Done by 11, and Robin Sutcliffe by 18. The best win of the round was that of David Causier in beating Bob Close by 41 points.

Wide for Wildman - Narrow for McCann

Chairman of the Professional Players Billiards Committee, Mark Wildman, making a rare Mini-Prix appearance, had a good win over fellow professional Ian Williamson of Leeds. Russell struggled for a time against Tony Mackinder and, though eventually winning by over a hundred, might in fact have lost. Tony Done had another close game this time being the loser by 10 points to Jim McCann.

Russell makes sure with three centuries

Steve Crosland has had a couple of good wins against The Champion and Russell was said to have groaned when he saw the draw. It also seemed that the sea air was not having quite the beneficial effect that it should have had as the mighty Mike complained of feeling tired. However the man from Wharfedale had no success this time as Russell ran up three centuries in a fashion which reminded the spectators of what he can do. Gilchrist had a century against Wildman. David Causier had a century in the previous round and followed up with a string of good breaks against Grimsby's Gordon Ridlington. Jim McCann had a much better win in this round and was showing form which suggested he could go all the way to the final though Causier was sure to provide some tough opposition in the Semi.

"Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside."

The old Music-Hail song came to mind, as, with Russell looking to be suffering from Mal-de-Mer, Peter Gilchrist took full advantage with a break of 183 and a score of 637. Mike was able to score only 94 in reply despite getting the balls into his favourite spot-end position on no less than four occasions.

Dave Causier probably didn't know Jim McCann's capabilities as a player - he does now! There was not a lot in it but Causier's flair was more than offset by the Derbyshire player's ability to get his head down when it matters.

"Tiddley - om - pom - pom; Beside the Seaside, Beside the Sea."

"I am Sailing."

Jim McCann was the first to show with runs of 28 and 40 at his second and third visits to the table but after that could manage only a top break of 30 in 17 visits. Gilchrist replied with a 60 break, followed with 41 and 85 after which the Middlesbrough Professional found it pretty plain sailing. He scored 228 in his last five visits to win by well over 200. The Derbyshire player was probably not too disappointed. Though not at his best he had played well enough to reach the final where he was - realistically - second favourite.

Scarborough Plate

Good Scores

200 points is a good score in the Plate. Four players achieved this and two or three others were very close. The young Peterborough professional Roxton Chapman has been making some big breaks in practice but could not get going and completed a miserable tournament with a poor plate score.

Hardcastle goes

Steve Hardcastle had shown good form in the first round of the main competition with a century but was quite out of touch in his second plate, game. B.Q.R. hears that the Harrogate professional has been unable to get much practice recently. Mark lost to Roy in the battle of the Hirsts. Des had a good win over Trevor Gent who is something of a plate specialist.

Century for Close

Three of the matches involved a professional player and all three won. Bob Close had a century in a fine score of 280 against Derek Townend who, if not in Close's class, is a good amateur player. The fourth game saw Brian Harvey beat Chris Rispin by just four points.

Close for Heald

Twenty-four points the winning margin for Des Heald over John Murphy whilst Bob Close had another good break in a comfortable win against Brian Harvey who thus completed a day in which he was not at his best.

Not very Close

Bob Close does not often play in the Plate as it is a rare thing for him to be defeated in the first round of the Main Competition. When he does play in the Plate then he is mostly going to start favourite.

When it sank into Des Heald that he was free from administrative cares he began to enjoy himself and had some good wins on his way to the Plate Final. It was a good game. Anything can happen in a half-hour match but Close was expected to win and did so. Neither player could manage a big break and both broke down from some good positions. A late couple of twenties and a smaller item or two saw the Hartlepool professional home by 76.

2nd Event: 1st December, 1991

Widnes Snooker Centre

Sponsored by Auchton Ltd

It has become something of a tradition that the Mini-Prix goes into the North-West on the first Sunday in December and this year was no exception. Some fifteen or so players gathered on the Saturday evening most of whom stayed in the Kingsway Hotel which is just across the road from the snooker centre. It is a very nice friendly hotel. There was just one small mishap. When John Smith from Cheltenham (sec correspondence) turned on the tap he found that he couldn't turn it off again.

The Snooker Centre Staff were as welcoming as ever, the Lancashire Hot Pot was better than ever, and the playing conditions generally good. All-in-all Widnes is a great venue. The Mini-Prix is appreciative of the help received from Auchton Ltd in the form of Arthur Johnson. Thanks are due also to Eddie McNicholas who did a lot of the spadework involved in organising the competition.

Close - Goodwill in a great game

The narrowest margin was that of just 5 points in the game between Pete Mather and Alan Firth whilst John Smith lost to the BQR Editor by only 6. The best game, a Mini-Prix classic, was the one involving the experienced Hartlepool professional Bob Close and the amateur champion Martin Goodwill. Goodwill was immediately into his stride with a break of 117, and with some smaller items built up a good lead. But Close is nothing if not a battler and he struck back with a 113. A further 63 from Goodwill saw him to a useful lead with not long to go. Close gained position and with an 85 played to within a minute or two of time to win by 40. Such matches are the very essence of the Mini-Prix. Harrogate professional Steve Hardcastle doesn't seem to be having much luck of late and found himself on the end of a 100 and a 194 from Robby Foldvari.

Big break from Sethi: Griffiths beats Gilchrist

Geet Sethi, in England for the second-leg preliminaries of the Radiant Grand Slam, produced a rapid 256 unfinished which proved to be the highest of the day. Compatriot Michael Ferreira also had a century break. These two had arrived in England only the previous evening and made the effort to get to the tournament to the delight of the competitors and the spectators alike (the delight, that is, of those who didn't have to play either of them!) The BQR Editor was involved in another close finish losing by 9 to Tony Done after being in front almost the whole of the game. Welsh Professional Howard Griffiths has not been to many tournaments recently and did exceptionally well to beat Peter Gilchrist even though by only 14.

McNicholas and Blundall progress

Newcomer Steve Blundall from Wigan and local player Eddie McNicholas both did well to reach the quarters Blundall beating the ubiquitous Bill Andress - always a good amateur performance, whilst Eddie put out the Merseyside Open Champion Tony Done. John Murphy had had an excellent game in disposing of Robby Foldvari in the previous round but succumbed to a 143 from Bob Close. Sethi had another century to reach the quarters and a match with Ferreira.

Sethi overwhelms Ferreira

Even players as great as Michael Ferreira can only watch when their opponent is at the table and Michael was mainly, though he scored 240, reduced to the role of spectator as Geet Sethi ran riot. Yet, to those who are familiar with the brilliant young Indian's game, there were signs that the previous day's journey might be catching up on him in that his positional play was slightly out at times, he missed one or two that he would not normally miss, and his bounce round the table was just a little flat-footed. It was nevertheless a brilliant performance. Bob Close continued to play with extraordinary consistency, whilst Eddie McNicholas was a narrow loser to Ken Shirley who had been scoring like a house on fire up to this point. It is no discredit to McNicholas to suggest that the Cannock man may have been tiring. Blundall's good run likewise came to an end.

Harvey seizes opportunity

Brian Harvey reached yet another final with a great win over a tiring Geet Sethi. Any top professional will tell you that in a one hour match against good amateur opposition they cannot afford many mistakes. Sethi could not get going and

Harvey grabbed the opportunity with a number of breaks in the thirties and a good 73 to win by just over 100. With Ken Shirley wilting Bob Close had only to maintain the impetus to win comfortably without any major effort. The 1986 Amateur Champion has not been in his best form recently. A heart by-pass operation has not helped but his earlier games had shown him still to be a powerful scoring force.

Close makes it two in a row

Bob Close's form was such that Brian Harvey had to get a good start to have any chance. As it turned out he couldn't get a look in. It was not that the door was, "Closed," it was quite violently slammed in his face. It was unlikely that the Hartlepool Professional would make too many mistakes and in the event he never looked like making even one. He scored 149 from Harvey's break at his first visit and scored 76 at his second visit to lead 225 - 22, and but for putting the red into baulk, would certainly have had a second century. The second century came at his last visit - 122 unfinished, and in the meantime two or three thirties and another 76 saw him reach 560 points in ten visits, an average of 56. Harvey, not surprisingly, could do little in the face of this onslaught and his best efforts were 22, 27, and 31. When a man is scoring like Bob Close was in this final, hardly looking like breaking down and leaving little on, then, for the opponent, it is what is sometimes called, "A test of character." Harvey came through well enough; he will survive.

Widnes Plate

Just one in it

Two matches were lost - or won - by a single point. Jock McGregor went out by this margin to Bob Sconce and Phil Johnson similarly ousted his father - to the amusement of the Widnes regulars. Steve Crosland reached the final here last year, this year he went out in the first round of the plate!

More close games

Bob Sconce was involved in another desperate finish this time losing by 3 to Gerry Hoffman, the same margin that saw Chris Hudson home against Steve Whiteley. Second Round Results

Kevin Payne scrapes through

Spalding's Kevin Payne scrambled a couple of scoring shots in the last seconds to get past John Barker by 9 - all in the game - but what small incidents in any sport influence the outcome, the outcome in this case being that Kevin was the eventual plate winner.

Hirst - Good break - good win

Mark Hirst just missed a century - 99 - which helped him to a very good win over Peter Gilchrist. Kevin Payne had a comfortable win over Gerry Hoffman who did not play anywhere near his best.

Excellent win for Payne

It was a very close thing. Neither player could get a real grip on the game and were perhaps a little distracted by the performance of Bob Close just two tables away. Kevin Payne held on to win by just 12 points. As a farmer Kevin is up pretty early on Mini-Prix days and has often done a day's work before even leaving for the billiards. Mark Hirst has had his fair share of success in the Mini-Prix and will not begrudge Kevin this one.

And so ended a great day's billiards. Don't miss it next year.

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