On a beautiful spring Saturday and an attractive sporting agenda nationwide the potential support for the event seemed ominous. However an entry of 29 was pleasing and being less than 32 it meant one less round to play so the event was made best of five games throughout with the plate being best of three up to the final. The first round saw two of the main contenders meet with Jonathan Bagley squeezing home against last year’s winner Billy Bousfield and he then accounted for Phil Mumford in the next roundbefore succumbing to Craig Murphy in the semi final. Other notable first round casualties were Phillip Welham, Robert Hall and John Hartley. Several players on the fringe of the top eight were vying for vital ranking points and the quarter-finals saw two crucial pairings in this context. Chris Mitchell, the eventual runner-up defeated Geoff Brassington and Jim McCann defeated Mark Graham.

The final between Chris Mitchell and Craig Murphy seemed hard to predict but Craig took the title comfortably. It was hardly surprising to see Robert Hall win the plate but few would have predicted his opponent. Martin Parker, a local cueist and very much still a novice, did very well to reach this final and was obviously delighted with his performance.

Two century breaks were recorded, one by Billy Bousfield and the other by Geoff Brassington.

Thanks to Bob Slee for his day’s work and two hard-working referees Phillip Brooke and Colin Pattimore. A special thank you to the Northern Snooker Centre for the generous sponsorship.