Sussex News – 2010 Issue Number 3
Summer is here, the sun is shining and traditionally a number of players tend to put their cues into “hibernation” for the next couple of months……. But there are still some die-hards playing and the Watney Mann Cup, several local Summer Competitions and the AEBBA Opens should help to keep the withdrawal symptoms at bay for them! J
Once again, any contributions will be welcomed with any items of interest of what is happening within Bar Billiards in Sussex.
The first leg of the Watney Mann Cup Final was played at the New Sussex Hotel on 29th September and the home team won the first 4 legs in convincing style thanks to some good score from Kevin Hall, Geoff Jukes (10,090), Kevin Tunstall (10,310) and Rick Dewdney (9,560). Richard Wooton (11,810) won the last leg to give the visitors a glimmer of hope for the second leg which is due to be played at The Romans on Sunday 24th October.
A mixed day for the two Sussex Teams at the County Championships played at the Post Office Club in Reading on 19th September. Sussex A finished 3rd in Division 1 after a tough start losing 5-2 to eventual winners Berks A and then 4-3 to Oxon A, who were runners-up. Kevin Tunstall had a great day, winning all 4 of his matches and finishing top of the overall averages and winning the High Break Award with a break of 16,840 and Gareth Lloyd won 3 of his matches. Kent A were relegated and will be replaced by Oxon B who won Division 2, with Sussex B matching their A Team by finishing 3rd. Rick Dewdney, Neil Higgins and Bill Kerr all won 3 of their 4 matches with Rick also winning the Division 2 High Break Award with 8,990 in an excellent chase down against Northants player Lorin Clough.
Congratulations to Nigel Senior who won the Berkshire Open, beating Mark Brewster (Kent) in the final at the Post Office Club in Reading. Nigel played well all day and overcame current world champion Phil Collins on a tough table in the semi-final having also knocked out Tony Walsh and Steven Sheard earlier in the day. It was a good day for Sussex with Kevin Hall also winning the Plate Competition, beating Gerry Fitzjohn in the Final.
The New Sussex Hotel (Three Horseshoes) team booked their place in the Final of the Watney Mann Cup thanks to a 3-2 victory away on the newly re-covered Swan B table. Kevin Tunstall (12,500) took the first frame against the break, but Roger Taylor (9,380) made it 1-1, Rick Dewdney (7,380) made sure of reaching the Final only for Matt Squires (7,070) to level the match on the night again, Geoff Jukes (9,910) finished the match off in style.
The Romans played the first leg of their Watney Mann Cup Semi-Final match against the Old House at Home and the match that saw some very big scores. Nigel Senior (24,140) lead the way for the home side and Steve Mariner (10,920) made it 2-0. Nick Brown (11,280) pulled a game back for the visitors but Marc Chipman then won the closest game of the night and Richard Wooton (11,860) took the last against the break to give the Romans a useful 4-1 lead to take into the second leg.
Reigning Sussex Mixed Pairs Champions Kevin & Hayley Tunstall won the AEBBA Mixed Pairs title at Reading on Sunday 22nd August, beating Oxford’s Pauline Withey and Mark Trafford in the final thanks to an excellent 9k+ break from SirKT in the first leg and a further 4k and touch in the second leg. It completed a fantastic performance for them on the day winning all 5 of their matches in Group A before beating the Berkshire pairing of Graham Alder and Janet Burns in the semi-final. Dave Ingram and Colleen Park topped Group B with 4 wins out of 4, but lost to Pauline and Mark in the semi-finals. Tony Jenner and Ros Appleby finished 4th in Group A winning 2 of their 5 games.
Some good scoring by the home team at The New Sussex Hotel (Three Horseshoes) took them into a 4-1 lead over Swan B in the first of the Watney Mann Cup Semi-Finals, Kevin Tunstall led from the front with 12,360 in the opening game and Jim Greensted (8,170), Kevin Hall (8,870) and Geoff Jukes (9,110) all made sure in their games. Roger Taylor (8,390) was the only winner for the visitors who will have a lot to do in the second leg to be played at The Swan on 25th August.
The Bucks Open was held at Princes Risboro Golf Club on 8th August and current World Champion Phil Collins beat Keith Sheard in an all Oxford Final. Simon Ellam (Oxon) and Barry Radford were the losing semi-finalists while Martin Smith was the furthest Sussex Player when he lost to Keith in the quarter-finals. Nigel Senior won the high break award with a 20k+ score in the First Round and Dave Ingram won the Plate Trophy (for the second year running) when he beat Oxford player Ian Gordon in the Final, with Hayley Tunstall reaching the semi-finals in the Plate beating Ian Lelliott, Clive Thompson and Sandra Race on the way.
The Old House at Home booked the last semi-final place in the Watney Mann Cup with a 4-1 home victory over the Windmill. Paul Barnett won the first for the home side, only for Gina Sherratt to level the match. Nick Brown and Gary Ridley (6,070) made it 3-1 on the night and 5-4 overall and captain Neil Higgins sealed the win putting the red ball in the 200 hole at the first attempt to beat Dave Ingram and take his side through to meet the Romans.
A big congratulations to Martin Cole from West Sussex who won the prestigious AEBBA Under 25’s Championships at the Post Office Club in Reading on Sunday 25th July. Martin won all 3 of his matches to top his group then won a close semi-final against Lorenzo Hickman from Worthing, before beating Lewis Stratford from Oxford in a high quality final. Martin lost the toss but put in a couple of good breaks to take an 8k lead after the first frame only for Lewis to open with the highest break (9,570) of the day to put Martin under pressure, but he coped superbly by getting the break back and knocking in a 2.5k break to seal his victory. Sussex was well represented in the competition with Adam Bateup (Mid-Sussex), Steve Connor (West Sussex) and Chris Oakley and James Whittle (both Worthing) making the trip to Reading.
The AEBBA Over 50’s and 60’s Championships were also played on the same day, with Dave France reaching the Final of the Over 50’s before losing to the in-form Keith Sheard of Oxford. Dave did have the consolation of hitting the highest breaks (both over 16k) in both the Over 50’s and Over 60’s competitions, with Tony Martin (Oxon) beating Geoff Pitt (Berks) in the final of the Over 60’s.
The last quarter-final of the Watney Mann cup got under way when The Windmill gained a 3-2 home win against the Old House at Home on 20th July. All five games were won against the break with Paul Barnett top scoring with 6,020 for the vistors and Dave Ingram (8,250) taking the decider for the home side.
The draw for the semi-finals of the Watney Mann Cup brings a repeat of last years Final with The Three Horseshoes playing last years winners Swan B, the other match will be between 2008 Champions The Romans and the winners of the remaining Quarter-Final match between The Windmill and The Old House at Home.
The Three Horseshoes (New Sussex Hotel) joined the Romans and Swan B in the semi-finals of the Watney Mann Cup thanks to a crushing 5-0 victory away at the Schooner to win the tie 9-1 overall. Kevin Hall top scored for the visitors with 12,260 and there were good scores for Rick Dewdney (7,230), Jim Grensted (6,300) and Kevin Tunstall (6,430) who won a close match with Rick Cunningham who top scored for the home side with 6,210.
Kevin Tunstall won his 3rd Open title of the season, beating Simon Ellam (Oxon) in the Final of the Kent Classic played at the Six in One Club in Tonbridge. Kevin had beaten team mate Ian Lelliott in the semi-finals, with Alan Brackenridge and Gareth Lloyd both reaching the quarter-finals. The Sussex Ladies also had a good day with Jean Brackenridge picking up the trophy for the Furthest Lady when she reached the last 16, while Hayley Tunstall won the award for the Highest Ladies Break with a 6k+ effort. Mark Trafford (Oxon) won the Plate Trophy beating Rob Hall from Mid-Sussex in the Final, Rob having knocked out Bill Kerr in the semi-finals.
The last of the Watney Mann Preliminary Round matches was played on the 1st July and saw a comfortable win for the Old House at Home, playing at home and beating the Swan A 4-1 to go through 7-3 on aggregate. Solid scoring from Nick Brown, Gary Ridley and Neil Higgins made sure of the win, Paul Barnett (7,870) then knocked in the best score of the night before Ron Brewer gained a consolation game for the visitors in the last game. The Old House will now meet the Windmill in the Quarter-Finals.
Dates for your Diary…..
October 3 Ladies County Champs & AEBBA Open Singles, Reading
October 17 Division 3 County Champs & AEBBA Ladies Singles, Reading
October 31 AEBBA Alternative Rules, Reading
November 5-7 World Championships, Jersey
November 21 National Team Championships & Special Ladies, Reading
November 28 AEBBA Grand Prix & Ladies Grand Prix, Reading
December 5 AEBBA AGM, Reading
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