WEBSF Latest News
Sidwell Snooker Club, Exeter. Breeding ground for a string of Devon Snooker stars, closes after 20 years. The last day of trading is Sunday 24th April the day of:-
The WEBSF wishes to thank Bill Whelan (Proprietor) for supporting WEBSF tournaments in recent times and acknowledge the vital part he has played cultivating local talent throughout the last 20 years. Thank you Bill the WEBSF Management Team wish you well for the future.
Sam Cox shines with a 92 break in a challenge match between Cornwall and Sidwell Snooker CLub, Exeter. For more details select Challenge Match – Cornwall vs Sidwell 2005
NATIONAL “GRAND MASTERS” INDIVIDUAL BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP
Charlie Gay (St Day & Redruth RBL) started his Grand Masters campaign by playing in the South West Area qualifying playoffs, a field of 8 quality players including England Internationals Devon’s Bill Andress & Dorset’s Brian Harvey had to play down to 1 qualifier to go through to the National Qtr-finals.
Charlie won his first match against Martin Phillips by 320 pts to 276 pts, with Charlie recording a break of 57. In his second match he played Brian Harvey and won 413 pts to 372 pts, Charlie recording breaks of 50 & 72, and Brian a 64. In Charlie’s third and final match he played Bill Andress and won convincingly 554 pts to 298 pts, recording breaks of 55; 80 & 121, with Bill making a 59.
Charlie Gay travelled to Nuneaton last Sunday, 13th March to play in the last 8 of the English Amateur Billiards Association’s National “Grand Masters” Championship held at The Atack Snooker Centre, Regent St, Nuneaton. Charlie played Jim McCann in the qtr-finals winning by the small margin of 17pts after 1.5hrs play, 302 pts to 285pts. Charlie recorded breaks of 51 & 53, with Jim making a 42. Charlie then went on to play Brian Moffatt in the semi-finals again winning this time by a 237pt margin after 1.5hrs, 542pts to 305pts, Charlie recorded breaks of 34;38;41;& 62, with Brian making a 40. In the final Charlie faced Dave Burgess, but could not reproduce earlier form and lost by 437pts to 292pts, Charlie recorded breaks of 33; 33; & 37, with Dave recording breaks of 37; 46 & 64.
YOUTH SNOOKER IN CORNWALL
Whilst the Billiards is proving successful, events within the Youth Snooker is also gaining pace.
Interest within the youngsters is increasing, providing they are encouraged and coached, giving them opportunities to achieve their potential.
Coaching has been carried out successfully this season at Redruth Royal British Legion by WEBSF (West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation) coaches Steve Downing, Paul Broad & Victor Wills.
Each session now attracts over 20 youngsters, and this initiative can only benefit our clubs, leagues and county organisations.
In addition to this the Cornwall Billiards & Snooker Association in conjunction with Grants Snooker Club, St Austell is starting a Saturday morning ” Free Coaching School” for their young members.
This will be carried out by WEBSF (West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation) coaches.
To promote youth coaching and to highlight the young talent in our County, the Cornwall Billiards & Snooker Association is staging a snooker exhibition on Saturday 23rd April at Redruth Club, Penryn St, Redruth at 7.15pm with 15 yrs old “young star” from Bristol Judd Trump.
Judd has already won EIGHT Championships inc National EASB 2004 English Amateur Open Championship and the EASB 2004 Under 15 Championship, Pontins 2003 Open Champion; Pontins 2004 U16 & U21 Champion & Pontins 2005 “Star of the Future” Championship, His highest matchplay break is 147; and has made over 250 matchplay century breaks.
Last weekend he visited Cornwall and played in an exhibition for the St Blazey & District League and had a stunning evening making breaks of 96, 106, 55, 77, 81, 66, 67, 129, & 135. The 96 and 106 were the first 2 frames. On the 96 he missed the black off the spot to try and screw down for the yellow. Also the 96, 106, 55 and 77 were consecutive breaks in the first four frames. In the second half the 129 and 135 were in consecutive frames.
We hope these visits to Cornwall will encourage youngsters to the game of Snooker, and revive the dwindling number of senior players throughout the clubs & leagues in the county.
Reports by Derek Brooks, Secretary, Cornwall Billiards & Snooker Association.
NATIONAL “GRAND MASTERS” INDIVIDUAL BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP
Charlie Gay (St Day & Redruth RBL) started his Grand Masters campaign by playing in the South West Area qualifying playoffs, a field of 8 quality players including England Internationals Devon’s Bill Andress & Dorset’s Brian Harvey had to play down to 1 qualifier to go through to the National Qtr-finals.
Charlie won his first match against Martin Phillips by 320 pts to 276 pts, with Charlie recording a break of 57. In his second match he played Brian Harvey and won 413 pts to 372 pts, Charlie recording breaks of 50 & 72, and Brian a 64. In Charlie’s third and final match he played Bill Andress and won convincingly 554 pts to 298 pts, recording breaks of 55; 80 & 121, with Bill making a 59.
Charlie Gay travelled to Nuneaton last Sunday, 13th March to play in the last 8 of the English Amateur Billiards Association’s National “Grand Masters” Championship held at The Atack Snooker Centre, Regent St, Nuneaton. Charlie played Jim McCann in the qtr-finals winning by the small margin of 17pts after 1.5hrs play, 302 pts to 285pts. Charlie recorded breaks of 51 & 53, with Jim making a 42. Charlie then went on to play Brian Moffatt in the semi-finals again winning this time by a 237pt margin after 1.5hrs, 542pts to 305pts, Charlie recorded breaks of 34;38;41;& 62, with Brian making a 40. In the final Charlie faced Dave Burgess, but could not reproduce earlier form and lost by 437pts to 292pts, Charlie recorded breaks of 33; 33; & 37, with Dave recording breaks of 37; 46 & 64.
AMATEUR BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP (ABC) RANKING TOUR
This season saw Cornwall’s Chris Mitchell, and Geoff Lingard compete in each of the six monthly rounds, of the National Amateur Billiards Championship (ABC) Ranking Tour played at venue around the country.
Again Chris & Geoff did very well, which has been reflected in the latest National Billiards Rankings, which includes Charlie Gay & Steve Downing.
This is a first for Cornwall having four players in the top 75 Billiard players nationally.
The latest ranking lists show Devon’s Bill Andress at 10th; Dorset’s Brian Harvey at 12th; Cornwall’s Geoff Lingard 15th; Chris Mitchell 21st Steve Downing 25th & Charlie Gay 67th (does not inc his latest results).
Ben Pike’s ton in event 5. For a full report go to Silver Waistcoat Tour For full results go to Silver Waistcoat Tour Results.
GOLD LINING FOR NEW SNOOKER INITIATIVE THROUGHOUT THE WEST COUNTRY
Snooker and Billiards in the West Country reached new heights following the West of England Billiards and Snooker Foundation (WEBSF) sponsorship agreement with the Tindle Group, owners of the Sunday Independent. The agreement involves sponsoring a new Snooker Tournament to be known as the Gold Waistcoat Tour. The tour commences on the 19th March 2005, 10am at the Victoria Snooker Centre, St Budeaux, Plymouth. This is followed by two more tournaments at Bells Court Snooker Club Falmouth and Sidwell Snooker Club Exeter. Each venue hosting one tournament in the series in April and May respectively. The tournament concludes with a finals day at the Victoria Snooker Centre in June. There will be cash prizes and trophies presented at each tournament. As this is a pilot scheme the first 32 entries received will be guaranteed a place on the tour, so be quick! Full dress code will be a condition of entry along with a fee of £25 per tournament and a £10 membership to join the West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation. The format of the tournament will be run on the same lines as the highly successful Silver & Bronze junior waistcoat tours.
The purpose of this new tour is to provide structured tournaments open to any amateur player who resides within the boundaries of the West of England (Devon, Dorset, Cornwall, Bristol & Avon, Wiltshire Somerset & Gloucestershire). Roger Cole spokesman for the WEBSF said “This joint venture between the two parties will benefit all snooker players of all ages through out the West of England. We would like to thank Mr John Collins, the editor of the Sunday Independent for sharing the same vision as our management team. Bringing our sport to a much wider audience and participation.
Since the launch of the WEBSF back in September 2004, by our patron six times former World Professional Snooker Champion Ray Reardon, we have gained recognition from the English Association for Snooker & Billiards (EASB) along with the Devon and Cornwall County Associations, Plymouth, Exeter and the Redruth Mining Leagues. All have shown their support to develop and promote our foundation throughout the Southwest. We will also be introducing a regular column each week called “Ask The Experts” where readers will be able to forward questions to the panel on all topics relating to Snooker and Billiards this is another first for the Southwest.”
He went on to say “The Foundation has attracted financial support in the form of sponsorship. This we are passing on to our members, assisting them with travel, accommodation and entry fees to tournaments. Two of the first recipients are Kris Vincent who is representing England in Malta and Andy Symons-Rowe who has reached the final of the English Amateur Championship which will be held at Woking in May 2005. The foundation has produced a compressive Snooker Coaching Manual, which has attracted interest from some of the household names in the sport. We also have six WEBSF registered Billiards and Snooker Coaches based throughout the Southwest and we are heading towards 100 WEBSF members.
Andy Symons-Rowe the 22 years old Snooker star from Tavistock swept aside all comers to reach the grand final of the coveted English Amateur Snooker Championship (E.A.S.B). The championship was held at Woking Snooker Centre on the 5th and 6th February. The field included 68 top Amateurs from the Southern Region that included the highly rated junior Judd Trump form Bristol.
Andy produced top drawer snooker to reached this, his first National Championship final kicking off his campaign with a fine 4-1 victory over Mario Walker with two 40 plus breaks. He then beat David Taylor 4-1 recording breaks of 50, 60 and 73. Alan Harvey was to become his next victim whom he beat 4-3 in a very tight contest, with several breaks of 40 plus coming from both players.
With the first days play over Andy was full of confidence going into the second day. His first match was a 4-1 win over Greg Batten, Tiverton. The result didn’t justify the high standard set by both players. This took Andy into the Southern final against Simon Dent who, judging from earlier matches, was the in-form player. However, not overwhelmed by the occasion and the prestige of the championship Andy saved his best performance for the final. He cracked in two 40 plus breaks and then, three 60 plus breaks in the last three frames to run out a convincing 5-0 winner.
Andy will now meet David Grace winner of the Northern Region in the all England final. After the match Andy said “It’s fantastic to finally achieve such a goal in the sport which I have played since I was a boy, when my dad would take me down to the local club to practice. I have always thought that one day I would prove to myself that I am good enough to compete against the very best in the Amateur game. Now that I have done this I believe I can go on to win the final of what most recognise as the blue ribbon event of the English Amateur Snooker calendar. I believe this would give me entry into the World and European Amateur Championships and a good chance of selection to represent my country in the international series later in the year. Something every player dreams of! Much credit for my success must go to my parents for their continued support and Roger Cole, West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation, who is a great inspiration to me. As a coach and mentor he has help with both the technical and psychological side of my game. To have someone in your corner with Roger’s depth of knowledge, first hand experience of competing at a high level and direct contact with a team of experts, is a must for any aspiring player.”
Roger Cole said “Since Andy has become a member of our foundation he has gone from strength to strength. His natural flair for the game and his ability is improving all the time. There are a lot of players who can play the game, but very few who achieve anything like what he has done. I have every confidence Andy can now go on and turn his dream into reality by winning this illustrious championship.”
Kris Vincent the 16yrs old rising snooker star from Plymouth who plays at Rileys Snooker Club will be the first junior snooker player from the city to represent England in the European Team and the Mediterranean Snooker Cup in Qawra-Malta on the 5th – 12th March 2005.
Kris who is a prodigy of the West of England Billiards and Snooker Foundation which is based at the Victoria Snooker Centre, who’s Patron is six times former World Professional Snooker Champion, Ray Reardon.
Kris is delighted to be representing his Country for the third time in twelve months saying “For me this is another milestone in my career, to have the opportunity to play for my country. I have been very fortunate to have been selected to play, not only once, but this will be the third time I have been selected for England and hope I can continue to emulate my previous matches at the Home Internationals in Wales. My birthday falls on the 7th of March and I don’t think there is a better birthday present than representing your Country”
England is sending five Teams consisting of three Men’s one Senior and one Ladies team. The England selectors decided to have one of their three-man team to consist of three top juniors in the country to compete in the Mens European Team Competition which consist of Kris Vincent (Plymouth) Michael Georgiou (London) and Gyles Behbood (Harrogate) and they all will be entered in the individual Mediterranean Snooker Cup which is to run two days before the European Team Championships.
Roger Cole of the West of England Billiards and Snooker Foundation who is Kris’s coach and Mentor said “The whole management team are delighted with Kris’s selection and as his coach it is a privilege to assist and guide a player of his quality, he is now reaping the rewards from all the endless hours of practice and coaching sessions he has attended, not only from myself but also from Ray Reardon who has realigned his technical ability and improved his knowledge of the game at each session he attends. For Kris the taste of success must be very sweet and we wish him all the very best in Malta, I am sure with the continued support he is receiving from our foundation and his parents it won’t be to long before more success is on the horizon.”
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