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North West Amateur Team Championships

This is a brand new competition inviting teams from the North West to compete against teams from across the region and a chance to play at the BRAND NEW state-of-the-art North West Snooker Academy where the semis and final will be played, using two tables that were both used at last years World Championships at the Crucible in Sheffield.,

1. Each team will consist of SIX players, a squad can consist of a maximum of ten amateur players. All players in each team must be of amateur status and live in one of the following regions (Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside).

2. There will be four groups of four teams, each group played on a round-robin basis. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the quarter finals of which will be played on the same day.

3. Each match will be played over six frames on two tables, one point will be awarded per frame. Should the match end up being tied at 3-3, a blue ball shoot out which involves all six players from each team, will decide the winner of the match.

4. Four groups will be played in Preston and Liverpool over the weekend of 27/28th May. Groups A and B will be played in Preston on 27th May whilst Group C and D will be played in Liverpool on 28th May.

5. The semis and final will be played at the brand new North West Snooker Academy in Liverpool on Sunday 18th June and will be streamed live.

6. Entry for each team is £125. The draw will take place on Tues 25th April. The first sixteen teams to pay entry fee will be in the competition – no exceptions.

7. Prize money as follows:

Winner: £1000

Runners Up : £500

Semis : £175

Highest Break: £50

There is also a prize (bottle of champagne) for the Player of the Tournament.

8. The team name must include an area, town/city or district of the North West, or even a registered league (NOT A COUNTY) …You can even add a name of your choice, for example Preston Panthers, Liverpool Lionesses, Widnes Warriors etc,

If an area has two teams registered, the competition secretary will give each team an A or B status etc.,

9. Dress code for the competition is smart casual (no jeans or trainers allowed).

HOW TO ENTER

Send your team via WhatsApp with Team Name, Team Captain and squad to 07850030916

8 players from the Preston qualifiers will join the 8 from Liverpool at the Stephen Hendry Snooker Club in Preston on Saturday 29 April.

Andy Williams, Emre Eves, Michael Wrigley, Marc Daugherty, Andy Rae, Dave Holcroft, Gaz Edwards and Jason Lawrence qualified from Preston.

Reigning champion John Whitty, who is aiming to win the title for a record fifth time, Simon Blackwell, Alex Millington, Ian Brumby, John Welsh, Josh Thomond, Mick McKeever and Bob McCune all qualified from the qualifying event at George Scotts in Liverpool.

Alex Millington’s break of 115 is the current highest break of the tournament.

More, and very exciting, news coming very soon!

16/03/2020

Unfortunately we have taken the decision that it would be unwise to continue with the Grand Final on 5 April.

The event will be held at a future date, possibly the end of May after Q School.

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13/03/2020

Due to Coronavirus we will have to monitor the situation in regards to North West Open Grand Finals on 5 April.

We have a duty of care to the players and we will make announcements as soon as possible if we need to postpone.

In spite of atrocious weather conditions, 40 players turned up in Lancaster to contest the northern section of this tournament.

The tie of the preliminary round saw James Silverwood beat Farakh Ajaib 3-2. James had an 89 clearance, 88, 48 and 45, and Farakh breaks of 42 and 34 in the frames he won.

Other impressive performances came from Ian Martin who made a 56 break in the first frame of his 3-1 victory over David Stephenson, and Danny McDonald who beat experienced Gary Knowles 3-0 aided by a 54 break.

The next round of matches again saw Silverwood rise to the challenge, defeating the holder Simon Blackwood 3-1, with breaks of 51, 48 and 46. Other notable performances were by Kevin Harris who beat Richard Alston 3-1 with 4 breaks over 40.

Other good breaks in the first two rounds were made by Jack Cullingan, 84 and 56, Steve Scott, an 80 clearance, a 69 from Michael Cousins and 50’s from Mike Nixon and Josh Mulholland.

The qualifying round saw young newcomer Anthony Wall narrowly defeating Tyler Whittaker on the final pink. Silverwood struggled against Alan Pearson who led 2-0 but hit back to take the next 3 with a top break of 53. Jack Culligan hit the highest break of the day, a 90, in the first frame of his match against Ian Martin, however Ian took the next 3 to qualify. Josh Corless was particularly impressive in beating Mike Nixon 3-0 with breaks of 67, 47 and 45.

The other qualifyers with consistent performances were Mark Ainscough, Dave Holcroft, Kevin Harris and Steve Scott. A special mention should be made. Josh Naylor, a local lad with cerebral palsy, playing in his first tournament outside league play acquitted himself very well in spite of losing his match 3-0.

Tournament director Eddie Fielding.

Due to the lack of entries, the qualifier due to be held in Carlisle has been cancelled.

Those who chose to do so have been transferred to Lancaster.

45 players entered from as far afield as Widnes, Carlisle, Blackpool and Burnley to play in the northern section of the competition in Lancaster.

The 8 qualifiers were –

• Mark Salmon
• Leo Fernandez
• Jason Tart
• Danny Hicks
• Andy Milliard
• Mike Nixon
• Paul Deaville
• Robert Marshall

Ex-pros Marshall, Nixon, Milliard and Fernandez all had fairly easy passages to the final stages. Fernandez was particularly impressive, with several breaks over 50.

The performance of the tournament was by Robert Marshall who made breaks of 100, 119 and 62 in a first-round win over Mike Cousins.

Among the other qualifiers, Jason Tart was impressive with two 3-0 wins. Junior player Paul Deaville qualified from the Lancaster event for the second year running. Mark Salmon, a newcomer, did well to qualify and keeping up local interest was Lancaster’s Danny Hicks.

Other centuries were made by two local players; former winner Trevor Lamb made a 102 clearance and James Silverwood had a run of 112.

The live results reporting by Michael Waring went down very well with the players and spectators.

https://challonge.com/nwbsaLancaster

Everyone is now looking forward to a high quality finals day in Liverpool on 7 April. Spectators are more than welcome