North Western Billiards and Snooker Association

Some of the regions finest cue-men descended on George Scott’s Snooker Club in Liverpool for the first of two qualifying events of the 2019 North West Open.

Fifty-two players had to be whittled down to eight to qualify for the Grand Finals, which will also be played in Liverpool on Sunday 7th April.

Alex Taubman and Jack Bradford will be looking forward to the Grand Finals after a successful day, as will Tony Kinsella, David Holcroft and Clayton Humphries. Sean Maddocks came from two frames down against John Welsh to win 3-2 before beating Roy Bennett 3-0 to qualify. Jamie Jones produced a very exciting moment as he was heading for a maximum before missing the 13th red, but his classy 96 break remained the highest of the day.

The final remaining player to qualify was Simon Blackwell who beat a resurgent Andy Molyneux in the final qualifying round.

A great day at George Scott’s…..now it’s over to Lancaster for the second qualifying event on Sat 16th Feb where another eight players from around the region will be looking to book their places at the Grand Finals in Liverpool on 7th April…

Report from Tony Cook

You can see the scores at

https://challonge.com/nwbsa_liverpool

The history of the event

This tournament has been contested since 1964 when The Pontins Cup was presented to the Lancashire Billiards and Snooker Association by Frederick Pontin. The first winner was Jimmy Heaton of Westhoughton and the runner-up was George Scott of Liverpool.

This competition is one of the most, if not the most, prestigious competitions in the North West of England. To be crowned the North West Open Champion is certainly something to be proud of.

The names on the winners band of this magnificent trophy include John Spencer and John Virgo. The trophy itself is housed in the Heritage Museum at Thurstons in Liverpool.

Who will be next on the winners list?

In 2019 there will be two qualifying events – one in Lancaster and one in Liverpool. There will be 8 qualifiers from each event who will go through to the Grand Finals.

The 2019 North West Open Grand Finals will be in Liverpool at the George Scott Snooker Club on Sun 7th April.

As the competition grows, in future years we hope to stage more qualifying events across the North West.

This event is open to all billiards players in the North West Counties

The Strachan Challenge Cup was won last year by Rob Marshall, beating Chris Achilles in the final.