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.
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.
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.
The Lancaster Qualifier for the NWBSA Open Amateur Snooker Championship 2020 will take place on Sunday 16 February at Squires Snooker Centre in Lancaster.
Players in the Prelim Round matches M1 to M9 should be at the venue in time to start at 10:30am.
Matches M10 to M14 can start as soon as a table becomes available.
10.30am Start
M1. J Tart v A Pearson
M2. J Silverwood v F Ajaib
M3. D Stephenson v I Martin
M4. P Govan v S Croft
M5. M Wilcock v J Snape
M6. M Nixon v W/O
M7. M Simm v D Hicks
M8. R Alston v W/O
M9. G Knowles v D McDonald
11.30am
M10. M Ainscough v J Simpson
M11. A Stackhouse v D Holcroft
M12. P Burns v N Morris
M13. A Jeffers v W/O
M14. T Arnott v V Gemson
Winner M1 v T Lamb
Winner M2 v S Blackwell
Winner M3 v M Cousins
Winner M4 v J Culligan
Winner M5 v J Corless
Mike Nixon v J Cassidy
Winner M7 v J Wibberley
R Alson v K Harris
Winner M9 v D Taylor
Winner M10 v J Purcell
Winner M11 v A Veitch
Winner M12 v J Mulholland
A Jeffers v Z McClelland
Winner M14 v D Wilcock
A Wall v M Salmon
T Whittaker v J Naylor
Players who reach the LAST EIGHT, will qualify for the Grand Finals on Sun 5th April in Liverpool
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.
The first round began with Alex Taubman in fine form beating Tony Kinsella 3-1 with breaks of 52, 90 and 76.
Robert Marshall could not repeat his fine form from the Lancaster event losing easily 0-3 to Leo Fernandez. Leo made breaks of 39, 44 and 49.
Clayton Humphries had a comfortable 3-1 win over Jack Bradford, finishing off with a 73 break
Junior player Paul Deaville continues to improve, winning the first frame against Mark Salmon on the black, then recording an 80 break in the next frame before wrapping up the match 3-0.
Andy Milliard had a titanic battle with David Holcroft. David made an 86 break to level the match at 2-2. However, Andy replied in the decider with 82.
In the remaining matches, Simon Blackwell beat Jamie Jones 3-0, Sean Maddocks beat Jason Tart 3-1 and Mike Nixon received a walk-over with the non-attendance of Danny Hicks.
The first quarter-final was a cat and mouse affair, with Alex Taubman taking the opening frame. Leo Fernandez levelled with 33 and 36. Alex again took the lead, aided by a 48 break. Leo dominated the fourth frame with a top break of 38. Alex
Paul Deaville continued his fine form, defeating Clayton Humphries 3-1. Paul had a top break of 55, while in the only frame Clayton won, he made an 80 break.
Andy Milliard started off well against Simon Blackwell, winning the first frame with a 50. From then on, it was downhill as Simon won the next three.
Sean Maddocks played out a marathon match against Mike Nixon. Sean established a 2-1 lead before Mike hit back with a 56 break. The decider was a very tense affair with Sean trailing for most of the frame before snookering Mike on the blue and eventually potting the pink for the game.
The semi-final produced straight forward wins for Taubnan over Deaville, three nil and Blackwell over Maddocks, three one
The final started with Taubman taking the first frame with the aid of a
Alex received a cheque for two hundred and fifty pounds and a trophy.
Robert Marshall had the highest break of one hundred and nineteen, worth fifty pounds
Report submitted by Eddie Fielding.
The final of this event will take place on Sunday 7 April at the George Scott Snooker Club in Liverpool, starting at 10:30 am
The draw will take place at 10:15 and all 8 matches will start at 10:30
Dress Code is a collared shirt, trousers and shoes.
No jeans, t-shirts or trainers.
Anyone not adhering to the dress code will not be allowed to play.
Format is best of 5 frames up to the final which will be the best of 7 frames.
Tournament Director: Eddie Fielding 01524 67199
Email: info@nwbsa.co.uk
Robert Marshall has retained the title of North West Billiards Champion after defeating Chris Achilles in the final on Sunday.
16 billiards players from across the region took part in the event at Mill Brow Sports Club, Widnes, playing for the Strachan Challenge Cup.
Four groups of four players were whittled down to eight for the knockout stage
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 –
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
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
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
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.
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.
