The EPSB Weekly – Six Champions Crowned

The busiest weekend for the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards this season so far, six different tournament winners were discovered across various snooker and billiards events up and down the country.

Mann and Wilson Victorious on Amateur Tour

Jed Mann and Sydney Wilson were this season’s first event winners on the English Amateur Snooker Tour held at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.

A bumper field of over 70 players entered across the two days in what was a new format for the most prestigious amateur tour in the country.

Mann was in fantastic form throughout Saturday, dropping only three frames in six matches on his way to claiming the Event One title.

The 22-year-old defeated Alex Millington, Ronnie Blake and current English under-14 champion Stan Moody all 3-0 in the early rounds. In the quarter-finals he eliminated current world seniors champion David Lilley 3-1 before denying Stuart Watson 4-1 in the last four.

His opponent in the final was George Pragnell, who himself recorded fine wins over former professionals Sanderson Lam and Alex Davies. However, it was Mann’s day as he chalked up a 4-1 win in the final.

The next day, former main tour exponent Wilson was celebrating a late-night triumph after his success in Event 2.

Wilson started the day well, making a break of 117 as he defeated Tom Peasland 3-0 in the last 64. He then followed that up with 3-1 and 3-2 victories over Lewis Gillen and Joe Fenton respectively.

The Leigh-on-Sea cueist ousted current EPSB Open Series rankings leader Ryan Davies 3-2 in the last eight and then pipped Manasawin Phetmalaikul on the final black in the seventh and deciding frame of their semi-final.

In the final, Wilson faced 2003 English Amateur Champion Davies who had ended the hopes of teenager Lewis Ullah 4-2 in the other last four tie. Davies went 2-0 up in the final but Wilson strung together four consecutive frames to take the title and an early lead at the top of the rankings.

Beal and Welsh to Contest Over 55 Final

In a repeat of last season’s national final, Ashley Beal and John Welsh will contest the 2022 English Over-55 Snooker Championship at EPSB Finals Weekend later this season after the pair won their respective regional qualifying events.

Current national champion Beal’s title defence began immaculately with 3-0 wins over William Cornish, Andrew Darken and Richard Pipe. Despite trailing twice early on, Beal then secured the southern area title with the help of breaks of 57, 30, 39 and 31 as he took the last three frames to defeat Gary Miller 4-2 in the final at The Crucible in Newbury.

At Scotties in Liverpool, Welsh made his national title intentions clear as he breezed to the northern area title.

Welsh didn’t drop a frame all day, eliminating Andrew Pennington, Anthony Massey and Terry Singleton all 3-0 before a 4-0 final win over Terry McAdam.

Chalmers and Hughes are Billiards Champions

A welcome addition to the EPSB calendar this season, Alec Chalmers and Steven Hughes were the maiden event winners on the Regional Junior Billiards Tour.

In the north event held at Maltings Q Club in King’s Lynn, Chalmers finished the day with a 100% record, winning all four of his round robin matches and then defeating Cody Foster 223-27 in the semi-finals and Finley Brown 158-98 in the final.

Hughes also enjoyed maximum wins to become champion of the south event held at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club in Eastleigh. He topped the round robin as he qualified for the last four knockouts where he defeated Christopher Bennett 241-53 and then William Thomson 175-140 in the final.

The EPSB would like to thank all of those who participated and help run and host events last weekend.