CIU 2005

An entry of 32 players for the CIU National Billiards Championship was the largest for many years, giving encouragement to the organisers that the recent downward trend can be reversed with a little effort to advertise the event amongst the billiards-playing community.

The opening round saw some interesting matches, not least of which was the return of Martin Goodwill, who won this championship over five consecutive years from 1991-95 before his work took him overseas. His return to the competition this year pitted him against Dave Burgess, who is one of the best players in the Southern region, and the match was therefore keenly anticipated. Goodwill started the game strongly, breaks of 101 and 95 giving him a substantial early lead. Although Burgess fought back to gradually reduce the deficit, he could not quite come to terms as Goodwill completed his 500 points with Burgess still 85 in arrears.

Also showing fine form in the Southern matches was Swaffham’s Phil Welham, who overwhelmed Mark Tims with breaks of 102, 82, 61 and 50 to win by a decisive 500-82 margin. On current form, Phil has every chance to improve on his previous best placing as semi-finalist in this competition.

In the North, Darren Kell (Middlesbrough) made a winning return, having decided not to enter last year after a disappointing performance against Jack Hedley in the 2003 final. Playing against that experienced campaigner John Sinclair (Ashington) he put together a run of 128, the highest of the event so far. Adding additional breaks of 78 and 73 unfinished, he demonstrated that the lay-off has not adversely affected his form, cruising to a 500-123 victory. The only other century break in the first round came from 72 year-old Tony James (North Shields) who made 101 in his victory over Newcastle’s Andrew Cherry, continuing his role as an inspiration for the older generation of billiard players.

First Round Results

(Home players shown first)

Phil Welham (Swaffham Ex-Servicemens Club) 102, 82, 61, 50	500		Mark Tims (Hunstanton United SC)	82
Jack Hedley (Maidenhead Ivy Leaf) 72	500		Phil Davis (Chippenham West End)	250
Martin Goodwill (Chippenham West End) 101, 95, 51	500		Dave Burgess (Sarisbury Green SC)	415
Phil Mumford (Cambridge WMC)	500		Ivan Stevenage (Swanley Junction WMC)	128
G. Hope (Crewe Pioneer Anglers Club)	305		John Ingleby (Bradley & Colne Bridge Club)	500
F. Griffin (Bradley & Colne Bridge Club)	500		A. Mellor (Crewe Pioneer Anglers Club)	252
Rob Hall (Monks Road WMC) 56	500		Branson Hoole (Doncaster TUC) 54	414
Wally Reed (Doncaster TUC)	347		Dean Manders (Monks Road WMC) 60	500
Phil Johnson (Monks Road WMC)	w/o		J. Ford (Broad Oak WMC)	scr
Brian Watson (Bradley & Colne Bridge Club)	295		Lawrence Torn (Doncaster TUC)	500
Julian Hodge (Broad Oak WMC) 72,77	500		Mark Graham (Stockton Blytholme) 89	492
Tony Mackinder (Stockton Blytholme) 67,54,80	500		Peter Reeve (Acklam Garden City) 53	309
Alf Nolan (Western SC) 66	356		Simon Snee (Stockton Blytholme) 61	500
Billy Bousfield (Stockton Blytholme)	w/o		John Hartley (Newtown SC)	scr
Darren Kell (Acklam Garden City) 128, 78, 73unf.	500		John Sinclair (Northern SC)	123
Tony James (Throckley Union Jack) 101	500		Andrew Cherry (High Howdon SC)	115

In the second round of the CIU Billiards Championship, the pick of the matches were to be found in the southern area. Phil Welham’s journey from Swaffham to Cambridge was rewarded with an impressive 500-298 victory over Phil Mumford, but perhaps the most notable performance came from reigning champion Jack Hedley. Having won the title on the last two occasions, victory this season will see the imposing CIU trophy become his personal property, but he faced a severe test in Martin Goodwill, especially with the latter having home table advantage. Nevertheless, Hedley rose to the challenge, and with breaks of 122 (the highest of the round), 65 and 57, produced one of his best results by winning 500-314.

In the North, Simon Snee (Middlesbrough), who was runner-up to Hedley last year, kept on course for another final show-down with a 500-346 result over Tony James (South Shields), whilst Tony Mackinder, who was 1999 champion, struggled to a narrow 34 point win against Julian Hodge in Huddersfield. Darren Kell volunteered to give up home advantage, describing his table at the Acklam club as appearing to have just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq! However, Kell’s short trip across Middlesbrough to the Stockton Blytholme club proved fruitful enough, as with breaks of 84 and 55 unfinished, he defeated Billy Bousfield by a 167 point margin.

Second Round Results

(Home players shown first)

Phil Mumford	298		Phil Welham 68, 54	500
Martin Goodwill	314		Jack Hedley 122, 65, 57	500
John Ingleby	423		Phil Johnson	500
Dean Manders	500		F. Griffin	168
Lawrence Torn	414		Rob Hall	500
Julian Hodge	466		Tony Mackinder	500
Simon Snee	500		Tony James	346
Billy Bousfield	333		Darren Kell 84, 55unf	500

Phil Welham set the new high-break target for the CIU Billiards Championship with a run of 184 unfinished in his quarter-final win over Phil Johnson. His opponent in the semi-finals will be reigning champion, Jack Hedley, who was untroubled by Lincoln’s Dean Manders, winning 500-190 on his home table at the Ivy Leaf club in Maidenhead.

Although the Lincoln club of Monks Road WM managed to produce three of the quarter-finalists, none could manage to progress beyond this round, as their third representative, Rob Hall, was also defeated by Middlesbrough’s Simon Snee.

Tony Mackinder filled the last semi-final place with a victory over twice CIU champion, Darren Kell. In a dour match, patient spectators were eventually rewarded by a fine unfinished break of 107 by the winner.

Quarter-final Results

(Home players shown first)

Jack Hedley (Maidenhead Ivy Leaf) 71, 51unf	500		D. Manners (Monks Road W M)	190
Phillip Welham (Swaffham Ex servicemen’s) 51, 98, 184unf	500		Phil Johnson (Monks Road W M)	220
Robert Hall (Monks Road W M)	354		Simon Snee (Blytholme Club)	500
Tony Mackinder (Blytholme Club) 107unf	500		Darren Kell (Acklam Garden City Social) 53	374

Simon Snee 74, 71, 54, 54

612

(12.0)

Tony Mackinder 51

432

(8.5)

Phillip Welham 80, 62, 63, 51, 58, 173, 187

1,074

Jack Hedley 58, 50

650

L-R: Simon Snee, Bob Slee (referee) and Phillip Welham

Phillip Welham 109, 63, 58, 58, 56, 53, 52, 50, 50

994

(17.4)

Simon Snee 100, 52

579

(10.0)