Hucknall Open 1

The inaugural Hucknall Open was held at Spot On Snooker Club on Sunday 28 April 2019 and it proved to be a successful and enjoyable tournament. A round robin format was used which provided every competitor with at least 6 frames. The top two players in each group progressed to the quarter-finals.

Group A

Wayne Martin (Hucknall) won both of his matches and also knocked in a nice 54 break for good measure.  He progressed to the knockout stages along with Vinnie Dennis (Sutton in Ashfield) who had a good 3-0 win against Wayne Smith (Nottingham).

Group B

Hayden Staniland (Worksop) topped group B with Macauley Croft (Worksop) finishing in 2nd place.  Croft was clearly cueing well, as evidenced by his run of 51.  Matthew Clarke (Worksop) finished winless in a tough group.

Group C

Ashley Dobb (Hucknall) was in fine form and only lost a frame on the way to topping group C.  Despite losing to Dobb, Billy Ashton (Derby) emerged victorious from a tough battle with Terry Thompson (Nottingham) to progress to the knockout stage along with the impressive Dobb.

Group D

Dave Jobling (Newark) was playing very well and had terrific breaks of 80 and 81 as he dropped only one frame and secured progression to the quarter-finals.  The other qualifier would have been Dave Pearce (Stapleford) who, considering he hadn’t picked up a cue for three years, played very solidly.  Unfortunately, Pearce had to leave early and so Steve Butler (Nottingham) and Danny Cresswell (Hucknall) played a one frame play-off to see who would progress to the knockout stage.  Cresswell came out on top and went through alongside Jobling.

Knockout Stage

Quarter-finals

Wayne Martin 2-0 Danny Cresswell
A good win for Martin who was giving 35 start to Cresswell.

Ashley Dobb 2-1 Macauley Croft
The in-form Dobb dispatched the Worksop player in a close match.

Hayden Staniland 2-1 Billy Ashton
Staniland had a nice 53 break on the way to a narrow victory over the Derby potter.

Dave Jobling 2-1 Vinnie Dennis
Jobling faced a tough battle against Dennis who was receiving 14 start.

Semi-finals £10

Wayne Martin 2-0 Ashley Dobb
Dobb had his chances in a close match against Martin.  A very impressive tournament debut for Hucknall’s Dobb.  Martin produced a 42 break just at the right time in this one.

Hayden Staniland 2-1 Dave Jobling
Some quality snooker on display in this match, Jobling producing the highest break of 55.  However it was Staniland who came out on top to set up a final against Martin.  In addition to his £10 for reaching the semi-fnals, Jobling also took home £5 for making the day’s highest break of 81.

Final £50 / £25

Hayden Staniland 3-1 Wayne Martin
Scores (Staniland first): 65(34)-40(32), 72(49)-55, 49(38)-68, 62(38)-41

Staniland narrowly won the first frame and he had to fire in a nice 49 break in the second to lead 2-0.  Martin never gives up and he fought back from 40 points behind in the third to make it 2-1.  Despite a break of 38 from Staniland in the fourth, Martin looked like he was going to pinch the frame, however he rattled a pink which allowed Staniland to clear the colours and win frame and match.

Highest Break £5

Dave Jobling 81