Hucknall Open 2

The second Hucknall Open tournament was held at Spot On Snooker Club on Sunday 26 May 2019.  The event attracted 13 entries, with 10 of those competitors making their Hucknall Open debuts.  Once again, the popular 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

Gav Huggins (Alfreton) struggled to find any form as he lost both his matches.  Steve Butler (Nottingham) qualified in 2nd place with Joe Reynolds (Bulwell) topping the group thanks to a narrow 3-2 defeat of Butler.

Group B

Dave Jobling (Newark) finished 1st in group B, winning both of his matches.  Ben Cooper (Hucknall) finished 2nd, making a nice 46 break along the way.  John Fountain (Carlton) had a run of 54 but still lost both matches and therefore failed to qualify for the knockout stages.

Group C

Brett Bradley (Radford) finished 3rd in group C but he ran Cary Davies (Mapperley) close, narrowly losing out by the odd frame.  Davies topped the group but only just, with Tom Walker (Nuneaton) pushing him all the way.  Walker made the day’s second highest break, a lovely 76.

Group D

Group D was an interesting mix with two of the four competitors being experienced campaigners and the other two making their competitive debuts.  Troy Brett (Nottingham) only dropped one frame on his way to topping the group and Wayne Martin (Hucknall) finished 2nd.  Martin made the day’s highest break in his match against James Humes (Basford), a wonderful 130 total clearance.  Lee Breedon (Hucknall) won the battle of the debutants, defeating Humes 2-0.

Knockout Stage

Quarter-finals

Wayne Martin 2-1 Joe Reynolds
A very tight match with no breaks of any note.  The experienced Martin just coming out on top.

Tom Walker 2-1 Ben Cooper
Cooper played well all day but he was narrowly beaten in this match by Walker, who had a 50 break.

Dave Jobling 2-1 Cary Davies
Another close match, Davies making a nice 46 break but Jobling sealing a narrow victory.

Troy Brett 2-0 Steve Butler
Butler failed to capitalise on his chances and Brett won easily.

Semi-finals £10

Tom Walker 2-1 Wayne Martin
This match went right to the wire with Walker potting the final black to seal victory.

Troy Brett 2-0 Dave Jobling
The impressive Brett was starting to find his form by now and was just too strong for Jobling.

Final £50 / £25

Troy Brett 2-0 Tom Walker
The first frame was a one sided affair.  Brett fouled by potting the black in error, but he was soon back in the balls, making a lovely run of 54 and going on to seal the frame 70-8.  The second frame was a little more evenly matched, no breaks of any note, but Brett secured the win in super quick time, taking this frame 69-52.

A huge congratulations to Troy Brett, who managed to win the tournament without playing at his absolute best.  He is a very heavy scorer when in amongst the balls and his safety play has improved massively since the last time he played in one of my tournaments.

It was a very enjoyable day and it was fantastic to see so many new faces.

Final Scoreboard

Highest Break £5

Wayne Martin 130

Drawsheet