Hucknall Open 5

The Hucknall Open tournament was held at Spot On Snooker Club on Sunday 21 July 2019.  The event attracted 14 entries, with 8 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

Manny Sant (Bulwell) finished bottom in this tight group, due to a narrow 3-2 defeat against Audie Miller (Arnold) who finished second.  Debutant Malc Grocock (Hucknall) topped the group with two impressive victories.

Group B

Bash Maqsood (Bobbers Mill) finished 1st in group B, winning both of his matches.  He also made some lovely breaks, including the day’s highest break of 73.  Vinnie Dennis (Sutton in Ashfield) finished 2nd and Carl Smith (Huthwaite), who is new to tournament snooker, finished bottom of the group.

Group C

Tony Morgan (Kirkby in Ashfield) topped group C, impressively winning all three matches and dropping only two frames.  Ashley Dobb (Hucknall) finished second with two wins.  Danny Cresswell (Hucknall) and Steve Butler (Gotham) failed to qualify, the latter only winning one frame all day.

Group D

Debutant Karl Jones (Hucknall) topped group D, winning all three frames.  Another debutant, Mick Kirk (Anstey) finished second with two wins.  Dean North (Hucknall) finished 3rd and an unusually out of sorts John Forbes (Bilborough) finished bottom.

Knockout Stage

Quarter-finals

Malc Grocock 2-1 Mick Kirk
Vinnie Dennis 3-1 Tony Morgan
Bash Maqsood 2-1 Ashley Dobb
Audie Miller 2-0 Karl Jones

Semi-finals £10

Malc Grocock 2-0 Vinnie Dennis
Bash Maqsood 2-1 Audie Miller

Final £60 / £30

Malc Grocock 2-0 Bash Maqsood
The first frame was a scrappy affair.  The best chances fell to Maqsood but he was only only able to make breaks of 16 and 20 when he should have scored more heavily.  Grocock potted the pink and black at the end to take the frame by just 3 points.

The highlight of the second frame was an excellent 48 break by Grocock which left Maqsood needing one snooker.  He put up a brief fight but after a few more pots by Grocock, Maqsood conceded.

A huge congratulations to Malc Grocock, winning on his debut.  It was a very enjoyable day and once again fantastic to see so many new faces.

Final Scoreboard

Highest Break £5

Bash Maqsood 73

Drawsheet