Jobling wins again at Hidden Spot
Radford Open 3
Twenty-three players competed in the third Radford Open. Yet again there were some new faces and three players under 18 years old, which is always pleasing to see.
The players were divided into four groups, one group of 5 and three groups of 6. At the outset the players were asked to vote on whether to play one frame matches or two frame matches and they opted for the latter. This made for a long day but it offered the players fantastic value for money which is what these one day tournaments are all about.
The top two players in each group progressed to the knockout stages.
Group A
Adam Hussain (Mapperley), playing with a beautiful new Jonny Carr Excel cue, topped group A with two wins and Dave Jobling (Newark) finished second with one win.
Neither Ant Moore (Belton), Martin Chettle (East Leake) or Kat Singh (Edwalton) won a match, although they didn’t lose many either!
Group B
Audie Miller (Arnold) played well, topping the group with three wins. Jon Sully (East Leake) and Steve D’Arcy (Beeston) both won two matches but Sully progressed to the knockout stages thanks to his better frame difference.
Joe Reynolds (Bulwell), Steve Butler (Gotham) and Alfie Moore (Belton) all failed to win a match.
Group C
Callum Hodgman (Hucknall) played some great snooker, winning four matches and topping the group. Macauley Croft (Worksop) finished second in the group with two wins.
Nav Hussain (West Bridgford) and Steve Burrows (Kegworth) both won one match with debutants Ash Chettle (East Leake) and Mark Whittle (Carlton) finding wins hard to come by.
Group D
Wayne Martin (Hucknall) was in fine form, winning all but one match and making the day’s highest break, a fine run of 69. He topped the group but only on frame difference from Hayden Staniland (Worksop) who also won four matches.
Yas Abbas (Wollaton) won two matches with Patrick Hort (Nottingham) and Farhad Javadi (Stockhill) both winning one match. Dave Pearce (Stapleford) enjoyed the day as always, despite failing to win a frame.
Knockout Stage
All players were starting to tire by the time the quarter-finals got underway and this was evidenced by the lack of decent breaks. The quarter-final matches between Hodgman & Sully and Miller & Croft were extremely close. Staniland played really well to knock Hussain out and Jobling did likewise to send home the impressive Martin.
Staniland carried his fluent play into the semi-finals where he defeated Miller 2-0. The other semi-final was much closer, the first frame between Jobling and Hodgman needing a re-spotted black after Jobling came back from needing snookers. Jobling also came back from needing a snooker in the second frame to win, a fine lesson in the art of never giving up. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic day for Hodgman who is relatively new to tournament snooker.
The finalists, Staniland and Hodgman, due to it being 9pm when the semi-finals were completed, decided to split the prize money and play a one frame final. Staniland could not get going and Jobling only needed a few small breaks to win frame and match. Well done to Jobling who has now won two out of the three Radford Open tournaments that have been held. It is certainly becoming one of his favourite venues!
Final Scorecard
Prize Money
Winner £65
Runner-up £65
Losing semi-finalists £20 each
Highest break (Wayne Martin 69) £5