Review of the Year: 2020
The year got off to a fantastic start, with a Nottingham Snooker Team taking on a team from Leicester at Phoenix Cue Sports. After 36 frames had been played, the scores were level at 18-18. Leicester won the decider, but our team pushed them hard. Kieran Brighton demonstrated what a class act he was and it was great to see him enter the Challenge Ladder later in the year.
In February, Hidden Spot played host to the 3rd Radford Open. The ever popular Dave Jobling won the tournament, but he was made to work for it by emerging talent Hayden Staniland, who would go on to do really well at the WST Q School in August. Hayden is certainly a player to watch out for over the next few years.
February saw the launch of two new competitions. The Championship was to be the first of four VAR tournaments planned for 2020, however COVID-19 put an end to those plans. The competitors all did a fantastic job of getting their matches played quickly and it took just 6 weeks to move from round 1 to completion of the semi-final matches on March 15th. Unfortunately, the national lockdown prevented the final being played and eventually the finalists, Dave Bolton and Bash Maqsood, agreed to call it a draw and split the prize money.
The other competition launched in February was the Home League. With more and more players installing tables at home, this is a league that is likely to grow in stature over the coming years. We were only able to complete two rounds of matches before lockdown but no doubt the players will have been practicing recently, ready for when play can resume in 2021.
Another new competition was launched in March, the Sunday League. This league was played at Phoenix Cue Sports over three rounds. The first two rounds were played in March but then, you guessed it, lockdown delayed the playing of round three until late September. It was pleasing to see young Callum Hodgman emerge victorious, a reward for all the hours of practice he has been putting in.
In September I launched the Challenge Ladder. This new competition features free entry and potential prize money of over £1,200. It has proved very popular and has received brilliant feedback from the 45 competitors involved. The Ladder was ticking along nicely for 6 weeks until the introduction of tier 2 coronavirus restrictions in mid October forced a halt to play. I have big plans for this competition and hopefully it won’t be too long before play can resume.
In October I got together with Steve Burrows, Antony Moore and Jacob Moore to take part in a charity 24 hour snookerthon. Thanks to the kind generosity of our supporters, including many local players, we were able to raise over £1,500 for young Adam Harrad.
Since mid October we have been unable to play any competitive snooker and I know everyone is desperate to be able to play again. I am one of the lucky ones who has been able to practice at home, but nothing compares to playing against an opponent and I can’t wait for things to get back to normal again.
Fingers crossed for a return to normality in 2021…
Steve Butler
Nottingham Snooker
Statistics
Number of competitors: 60
Number of competitions: 6
Total prize money distributed: £1,085
Biggest cash prize: £350 (The Championship)
Youngest player: Alfie Moore (9 years old)
Largest field: 45 players (Challenge Ladder)
Highest break: 122 by Guy Dennis
Most successful players: Bash Maqsood & Dave Bolton (£350 each)
List of Winners
Radford Open 3: Dave Jobling
Sunday League 1: Callum Hodgman
Accounts for year ending 31 December 2020
Note: £300 balance consists of Home League entry fees which will be utilised for trophies and prize money when the league concludes.