Richard Sutton captures the Intermediate Handicap title

Richard Sutton withstood a fightback from Nottingham Snooker Classic champion Richard Amalou to win the Intermediate Handicap Snooker Championship on Sunday afternoon. It was Sutton’s first tournament victory since he moved to Nottingham and he was extremely pleased to get his hands on the coveted trophy.
Match Report
Frame 1
Both players had lots of chances and Sutton led by just 16 points going into the colours. Amalou then potted the yellow to close the gap to 14 points but Sutton sank the green and eventually a problematic brown to go 21 points ahead with just 18 remaining. Amalou tried for the snooker but he went in-off the blue to fall even further behind. Sutton potted the blue to lead by 31 points with just 13 remaining but Amalou wasn’t ready to give up. After a bit of a tussle Sutton potted the pink, only to go in-off and give Amalou a glimmer of hope. But Amalou then accidentally potted the pink to end the frame and put Sutton 1-0 up.
Frame 2
Amalou started strongly with the help of a 15 break but then Sutton hit back. The frame continued in this vein before Sutton scored well to lead by 38 points going into the colours. Amalou tried to fight back but it was Sutton who won the frame comfortably to lead 2-0.
Frame 3
Good scoring from Amalou in this frame saw him lead by 3 points going into the colours. Sutton potted the yellow but then conceded four points to Amalou who now led by 5. Amalou took green, brown and blue to leave Sutton needing a snooker. Sutton then tried to play safe but he fluked the pink to hand the frame to Amalou who now trailed by just one frame.
Frame 4
Sutton got in first with a red and a black to lead by 29 points, but Amalou came back strongly, reducing the deficit to just 1 point. A timely run of 12 from Sutton gave him some breathing space and he followed it up with a run of 8 to go 21 points in front. Amalou battled back superbly and he had two terrific chances of a blue to black clearance, but he failed at the first attempt. On the second attempt he potted blue and pink but he left himself needing to use the rest for the black and he just didn’t seem to fancy it. He threw his arm at it and missed, leaving an easy finish for Sutton, who sank the black to win frame and match 3-1.
Amalou looked odds on to pot that black and set up a decider but sadly it wasn’t to be. A great win for Sutton who gets his name on this coveted trophy and takes home the £100 first prize.

Frame Scores (Sutton first)
66-47, 77-41, 44-55, 61-59
Sutton received 21 points start per frame
Watch the Match
Prize Money & Trophies
Winner: £100 + Trophy
Runner-up: £50 + Trophy
Losing semi-finalists: £25
Results from earlier rounds
Semi-Finals
- Richard Amalou 3-0 Nick Lester
Richard received 7 points start per frame - Richard Sutton 4-2 Moe Anyanwu
Richard received 35 points start per frame
Quarter-Finals
- Moe Anyanwu 4-1 Adam Moss
Adam received 7 points start per frame - Selina Dean 0-2 Richard Amalou
Selina received 14 points start per frame - Shane Fella 2-3 Nick Lester
No start received or given (both players +7) - Richard Sutton 2-1 Mohsin Faiz
No start received or given (both players +35)
Last 16
- Richard Amalou 3-2 Richard Pedley
Richard Pedley received 14 points start per frame - Gary Spencer 0-2 Richard Sutton
Richard received 35 points start per frame - Selina Dean 3-1 Mick Garratt
Selina received 21 points start per frame - Lee Thorn 2-3 Adam Moss
No start received or given (both players +7) - Nick Lester 4-3 Alan Caulton
No start received or given (both players +7) - Moe Anyanwu 3-0 Ishan Seth
Ishan received 21 points start per frame - Shane Fella 3-0 Jamie Barker
No start received or given (both players +7) - Sam Burton 1-2 Mohsin Faiz
Mohsin received 35 points start per frame
Preliminary Round
- Dean North 2-3 Selina Dean
Selina received 7 points start per frame - Gary Spencer 3-0 Nick Sharp
Nick received 7 points start per frame - Lee Thorn 3-2 Koen Hughes
Neither player received a start (both +7) - Shane Miles 1-4 Moe Anyanwu
Shane received 35 points start per frame - Richard Sutton 3-0 Manfred Corbin
Richard received 35 points start per frame - Steven Hughes 1-3 Richard Pedley
Richard received 21 points start per frame - Robert Garratt 0-3 Alan Caulton
Alan received 7 points start per frame - Ishan Seth 2-1 Patrick Hort
Ishan received 21 points start per frame - Jordan Parnham 1-2 Mohsin Faiz
Mohsin received 28 points start per frame - James Baillie 1-2 Jamie Barker
James received 28 points start per frame - Sam Burton (59) 3-0 Wayne Smith
Sam received 7 points start per frame - Kevin Henson 0-3 Richard Amalou
Kevin received 7 points start per frame - Carl Smith 2-4 Shane Fella
Carl received 7 points start per frame