Terry Thompson is crowned STL Handicap Singles champion 2025

Terry Thompson defeated Wayne Martin 3-2 after coming back from 0-1 and 1-2 down to capture the Summer Team League Handicap Singles title on Sunday evening. It was a good quality final and Terry was a deserved winner, coming out on top over this season’s most successful player in Wayne.

Thanks to Anthony Hamilton for allowing the use of his Star table which was playing beautifully. Also thanks to the management and staff at Spot On Hucknall who always look after us.

Here is the match report:

Frame 1
Wayne 64-53 Terry

Terry was receiving a 35 point start from Wayne and he managed to maintain a decent lead right up to the colours. Wayne potted yellow to blue to close the gap to just a few points. He then took the pink to go 4 points in front, but he missed a long black leaving a difficult frame winning chance for Terry. Terry missed the black leaving a simple pot for Wayne who duly potted it to take a 1-0 lead.

Frame 2
Wayne 45-80 Terry

Terry shot out of the blocks, stringing together a nice break of 35. Wayne replied immediately with a run of 19 to reduce the deficit to 51 points. A break of 26 by Wayne reduced the deficit to 25 buy Terry potted a good red and laid a snooker on the final red which Wayne failed to escape from. Not only that but the white finished behind the yellow leaving another snooker. Terry put Wayne back in and he missed again. Wayne now trailed by 34 points with 35 on the table. A few visits later Terry made an excellent pot on the red and Wayne conceded. Match now level at 1-1.

Frame 3
Wayne 106-35 Terry

Wayne was straight in with a lovely 59 break (see video for the second half of the break) so it was Terry playing catch up in this frame. Unfortunately for him, Wayne had hit a purple patch and he made a quick 47 break to take the frame and go into a 2-1 lead.

Frame 4
Wayne 40-65 Terry

Wayne was in first but his break finished on 15 when he missed a tricky red with the rest. Terry then had a good chance thanks to an excellent opening red but he missed a black off the spot when his break was at 9. This presented Wayne with an easy opening but he ran out of position when his break was also at 9. The frame then got a little scrappy with both players struggling to put any breaks together. Terry potted an excellent final red, followed by a blue and a good yellow with the rest. This put him 27 ahead with just 25 remaining. Wayne was forced to pot the green after Terry rolled it over the bag. He then went on to pot the brown, making the laying of a snooker even more difficult. Eventually Terry potted the blue to take the frame and level the match at 2-2.

Frame 5
Wayne 69-89 Terry

The frame got off to a cagey start but Wayne was let in after a loose safety shot from Terry. Wayne made a nice 35 break (see video) to take a narrow lead. Terry replied with red and blue before laying a good snooker which Wayne failed to escape from. A miss was called and Terry put the cue ball back. This time Wayne hit a red but he left it over the bag. Terry made an 8 break putting him 2 points in front. Terry then extended his lead to 11 points after making a 9 break and leaving Wayne snookered after missing a blue off the spot. It took Wayne two attempts to hit a red and Terry put him in another snooker. He managed to escape but he left Terry in the balls. Terry potted a red but missed a difficult pink. A good long red by Wayne led to an 18 break, Wayne now leading by 2 points. Terry laid a good snooker on the green which Wayne hit on the second attempt, Terry now with a narrow lead. Terry potted an excellent green, followed by brown, blue and pink to take the frame and match (see video).