Richard Sutton defeats Ellis Abbott 4-3 to lift the Alan Cunningham Trophy

Richard Sutton (+21) and Ellis Abbott (+7) both played their part in a thoroughly entertaining and hard fought Alan Cunningham Trophy final.

Ellis got off to the better start, racing into a 2-0 lead. However, Richard upped his game in the next two frames, taking them both to level the match at 2-2.

Ellis then won the fifth frame to put himself within one frame of victory and at this point I arrived to witness the final two frames of the match:

Frame 6
Richard made a 25 break and Ellis replied with a run of 16. Richard made an 11 break and Ellis hit back with a 15. Richard leading by 11 points with 43 left on the table. Some terrific safety from Ellis was matched by excellent potting by Richard who eventually potted a superb pink to win the frame and force the decider.

Frame 7
Ellis was in first but after potting a good red he missed a blue off the spot. An in-off by Richard left Ellis with another chance, but after potting a red he missed the green off the spot. This allowed Richard to capitalise, potting red, brown, red for a break of 6. Should have been more but a twitch on the pink ended the break prematurely. It was tense stuff and Ellis now hit back with a red and black for 8 points to narrow Richard’s lead to just 6. It was nip and tuck for a while before Richard made a nice 20 break to take a 15 point lead with three reds remaining. Ellis potted a red but missed a tricky black to the middle. Richard then potted a lovely long red but the cue ball finished in no man’s land, forcing him to try for a snooker. Fortunately for Ellis his attempt was unsuccessful, but his sense of relief was brief as he went in off! Richard then fluked the final red to add to Ellis’s misery. Ellis now trailed by 20 points, with 27 remaining. Richard then fluked a snooker and Ellis not only failed to escape but he also left the cue ball behind the black. He was put in again by Richard and again he missed the yellow. Richard was now 28 in front with on 27 on the table. Ellis potted a good yellow and laid an excellent snooker behind the pink (see photo). Richard failed to escape, hitting the blue which meant Ellis could now win, 21 the difference with 23 on the table. Ellis potted the green but played a poor safety on the brown leaving Richard a chance at one of his trademark long pots. Not this time though as he missed it, only to snooker Ellis behind the pink! Ellis played an excellent shot to escape the snooker and he also managed to leave it safe. Ellis now trailing by 18 points with 22 on the table. Amazingly, Richard fluked another snooker and this time Ellis fouled, hitting the black. Richard then stepped up and potted brown and blue to take frame and match. A terrific 4-3 win for Richard after being 2-0 and 3-2 down.

Thank you to Spot On Hucknall and Anthony Hamilton for allowing us to use his excellent Star table for the final.

Steve Butler
Nottingham Snooker

Results from previous rounds

Semi-Finals

Wayne Martin (-28) 1-3 Richard Sutton (21) (Aug 20)
Jim Harrison (-28) 1-3 Ellis Abbott (7) (Aug 16)

Quarter-Finals

1. Alan Caulton (0) 2-3 Ellis Abbott (7) (August 6)
2. Paul Bean (-14) 0-3 Jim Harrison (-28) (July 31)
3. Wayne Martin (-28) 3-0 Terry Thompson (7) (August 3)
4. Richard Sutton (21) 3-1 Nav Hussain (-28) (August 13)

Prize Money

Winner: £50 + name engraved on the Alan Cunningham Trophy
Runner-up: £25
Losing Semi-Finalists £5

Previous Recorded Champions

2024 – Andrew Diacopoulos
2023 – Steve Donner
2022 – Steve Donner
2021 – NOT HELD
2020 – Wayne Martin
2019 – Keith Holgate
2018 – John Fountain
2017 – NOT HELD
2016 – Nav Hussain
2015 – Andrew Diacopoulos

End of Season Accounts

The Champion of Champions is the final tournament of the 2024/25 season. Here are the 2024/25 season accounts: