Challenge Ladder Season 2022/23 - News

Ladder News 06-03-23

Steve Butler — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 09:39:51 +0000

The 454th and final match of the season resulted in a victory for Joe Reynolds who came back from 1-3 down to beat Nav Hussain 4-3. Joe moves above Nav into 8th position.

The final Ladder PDF document of the season is attached. Here is a list of the contents:

Page 1 - Ladder

Page 2 - Statistics

Page 3 - September Results

Page 4 - October Results

Page 5 - November Results

Page 6 - December Results

Page 7 - January Results

Page 8 - February & March Results

I will need a few days to analyse the statistics and compile a list of the players who will receive prize money and trophies. Just like last season, I may award some discretionary prize money and trophies to players who I feel deserve special recognition. Once I have completed this process, I will publish an article on the website and share the link on social media.

Ladder-2023-03-06.pdf

Ladder News 05-03-23

Steve Butler — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 09:34:42 +0000

John Fountain took a 2-0 lead against Audie Miller, but Audie is always tough to beat and he fought back to level the match at 2-2. John managed to carve out a lead in the decider and he used all of his experience to see the frame out and secure a 3-2 victory. John holds on to 6th position and Audie finishes in 14th.

Ben Monk hardly missed a ball as he whitewashed in-form Sam Burton 3-0 making breaks of 38, 31 and 30. Ben finishes in 15th and Sam one place lower in 16th. Sam has played more matches this season than any other player. He has played 15 matches as challenger and 11 matches as defender, winning 13 and losing 13 for a 50% win ratio. Well done Sam!

There is just one match left to be played. Nav Hussain will be defending 8th position later today as he faces Joe Reynolds who still has a 100% win record (played 11, won 11).

Ladder-2023-03-05.pdf

Ladder News 02-03-23

Steve Butler — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 09:36:51 +0000

Martin Conway secured a terrific 3-1 win over Keith Holgate which sees him finish in 4th position on the Ladder. Martin started in 51st position and went on to play 18 matches, winning 13 of them for an impressive 72% win ratio. He has a Lead Time Average (LTA) of just 7 days. Well done Martin!

Ladder-2023-03-02.pdf

Ladder News 01-03-23

Steve Butler — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:33:21 +0000

Mick Garratt successfully defended 30th position with a 3-0 win against Keiran Miles. Mick - who had lost his last four matches going into this one - potted really well throughout the match.

Malc Grocock went 1-0 up against Wayne Smith thanks to some good long potting and a nice run of 29. A couple of 20+ breaks from Wayne saw him over the line in the next frame to level the match at 1-1. Wayne then went on to nick the next two frames for a terrific 3-1 victory that sees him climb to 22nd position. Wayne has climbed a total of 51 places this season, playing nine matches and only losing one of them.

Ladder-2023-03-01.pdf

Ladder News 28-02-23

Steve Butler — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:38:58 +0000

I managed to hold on to 31st position with a narrow win against Steven Hughes. I won the first frame comfortably but Steven then took the next two frames playing very well to go 2-1 ahead. He then really should have won the match as he played much better than me in the fourth frame but I potted blue, pink and black at the end to pinch the frame and force the decider. I played a lot better in the final frame and secured an unlikely 3-2 victory.

Ladder-2023-02-28.pdf

Ladder News 24-02-23

Steve Butler — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 09:30:58 +0000

Chris Winter climbs to 9th position after defeating Danny Ould 3-0. He made a 54 break in the third frame to seal his fourth win in five matches.

Ladder-2023-02-24.pdf

Ladder News 23-02-23

Steve Butler — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 09:41:26 +0000

He's only gone and done the double! Andrew Diacopoulos has achieved an impressive double, winning the Notts Amateur Snooker Championship and finishing at the top of the Challenge Ladder this season. His 3-1 win against Andrew Brooke yesterday moves him up to 1st place on the Ladder, displacing Brooke who spent 22 days at number 1. Diacopoulos started the campaign in 63rd position and he then went on to win all eleven challenges to move up a total of 62 places, a fantastic achievement. Brooke finishes the season in 2nd position having started in 31st which is also an excellent achievement and something he can be immensely proud of.

Ben Cooper secured a terrific 3-1 win against the in-form Dale Prime who reached the final of the Trevor Steeples Trophy on Sunday. Ben had suffered back-to-back defeats going in to this match, which makes this win even more impressive. The win sees Ben hold on to 10th position and Dale remains 19th.

Manfred Corbin has jumped a massive 16 places from 48th to 32nd thanks to a 4-2 victory over Carl Smith. Manfred played very well and he made a lovely 47 break in the second frame. That's the fourth win in a row for Manfred who has clearly found some form at the right time.

Andy Wright emerged victorious from a fantastic encounter with Lee Thorn. Having taken a 3-0 lead, Andy then saw his lead disappear as Lee reeled off the next three frames to level at 3-3 and force a decider. A relieved Andy managed to nick the final frame for a 4-3 win that sees him hold on to 39th position. Lee remains in 44th.

Selina Dean - the Junior Handicap SC finalist - grabbed her fifth win of the campaign, a 3-0 whitewash of James Baillie. She holds on to 54th position having climbed eleven places from her starting position of 65th.

The final match played yesterday was another seven frame thriller. Danny Cresswell edged the match 4-3 against Nick Sharp at Spot On Sneinton. It's been a strong finish to the season by Danny who has played an impressive 21 Ladder matches this season, winning 11 of them for a 52% win ratio. He also has a very low LTA of just 3 days!

Ladder-2023-02-23.pdf

Ladder News 22-02-23

Steve Butler — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 09:31:38 +0000

Richard Sutton won a close but scrappy match 3-2 against Dean North. Richard holds on to 55th position and Dean stays 59th. Next up for Richard is the final of the Intermediate Handicap Snooker Championship on Sunday.

Ladder-2023-02-22.pdf

Ladder News 21-02-23

Steve Butler — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 09:24:32 +0000

Alan Caulton travelled to Spot On Hucknall to challenge Darryl Clarke. Darryl certainly started the better and potted better than Alan throughout the match, but after four frames the match was level at 2-2. In the deciding frame both players missed chances and Alan needed a snooker going into the colours. He got out of a couple of snookers from Darryl and then managed to play good safety, leaving the blue and cueball tight on opposite cushions. Darryl missed the blue and Alan cleared the table to pinch frame and match on the black. An impressive win for Alan who fell over 40 points behind in the two of the frames he won. He climbs to 23rd position, four places higher than where he started the season.

Ben Green successfully defended 20th position thanks to a 3-2 victory over Moe Anyanwu. Moe won a high quality opening frame with the help of a nice 35 break. Ben then won a close second frame which was "more like a game of tennis". On to frame three and to quote Moe "Moe can’t cue. Moe can’t play safe. Moe forgets how to pot balls. Moe plays rubbish and misses more in one frame than he has in total all season. Moe is too tired to tip the table up!". Needless to say, Ben won the frame to take a 2-1 lead. After heading off to Argos to buy a new cue action, Moe returned for frame four. Ben had a run of 24 but Moe replied with breaks of 34 and 26 which were enough to level the match at 2-2. "Argos is the way forward" says Moe. In the deciding frame "Moe sits down a lot. Moe don’t get many chances. Moe picks balls out of pockets a lot. Moe is definitely becoming a good referee. Moe does not pot a ball until nearly 50 points to 0 behind due to Argos failing him.". Ben played well in the decider, potting some great balls to secure a 3-2 win. After the match, Moe said "I decided to drop off the new cue action back at Argos and get a refund. It's been a great snooker ladder season and I'll come back better than ever next season!".

Robert Garratt and Shane Fella were involved in a terrific match. Both players started strongly, cueing well and playing some good safety, but it was Shane who edged two very close frames to lead 2-0. In the next frame it was nip and tuck but Robert managed to come out on top for 2-1. It was a crazy end to the fourth frame. Shane was roughly 15 up with 18 on and Robert was faced with a straight blue, but very tough with the pink on the rail and the black over the opposite bottom bag. He cued the blue really well but it jawed and went across to the other bag only to hit the black and go into the bag dead weight. This then left him a double on the pink which he nailed into the top bag and came down to leave a difficult black. He maintained his composure to pot the black and make it 2-2. Shane then won the next frame to make it 3-2 and Robert went to get a drink thinking "how am I not 3-2 ahead?". "The sixth frame was crazy" to quote Robert. He went 29 points behind with 27 on the table, but he battled back incredibly well to the black by getting the snooker he required. Shane had a thin black to win the match and he potted it but the white somehow found the top bag to hand the frame to Robert and make it 3-3. "Unbelievable Jeff" said Robert. Shane played some very good safety in the decider which left Robert with no choice but to push the boat out a little. Robert fell lucky a few times by not leaving anything easy but once he got in he didn't make many mistakes and he played a very good final frame to take the match 4-3. An excellent match which Shane could have won if it wasn't for that in-off, but that's why we love snooker! Robert remains 27th and Shane 39th.

Wayne Martin defeated Dan Moll 3-0 but Dan had chances to win the second frame. In the third frame, Wayne started with a run of 28. Dan replied with a 25 but he missed an easy pink on a run of 19 and Wayne cleared to the pink with nice 38 break. Wayne holds on to 8th position.

I have now processed the final challenge forms of the season and there are 16 matches pending.

I will continue to publish an updated Ladder the day after any matches have been played.

Once all 16 matches have been played I will publish the final Ladder.

I will then review the Ladder and Player Statistics and publish a final season report which will detail the trophy winners and prize money allocations.

Attached is the updated Ladder following yesterday's matches.

Ladder-2023-02-21.pdf

Ladder News 20-02-23

Steve Butler — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 09:24:20 +0000

Antony Moore held on to 18th position thanks to a 3-1 win against Mark Taylor at Ivanhoe in Ashby. Both players started slowly missing chances, but it was Antony who got going first, picking up the pieces from Mark's errors to take a 1-0 lead. Mark struggled again in frame two which Antony won to go 2-0 up. Mark found his game in the third frame, potting very well and following with good safety leaving Antony struggling to get in the frame. Mark took this frame with ease for 2-1. Mark started well again in the next, taking a good lead. Antony battled on and chipped away at the lead. It came down to the colours with nothing in it and Antony potted a fantastic brown with pin point position on the blue. He then potted the blue and just needed the pink for the match but missed. Mark potted the pink and then it was a safety battle on the black. Antony then took it on and missed it, leaving Mark a chance to level the game. Mark missed his chance and left a long black which Antony floated in to take the match 3-1. Antony was very glad to win as Mark was getting stronger with every frame.

Keiran Miles beat Tony Casey 3-2 and he climbs to 41st position.

Ladder-2023-02-20.pdf