NHSL Golf Day & Presentation Dinner

Nazareth House Snooker League held its innaugural golf day and presentation dinner on Monday 28th July in the plush suroundings of Oakmere Park Golf Club. Twenty-five of the league’s players slogged it out on the golf course on one of the hottest days of the year. Jay Mercer (Sherwood Social Club) won the nearest the pin competition, Jez Gilbert (Arnold Civil Defence) hit the longest drive and Roy Hamlin (Lenton Liberal Club) took the overall winners trophy.

The golfers were later joined by more league players and their guests for a three course dinner which was followed by the presentation of the golf and snooker trophies for the 2007/08 season.

The day proved very enjoyable for everyone who took part and the league is planning to make this an annual event. Mrs Chapman, the President’s wife, commented afterwards that the day was reminiscent of events she used to organise over twenty years ago when hundreds of league players and their wives used to decend on The Heart of the Midlands (now Rock City) for a presentation dinner and dance. She recalled that three coaches had to be laid on to provide transportation from Cotgrave alone - how times have changed!

A full list of all trophy and prize winners is available on the Nottingham Snooker Forum.

Pegasus Snooker League - Week 13

Division One

Nav Hussain has gone top of the Pegasus Snooker league table thanks to an important 3-1 win against one of his title rivals Chris Piech. The match was a nervy encounter with both players knowing that a loss would seriously damage their title aspirations.

Mike Langdon had a welcome 3-1 win which gives him a little breathing space against Steve Butler who is now in real danger of the drop. Both players looked short of confidence but it was Langdon who seemed to get all the running in match which included a frame winning treble on the black in the second. Butler responded well in the third frame but Langdon held his nerve in the last to bag the points.


RESULTS
(Breaks over 30 in brackets)

DIVISION ONE

Chris Piech 1-3 Nav Hussain
Zed Zubair 2-2 Zeb Ahmed
Gary Spencer (39) 2-2 Steve Booth
Steve Butler 1-3 Mike Langdon

DIVISION TWO

Scott Bates 3-1 Danny Knowles

View the latest league tables on the Nottingham Snooker Forum.

Bulwell & District Snooker League - KO Cup

There were a few upsets in the first round of the knockout cup competition. Top of division 1 went out to the bottom team in division 1 in a close match which saw BCI 'E' take the first 2 frames only for Cue Club to come back and snatch the win, with the help of a 35 point start.

Top of Division 2 Stadium Leisure went out to BCI 'C' at BCI despite taking the first 2 frames. Some good safety play by young Connor Kelliher saw him take the third frame and with the 42 start Steve Capsey Jnr managed to win the final frame to clinch the match.

Sherwood SC 'A' managed to win against Ruddington Conservative Club, helped in no small part by a Ruddington player failing to turn up.

Spot On (Hucknall) had an easy win at home to Sherwood SC 'D'. Tim Hudson making an excellent 53 break in the final frame.

Top Spot won a close match against Masters SC. Masters having a 28 start didn't help, but a good win for Nigel Bradford made the final frame a cliff-hanger. A fluked blue helped G Bexon win the match for Top Spot.

Despite being joint bottom of division 3, Sherwood SC 'B' managed a superb win at City Hospital Leisure Centre. A 105 point start helped them to win the game against the team second in division 1.

Phoenix Cue Sports had their match awarded to them when Oakleigh Lodge 'B' couldn't feild a side and BCI ‘B’ beat Mapperley.

More information including the latest league tables is available on the league's website.

Pegasus Snooker League - Week 12

Members Cup 2nd Round

All four 1st Division entrants are safely through to the quarter-final stage of this years new competition. Mike Langdon ran out a three nil winner against Mike McGuire with Andy Orange comfortably winning by the same scoreline against Jamie Walker. Eric Towle managed to give Steve Booth a scare by winning the opening frame and very nearly adding the second but Booth showed his experience to come through three one. Steve Butler will meet Steve Booth in the pick of the quarter-final ties after his 3-1 win against Ricky Grey.

Quarter-Final Draw

The draw for the quarter-finals of the Members Cup is as follows (handicaps in brackets)

Mike Langdon (21) v Ian Westby (49)
Gary Beardsley (49) v Grant Humphrey (35)
Luke Robinson (42) v Andy Orange (28)
Steve Booth (28) v Steve Butler (21)

RESULTS
(Breaks over 30 in brackets)

Mike Langdon 3-0 Mike McGuire
Steve Butler 3-1 Ricky Grey
Eric Towle 1-3 Steve Booth
Gary Beardsley 3-2 Brian Steeples
Andy Orange 3-0 Jamie Walker

View the latest league tables on the Nottingham Snooker Forum.

Bulwell & District Snooker League - Week 5

DIVISION 1

Sherwood Social Club ‘A’ 3-2 BCI Snooker Centre ‘A’

Lee Crombie 21 v Jason Bettridge 102
Bettridge took control of this game following a few unexpected misses by Crombie.
Three 20+ breaks doing the damage for BCI.

Wayne Bilbie 58 v Wayne Martin 47
A tight game that went down to the black. Both players going all out for their shots with Bilbie coming out on top.

Jason Turner 106 v Steve Coleman 27
Turner didn't miss much in the game and rolled in a neat 35 break that should have been more.
Advantage Sherwood.

Bo 56 v Hanson Stowe 59
A tight contest as the teams scrapped for the bonus point. BCI needed to win this one by 10, but Bo potted an excellent black to take the spoils for Sherwood.

*Bonus point to Sherwood who scored more points on aggregate.

Other Results:

BCI Snooker Centre ‘E’ 2-3 Spot On (Hucknall)
Cue Club 1-4 City Hospital Leisure Centre

DIVISION 2

Stadium Leisure 2-3 Top Spot

Steve Butler 39-81 Dave Milner
Milner outplayed Butler in every department to win the opening frame of the match comfortably, including a classy 22 break.

Mike Langdon 24-85 Michael Walker
Walker played very well against an out of form Langdon. Langdon's night started badly when his tip came off prior to play starting and he struggled to get to grips with a cue borrowed from Steve Butler.

Mark Bradley 66-42 Lee Esam
Bradley made it five wins out of six against Esam who never quite got going. What is even more impressive about Bradley's recent performances is that he has been using a rack cue throughout after his own cue mysteriously disappeared! He will be sorely missed when he moves to Leeds in a few weeks time.

Ross Wilkin 75-26 Michael Webb
Wilkin played some fantastic snooker to win his frame by 49 points but the damage had already been done by Top Spot's Milner and Walker.

*The match finished 2-2 but the bonus point went to Top Spot who won on aggregate 234-204.

Masters Snooker Club 2-3 Mapperley Community Centre

C.Davies v D.Bough (65-33)
Davies was always in command in this frame ( a 90 break in practice before the match put him in a potting frame of mind). Daviies couldn't repeat this in the match, but was well ahead in every department. Bough did rally a little at the end, but it was Davies that took the black to win.

J.Robinson v C.Wright (10-97)
Robinson was suffering badly at the start as Wright took 2 reasonable breaks and lead easily. A few in-offs by Robinson didn't help and it was Wright who powered ahead taking most of the colours to win very easily.

P.Bell v Len (48-36)
A close frame ,but with Bell in contol all the way. An unfortunate foul on the brown let Bell in to clear brown, blue and pink to claim the frame.

R.Wright v A.Carnell (17-84)
The league secretary's not playing well after a 2 week break. Carnell playing some very good snooker to leap ahead at the start of the frame. Wright however did manage to lay a couple of snookers, but Carnell played some good shots to escape them. It's never easy trying to lay snookers when so far behind and in doing so Wright let Carnell in to take the colours (seperately) and easily win the frame.

*Masters 2 Mapperley 2 (Mapperley taking the extra point on aggregate scores)

Other Result:

BCI Snooker Centre ‘D’ 1-4 BCI Snooker Centre ‘B’

DIVISION 3

Oakleigh Lodge Social Club ‘A’ 3-2 Oakleigh Lodge Social Club ‘B’
Phoenix Cue Sports 3-2 BCI Snooker Centre ‘C’
Sherwood Social Club ‘B’ 4-1 Sherwood Social Club ‘D’

More information including the latest league tables is available on the league's website.

Pegasus Snooker League - Week 11

Division One

Chris Brooks moved to within two points of the leader Chris Piech at the top of the Trevor Steeples Trophy table thanks to a three one win over Mike Langdon. It wasn't a vintage performance from Brooks and he was relieved to pick up the points in a match he could of lost. It was Langdon who took the first frame with the help of a 31 break but the match was soon level as Brooks came through a scrappy second frame. Langdon had a great opportunity to secure the third frame but unfortunately for him he went in off on the brown with only the blue required to secure the frame. Brooks did show his class to win the final frame, trailing by 33 points with only two reds left on the table a poor safety from Langdon offered him a lifeline which he took full advantage of knocking in an classy match winning 43 clearance. Steve Booth dented Chris Piech's title hopes as he won the opening two frames in a tactical encounter. However Piech showed grit and determination to take the next two frames as both players took a valuable point from the match. There was no seperating Zed Zubair and Andy Orange as both players played out a mid table draw. Orange won the opening frame but Zubair snatched to next two before an entertaining final frame ensured the points would be shared. Zubair had opened up a healthy lead with the help of a 30 break as he looked likely to make it three wins on the trot. However, Orange showed his fighting qualites which have made him the suprise package this season by knocking in a 35 break before holding his nerve to win on the final black.

Division Two

Eric Towle continued his charge up the table after winning three one against Grant Humphrey. Towle came from behind in the match and is now 5th in the league table.

RESULTS
(Breaks over 30 in brackets)

DIVISION ONE

Steve Booth 2-2 Chris Piech
Gary Spencer (55,45,31) 3-1 (36) Zeb Ahmed
Zed Zubair (30) 2-2 (35) Andy Orange
Chris Brooks (43) 3-1 (31) Mike Langdon
Steve Butler 2-2 Nav Hussain

DIVISION TWO

Eric Towle 3-1 Grant Humphrey
Danny Knowles 4-0 Luke Robinson
Gary Beardsley 1-3 Jamie Walker

View the latest league tables on the Nottingham Snooker Forum.

Bulwell & District Snooker League - Divisional Cup

DIVISION 1 CUP

BCI 'A' bt BCI 'E' by 19 points

Jason Bettridge beat Wong Yip 69-32 to put BCI 'A' 37 points up. Wayne Martin then extended BCI 'A's lead with an excellent 88-38 win over Wong's brother Kwok. Sam Haugh never missed a ball as he reduced BCI 'E's deficit to 54 with a 62-29 win over Hanson Stowe. In the final frame Jonathan Mason played superbly, making a couple of 20+ breaks to take control of the frame and leave BCI 'A's nerves jangling. As the scoreline narrowed, his opponent Steve Coleman managed to pot blue and pink to secure victory for BCI 'A' by just 19 points.

Other Results:

Spot On bt City Hospital
Sherwood 'A' and Cue Club both received byes

DIVISION 2 CUP

BCI 'D' bt Stadium by 9 points

Clint Broome put BCI ahead with a 55-38 win against Steve Butler. However Matt Ellis reduced BCI's lead to just 2 points with a 51-36 win over Paul Bradley which included a fantastic double on the pink. Mark Bradley then gave Stadium what appeared to be an unasailable 41 point lead with a terrific 75-11 win over Stuart Bradley. Then with the pressure on, Craig Bradley gradually clawed back the deficit against Ross Wilkin and then finished the frame off with a superb 18 clearance to steal the match from Stadium by just 9 points.

Other Results:

Mapperley bt BCI 'B' by 59 points
Masters and Top Spot both received byes

DIVISION 3 CUP

Oakleigh Lodge 'B' bt Phoenix
Sherwood 'D' bt Ruddington
Sherwood 'B' bt BCI 'C'
Oakleigh Lodge 'A' received a bye

Eastwood Open - 5 July 2008

The third Eastwood Open proved to be another successful and enjoyable tournament. A round robin format was used which provided every competitor with at least three matches. The top two players in the four man groups progressed to the quarter-finals plus the best third placed player. In the five man group, the top three players were to progress, however it did not quite work out like that (see below).

Group 1
Debutant Jimmy Gratton from Belper blew away his opposition in group one without dropping a frame. In his match against the home club’s Ash Goring he made awesome breaks of 54 and 59 in the same frame! He also knocked in breaks of 37 against Kingston’s Marc Harman and 34 against Matt Ellis.

Ellis really struggled and was on his way home by 4pm having failed to win a frame. After all matches had been played, Harman, Wilkin and Goring could not be separated. It was therefore agreed that all three players would play one frame against each other with the overall winner progressing to the semi-finals. Harman beat both Wilkin and Goring to progress.

Group 2
Wayne Martin, who was going for his third title, won the group without losing a match. Stewart Crosswell who reached the final last time out, showed flashes of brilliance, particularly in the deciding frame of his match against Steve Butler where he made a superb 72 break. Steve Butler also qualified for the quarter-finals as a result of being the best third placed player. Toby Irons, who was another player making his debut, struggled to find his form and followed Ellis out of the door at 4pm.

Group 3
Group three contained three players who were making their tournament debuts. Tony Nelson won all three matches and finished top of the group. Steve Howard progressed in second place without having to find his top form. Andrew Gratton only just missed out. Tournament organiser Stephen Lally was unlucky, losing all three of his matches by the odd frame.

Knockout Stage

Quarter-finals

Wayne Martin 2-0 Steve Butler
An easy win for Martin including a 42 break as Butler was starting to tire.

Steve Howard 2-1 Tony Nelson
A very tight and tense affair between these two players but it was Howard who came out on top.

Stewart Crosswell 2-1 Jimmy Gratton
An excellent result for Crosswell to beat the on-fire Gratton and set up a semi-final clash with Howard.

Marc Harman 2-0 Ash Goring/Ross Wilkin
Harman came out on top in the three-way playoff (see group 1 above) to set up a semi-final clash with Wayne Martin.

Semi-finals £15

Wayne Martin 2-0 Marc Harman
Harman had a couple of good chances in the first frame which he failed to take and Martin was now playing really well. He sealed the first frame with some solid play and then turned on the style in the second frame with a fantastic 81 break, the highest of the tournament, which earned him the £10 highest break prize.

Steve Howard 2-0 Stewart Crosswell
Crosswell was very disappointing in his match against the home club’s Steve Howard. Crosswell was favourite to reach his second final in succession but he missed too many chances and Howard’s solid play saw him into the final at his first attempt.

Final £60 / £30

Wayne Martin 3-2 Steve Howard
Howard made it really tough for Martin with some great potting and solid safety play. Howard took the first frame which made Martin realise he wasn’t going to have it all his own way. Martin pulled the next one back but Howard then took the third with the help of the matches highest break, a modest 34. In the fourth frame Martin knuckled down to ensure that the match went to a decider. The final frame was very tense as neither player wanted to leave anything easy for his opponent. Martin eventually managed to pull away to win his third successive title and the £60 winners prize.

Highest Breaks

Wayne Martin 81,42,39,31
Stewart Crosswell 72,42
Jimmy Gratton 59,54,34
Marc Harman 39
Andrew Gratton 37
Steve Howard 34

CLICK HERE to see the group tables

Paul Hunter English Open 2008 - Draw

The draw has been made for the round-robin group stages of the Paul Hunter English Open 2008 which will take place between 27th and 30th July.

There are 100 entries who are split into four groups of five, and twenty groups of four. There will be 64 qualifiers for the knock-out stages made up of the top two in each group of four, plus the third placed player in the groups of five. Additional qualifiers will be selected as follows:

BEST FOUR 3rd place players from groups of 4 on SUNDAY
BEST THREE 3rd place players from groups of 4 on MONDAY
BEST THREE 3rd place players from groups of 4 on TUESDAY
BEST TWO 3rd place players from groups of 4 on WEDNESDAY

Nottingham's interest lies with Pegasus professional Michael Holt and World Snooker coach Barry Stark.

The full draw can be viewed here.

Bulwell & District Snooker League - Week 4

DIVISION 1

BCI 'E' 3-2 BCI 'A'

Andy Speirs (BCI 'E') beat Jason Betteridge 67-40 with the help of a quality 30 break. Wayne Martin hit back for BCI 'A', beating Jonathan Mason 69-49 with the help of a 38 break. The third frame between Tony Collins and Kwok Yip was a real thriller. Yip dominated throughout but Collins never gave up and eventually pushed the frame to the last four colours before Yip took the frame for BCI 'E' 67-45. Hanson Stowe did well against Sam Haugh, winning 66-32 to make the frame score 2-2. However, the bonus point went to BCI 'E' who won on aggregate by just 4 points, 215-211 and they are still unbeaten at the top of the table.

Other Results:

City Hospital 5-0 Spot On (Hucknall)
Sherwood SC 'A' 4-1 Cue Club

DIVISION 2

Mapperley Community Centre 3-2 Stadium Leisure

Stadium suffered their first defeat of the season but remain top of the table. Barry Stark suffered a shock 70-42 defeat to Doug Bough. Steve Butler won a scrappy frame against Mapperley's Chris Wright 55-45. Matt Ellis had a good 64-46 win against Raj Landa to put Stadium 2-1 ahead, but level on points going into the tense final frame. Don Merry faced Mark Bradley and both players were guilty of some glaring misses. The plaudits must go to Merry who pulled off some amazing pots right at the end for a 25 point clearance which included an incredible fluked green. The scores finished 71-41 in favour of Merry and this won the bonus point for Mapperley.

Masters 4-1 BCI 'D'

Michael Holt's brother Matt who had not picked up a cue for 8 months stood in for Masters and he had a 27 break on the way to a 70-24 win against Clint Broome. Cary Davies and Bob Wright also won for Masters with only Paul Bell losing.

DIVISION 3

Sherwood 'D' 3-2 Phoenix Cue Sports
BCI 'C' 5-0 Sherwood 'B'
Oakleigh Lodge 'B' 2-3 Ruddington

More information including the latest league tables is available on the league's website.

Pegasus Snooker League - Week 10

Division One

Chris Piech produced another superb performance as he overpowered Steve Butler 4-0 to move two points clear at the top of the table. Butler had no reply as Piech rushed into a three nil lead helped by breaks of 49, 33 and 31. Butler did respond in the final frame building up a twenty point cushion going into the colours, however Piech who was in no mood to drop a frame cleared up to record an emphatic victory. Zed Zubair has recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season which has moved him out of the danger zone into mid table. Spurred on after his recent win against Nav Hussain he ran out a convincing four nil winner against an out of sorts Mike Langdon. It was a stalemate in the bottom of the table clash between Zeb Ahmed and Steve Booth. Ahmed knocked in an opening frame 41 break to get his nose in front before Booth leveled and then moved ahead thanks to a 22 clearance in the third frame. It had looked like Booth would win the match but a missed black handed Ahmed a lifeline and a share of the points.

Division Two

Luke Robinson knocked in a 34 break in his 3-1 victory over bottom of the table Ian Westby as he moved to within touching distance of the leader Danny Knowles. The result leapfrogged Robinson over title favourite Scott Bates who could only manage a draw against league newcomer Eric Towle who is now closing in on a play-off spot. Draw specialist Brian Steeples drew with Mike McGuire 2-2. It was Steeples fifth draw in as many matches and the point was enough to move him into a play off place.

RESULTS
(Breaks over 30 in brackets)

DIVISION ONE

Mike Langdon 0-4 Zed Zubair
Andy Orange 1-3 (39) Gary Spencer
Zeb Ahmed (41) 2-2 Steve Booth
Chris Piech (49,33,31) 4-0 Steve Butler

DIVISION TWO

Mike McGuire 2-2 Brian Steeples
Jamie Walker 4-0 Danny Knowles
Luke Robinson (34) 3-1 Ian Westby
Scott Bates 2-2 Eric Towle

View the latest league tables on the Nottingham Snooker Forum.