New doubles snooker champions crowned

Andrew Milliard and Leo Fernandez of Kendal who won the County snooker doubles title.

Kendal’s Andrew Milliard and Leo Fernandez are the new Peter Tyson Audio/Visual sponsored Cumbria County Doubles Snooker champions after a thrilling day’s play at Carlisle’s QZone.

The day culminated in an epic 4-3 final win for the south of the county duo which saw defending champions, Flimby’s Kevin Kirkham and Workington’s Peter O’Hagan, comeback from 3-0 down only to be thwarted in the decider due to a brilliant break of 53 from Kendal’s Milliard.

The match started in rapid fashion as the two Kendal ex-pros found their touch immediately, and in making a couple of visits in the 30’s and 40’s the quickest frame of the final saw Milliard and Fernandez lead 1-0 thanks to an 80-5 victory.

In frame two Kirkham and O’Hagan managed to get a few points on the board early on, however with the Kendal pairing well into their stride three brisk visits from Fernandez, coupled with some excellent safety from Milliard, was enough for the south of the county duo to make it 2-0 on the back of a 71-27 frame win.

An early opportunity for Fernandez in frame three yielded a break of 30 but in trying to screw into the pack the former main tour pro damaged his tip.

This made playing certain shots difficult, but Fernandez adapted well and continued to look dangerous. As Milliard created a couple of opportunities for Fernández the adopted Cumbrian potted enough balls to take them over the line for a 76-28 win and a 3-0 match scoreline.

Even though the hip issues were still apparent Fernandez showed no signs of disappointment in frame four with a couple of nice pots. That said, Kirkham and O’Hagan sparked into action and in seizing their opportunities they took the frame in effectively two speedy visits for a very convincing 62-14 win.

At 3-1, the Kendal paring were keen to close out the match, however every time the ex-pros got in Kirkham and O’Hagan seemed to counter. As the scores stood level with colours remaining a good pot on the yellow from Kirkham gave the Flimby cueist the chance he was looking for.

Green, brown and blue later and a 14 point lead with just pink and black left was enough for the defending champions to make it 3-2 with a 73-59 win.

In the next missed opportunities from both sides ensued but with the match back in the balance a scrappy frame seemed inevitable. Both teams traded pots before Kirkham and O’Hagan ultimately handled the situation better and in taking the longest frame of the match 63-43 the west coast pairing completed the comeback.

The decider started cautiously with both pairings taking no chances, before a couple of reds and big colours from Milliard gave the Kendal team a small advantage.

As the balls opened up the next opportunity was looking to be a crucial one and with a cracking red Kirkham was in. Quickly reaching 20 with the balls well spread the Flimby potter looked to be making the sort of contribution that was to finish off the match.

However, a surprising miss from Kirkham while facing an easy red to the corner, let Milliard in. At the top of the table, with all the big colours available, Milliard studiously plotted his way through a pressure busting break of 53 to leave Kirkham and O’Hagan needing snookers.

Even though the defending champions fought with all they had left the damage was already done as Milliard and Fernández claimed the title with a 68-24 deciding frame win.

In the first of the semi finals the Kendal duo were on top form to beat two time champions in Workington’s Kevin Basnett and Cockermouth’s Andrew Mitchelhill, 4-2.

Breaks of 99 (the days highest) and 55 from Fernández allowed the ex-pros to take a 2-0 lead and even though the west coast pairing came back to 2-2, two black ball games eluded them to narrowly miss out.

The second semi final proved to be a more tactical affair as Kirkham and O’Hagan defeated Whitehaven’s John Burns and Mark Thompson, 4-2.

With a premium on safety seemingly to be the order of the day some excellent tactical play was definitely on show. Nevertheless, the defending champions had just a little too much for their Whitehaven opponents to triumph in what was ultimately a fascinating match.

In the plate competition Seaton’s Mark Tatton and Carlisle’s Andy Bell proved victorious with an exciting final win over Maryport’s Ryan Barker and Ryan Ismay, 3-1.

Thanks to Martyn Gowing of the QZone, Carlisle for providing an excellent venue and to Peter Tyson Audio/Visual for sponsoring the event.

Results

Prelims

A Milliard (51 break) & L Fernandez (73 break) (Kendal) beat S Jackson & A Carter (Workington), 4-0.
K Basnett (96 & 55 breaks) & A Mitchelhill (Seaton & Cockermouth) beat D Turley & R Wood (Carlisle), 4-0.
K Kirkham (Flimby) & P O’Hagan (Workington) beat R Barker & R Ismay (Maryport), 4-1.

Quarter-finals

Milliard & Fernandez (53 break) beat D Macdonald (96 break) & K Brown (Barrow), 4-3.
Basnett (55 & 70 breaks) & Mitchelhill beat M Griffiths (Carlisle) & R Ridding (Carlisle), 4-1.
Kirkham (85 break) & O’Hagan beat M Tatton (Seaton) and A Bell (Carlisle), 4-1.
M Thompson and J Burns (Whitehaven) beat R Kirkham (Whitehaven) & S Cakmak (Maryport), 4-2.

Semi-finals