Workington’s Kevin Basnett and Cockermouth’s Andrew Mitchelhill regained the Cumbria County Doubles Snooker Championship crown with a commanding 5–1 victory over Flimby’s Kevin Kirkham and Workington’s Peter O’Hagan in the final at Carlisle’s QZone.
The win marked Basnett’s 15th and Mitchelhill’s third Cumbria county doubles titles.
In the opening frame a cagey start was broken with a break of 31 from Basnett as the 2022 champions won the game 69-36 for a 1-0 lead.
In the second frame Basnett hit a fluent break of 32 break as the former champions moved 2-0 ahead with a 71-10 victory.
Even though Kirkham and O’Hagan started to find some form they could not stop Basnett and Mitchelhill moving into a 3-0 advantage with a 78-54 victory.
From there, the Workington/Cockermouth duo seemed to get stronger as a contribution of 47 from Basnett powered them to an 88-1 demolition, and a 4-0 lead.
Frame five saw Kirkham and O’Hagan loosen up and with a powerhouse of a game the former champions romped to a 94-1 win thanks to a break of 41 by Kirkham.
In what turned out to be the final frame of the match Basnett and Mitchelhill produced some fine tactical play to record a 53-18 frame and match victory avenging their 4-0 defeat to opponents Kirkham and O’Hagan at the same stage in 2023.
In the first of the semi-finals Basnett and Mitchelhill defeated Carlisle’s Mally Lancaster and Martyn Gowing 5-0 in a surprisingly one-sided contest.
A 35 break from Basnett set the tone in a 72-1 opener, followed by a 32 in frame two for a 59-18 triumph.
A 66-19 win in frame three put Basnett and Mitchelhill 3-0 up, and with Mitchelhill stepping up with a composed 33 in frame four a 72–37 win put the Workington/ Cockermouth pairing 4-0 to the good.
At this point Lancaster and Gowing needed something special but with Basnett and Mitchelhill in no mood to give the Carlisle duo even the slightest chance the 2022 champions recorded a dominant 74-9 victory to complete the whitewash.
In the second of the semi finals O’Hagan and Kirkham took out Workington partnership Mark Tatton and Mark Tunstall with a confident 5-1 victory.
Kirkham was quick off the mark in frame one with a break of 44 in a 59-30 win, however Tatton and Tunstall hit straight back with a 69-46 win for 1-1.
Frame three looked to be going in favour of the Workington duo nevertheless a brilliant colours clearance by Kirkham hit Tatton and Tunstall hard as the 2023 winners went 2-1 ahead.
At that point Kirkham and O’Hagan really kicked into gear as a 74-23 win, that included a 42 break by Kirkham, made it 3-1 and a controlled 54-32 victory soon made it 4-1.
Tatton and Tunstall offered some resistance in the sixth frame but with Kirkham and O’Hagan still having the momentum the former winners moved into the final with a 51-37 triumph.
Frame scores
Final: Basnett & Mitchelhill 5-1 Kirkham & O’Hagan
- 69-36 (Basnett 31), 71–10 (Basnett 32), 78–54, 88–1 (Basnett 47), 1-94 (Kirkham 41), 53–18.
Semi-finals
Kirkham & O’Hagan 5-1 Tatton & Tunstall
- 59–30 (Kirkham 44), 46–69, 50–34, 74–23 (Kirkham 42), 54–23, 51–37
Basnett & Mitchelhill 5-0 Lancaster & Gowing
- 72–1 (Basnett 35), 59–18 (Basnett 32), 66–19, 72–37 (Mitchelhill 33), 74–9
