Potter v Sibal

The handicaps of the two players meant that Shiv Sibal would give Ian Potter a start of 26 points before a ball was played.  This could be daunting for many players.  But for Sibal with his cool and calm persona combined with confidence in his own ability this is unlikely to be an issue here.

As expected with no obvious chances to pot a red, safety play dominated at the start.  This safety  game was on balance won by Sibal.  Potter, too often left the cue ball amongst the reds, and Sibal began to claw back the deficit.  The reds have now been spread all around the middle of the table; the sort of table that Sibal could well exploit.  And he did ……… with a break of 21, taking him into the lead.   Undeterred, Potter traded small breaks with Sibal from now on, restricting Sibal to a modest lead.  Sibal had more luck in the game than Potter with a few flukes which could have been a little irksome to the opponent.  For example,  a red went flying into the middle pocket at an incredibly acute angle when it was intended to be a safety shot bouncing off the side cushion to baulk.   After all the reds were down, Potter was 14 behind.  Yellow and Green were taken by Sibal (the latter a fluke) and Potter needed all the colours. Still fighting, Potter potted a long brown to the corner and a good blue to the middle.   He then had a choice of doubling the pink or putting it safe.  Potter by name, potter by nature, Ian went for the double. He missed and soon after Sibal potted the pink to win the match.

Congratulations Shiv.  Well done Ian for reaching the final.

Parochial and Home Guard Snooker Club Scratch Final: 14 June 2023.

Bhamra  v Brockway     

The Scratch tournament, with no handicaps and a best of three frame format, could be said to decide who the best player in the club is.  Whether or not this is the case, a Brockway v Bhamra final is certainly a clash of the titans:  Paul, the reigning champion of the Presidents Trophy and Jas, the reigning champion of the Spring Handicap.

And so frame one began, with both players respecting each other’s potting ability, ensuring their safety play took the cue ball consistently back to baulk.   A ‘cagey’ opening was then transformed with a free flowing break of 28 from Brockway.   It was a classy break of 4 reds, two blacks, a pink and brown.  After such good safety play this must have hurt Bhamra.  Soon Brockway was 42 with only a single red to his opponent’s name.   And yet there were still plenty of reds on the table, if only Bhamra could raise his game and shake off the nerves which seem to have taken away his natural game.  He couldn’t ………. and Brockway kept adding to his total.  Snookers now required, and an in off on the last red forced Bhamra to concede at a score of 58 to 9 with only 27 on the table.

A regroup was needed for Bhamra and sure enough he took a breath of fresh air before starting the second frame.    

The start of the second frame, unfortunately for Bhamra didn’t see an improvement in luck or nerves.   Pots he would normally ‘eat for breakfast’ were missed and another in off didn’t help.  Even when he potted a couple of good reds, the black was off its spot and pink tied up.   With Brockway calmly keeping the pressure on, his 20pt lead looked as though the frame might be going the same way as the first.  At last Bhamra showed more of his usual form and put together a decent combo of two reds and two blacks. The scores were close again and the game was back on.  An amusing interlude to the game broke the tension for a minute when an observant referee, Shiv Sibal, spotted a loitering insect on the yellow and sought permission to clean the ball.  Permission given, and on cleaning the yellow, a potentially calamitous ball drop onto the table was blamed on the quality of the white gloves.  Play resumed and the tension went up a gear when Bhamra potted the brown and went 4 ahead with only blue, pink and black on the table.  There was a real chance that the match could be levelled up at one frame all.  Brockway though, showed signs of pressure at all and was even able to call upon his ability to play left handed. He smoothly potted the blue and pink and left Bhamra needing the black for a re-spot (53/46).  After several safety shots and potting attempts on difficult angles, eventually the disposition of the black and white created a half chance.  The half chance was taken by Paul Brockway to win the match (60/46) and become the Scratch Champion of 2022. (The tournament had rolled over from 2022 into 2023).    

Congratulations Paul.  Well done Jas for reaching the final.