October 2023
The Prize Pairs 2023 final promised to be a thrilling pot-fest between two pairs of potting giants, namely Shiv Sibal and Jas Bhamra against James McManus and Dave Tierney. Will the giants stand tall or fall short of their billing?
As is often the case where one team took a good handicap lead into the match (18 in this case to McManus and Tierney), the match began very cagily. Neither team wishing to let the other impose themselves at the start. The encirclement of the black and pink by red balls, and the somewhat below par play by all players, also didn’t help the potting flow.
And then, out of the blue (well yellow actually) the snooker hall was suddenly a buzz. It came from the next table when attention happened to be drawn to an emaculate three cushion escape from a snooker on the yellow and the yellow was potted. The room exploded with applause. This excitement and the freeing up of the black, ignited some better play from Tierney and McManus – both players striking some good red/black combos.
Sibal and Bhamra were 30 points behind with only a few reds left on the table. These last reds provided S&B with several opportunities to even up the score up. They were not taken full advantage of and most of the colours were required by S&B. Sibal potted a good green and a fabulous brown from distance with the cue ball badly hampered by the black. S&B were now only 6 points behind and your money was probably on them to play safe for the rest of the match and force T&McM into errors with safety play on the three remaining colours. However, it was the other way round. Tierney was left a half chance on the blue, which he calmly potted; clinching victory with a follow up pink. A 60 to 43 pt win, with black left un-potted, was recorded for Tierney and McManus.
Winners: James McManus and Dave Tierney