Kent Classic 2003

The 7^th Kent Classic was held in Tonbridge on the 6^th July. The event was well supported by Kent players who made reasonable progress through the competition.

 In the first round there were some interesting ties most notably  Kevin Clark against Curt Driver and Mark Brewster against Paul Wing from Hampshire. In the tie between two of Kent’s finest Kevin  missed early, Curt never got the break back and Kevin finished with a break 12960 to lead by 13540. Curt made a break of over 13000 but needed to make some 200 shots after the bar had gone and sadly lost out. In another all Kent tie Vinny Mitchell overcame Doug Phillips by 4000 despite losing the first leg by nearly 6000. Mark Brewster lost out to Paul Wing thanks to a 10930 break by the eventual winner. Terry Heasman lost to Steve Mariner from Sussex and Neale Chamberlain lost closely to Surreys Geoff Jukes. Peter Sainsbury lost to Alan Messer of Sussex. Allan Farra continued his good form since being capped for Kent last September by beating Dave France from Sussex.

 The second round saw two more all Kent ties with Greg Dennis beating Diana Welburn in a low scoring tie and Bryan Stevens beating Dave Carliell. Last minute stand in Dave Warren was no match for Oxford and England’s Mark Turner but Richard Harris progressed with an easy victory over Brian Dawkins of Berkshire. Two other last minute stand ins also lost to Oxford players Dave Ansett to Steven Sheard and Mick Chivers to Sue Leach. Other losers in this round were Craig Carlson to Barry Holt of Sussex, Daniel Jackson and Alan Farra to Alan Chaloner and Paul Wing of Hampshire, Tony Brown to Stuart Mepham of Sussex, Charlie Hallet to Buck’s Ernie Jordan and Dave May to Peter Farrelly of Oxford. Those progressing were Chris Saville who cruised passed Charlie Cooper from Sussex, Kevin Clark who beat Dick Dewdney and Vinny Mitchell with one of the results of the day beating Sussex Masters champion Ricky Dewdney by making a 5790 break near the end of the second game to win by 3000.

 Round three saw yet another all Kent tie with Greg Dennis beating Richard Harris. Chris Saville was the only other Kent winner this round beating Barry Holt. Sadly in a tie between Kent’s best and one of  Sussex’s  finest Steve Mariner beat Kevin Clark. Bryan Stevens under performed against Sue Leach and lost by 420 in a low scoring tie. Vinny Mitchell was unable to sustain his form from the previous round and was easily beaten by Ernie Jordan.

 So just two Kent players into the last 16 Greg Dennis started well against Mark Turner but lost his opening break of 6000 Mark replied with 7030 then rolled out for 15280 in the second game. Chris Saville faired better against Dennis Claydon of Hants winning the first game by 11430 after making an 11740 break. Dennis Claydon won the second game by 7500 to fall 4000 short.

 In the quarter final Chris met eventual runner up Paul Sainsbury after losing the first game by 5010 just lost the second by 600.

 Other quarter final matches were Paul Wing who beat Mark James, Kevin Tunstall who beat team mate Mark Turner and Tony Walsh who beat Pete Farrelly. In the semi finals Kevin Tunstall missed his first one up and after a go each Paul Sainsbury got the break back and made an 11570 break. Paul then touched up with 8190 in the second game, Kevin finished off with 7370. In the other semi Paul Wing won the first game with the break by 5300 but Tony Walsh broke down at 3000. Paul then got the break back and made 2500 Tony missed and Paul made another 2500 to settle the tie.

 In the final Paul Wing won the toss and decided to take the break and made a break of 16060 and finished 15630 ahead. Paul Sainsbury missed his first split and could not get the break back. Paul W did get the break back and made 4470, Paul S finished the game off with an 11000 break.

 Following all the first round losses meant a lot of Kent players in the plate including Mark Brewster and Curt Driver so hopes were high for a Kent player to progress. In the first round Curt Driver squeezed past Brian Jones of Bucks by just 10, Mark Brewster beat Dave France by 1100 scoring 7890. Terry Heasman beat Charlie Guildersleeve of Bucks easily and Peter Sainsbury beat Neale Chamberlain in a low scoring all Tunbridge Wells tie. Losers in the first round were Charlie Hallett to Hampshire’s Tony Woolvin and Doug Phillips to Berks Dave Alder.

 The second round saw three all Kent ties Mick Chivers beat Dave Carliell, Curt Driver beat Terry Heasman and Peter Sainsbury beat Mark Brewster. Other winners in this round were Diane Welburn beat Brian Dawkins of Berks Dave May beat Graham Crosbie of Hants and Craig Carlson beat Charlie Cooper of Sussex. Losers were Dave Ansett to Ray Sturgess and Dave Warren to Ian Moss.

 In the third round Dave May got the better of Mick Chivers in the only all Kent tie. Others progressing were Diane Welburn who beat Ian Moss form Oxford by 1200 in a low scoring game and Peter Sainsbury beat Tony Woolvin  in a last ball game. Those losing out were Curt Driver to Syl Murphy of Bucks by 750 in a game where both scored over 5000, Daniel Jackson to Andy Haines and Craig Carlson to Lorin Clough.

 In the quarter finals Dave May beat Glenn Chubb by 280 in a low scoring game, Peter Sainsbury beat Syl Murphy but Diane Welburn lost to Ray Sturgess.

 The semi final saw an all Kent match between Dave May and Pete Sainsbury that was edged by Peter Sainsbury making a 5800 break.

 The final was the only two legged match in the plate Peter Sainsbury lost the first leg with the break by 2500. Andy Haines opened with 3500 in the second and after both players failed to score following several attempts Andy finally got the break back and made a further 1500 to seal the tie.

 The Highest break of the day was made by Paul Sainsbury with 16600 made chasing Keith Sheard’s 16400 in the last 16. The highest Kent break was by Kevin Clark with 12960 made against Curt Driver in the first round. The furthest Kent player was Chris Saville who reached the quarter final.

The highest lady break was by Pauline Withey of Oxford with 5460 and the furthest lady was Sue Leach who reached the last 16. 

The organizer would like to thank all who took part and made the competition a success.  Particularly those who agreed to take part at the last minute. Spare a thought for Dave Ansett (Skippy) who agreed to play at the last minute and was up against Steven Sheard and new he would be cannon fodder but was assured that he would get another match in the plate – his opponent there turned out to be Ray Sturgess !!!

Not deterred he scored several games including one of Keith Sheard’s, quite a feat considering that Keith is capable of scoring more in one game than Skippy did all  season!!!! It was nice to see Chas Jones again and we will make sure we support him in the over 50’s

 See you all again next year