Welsh Senior Events Season 2008/09
- Welsh Senior Event 1
- Welsh Senior Event 2
- Welsh Senior Event 3
- Welsh Senior Event 4
- Welsh Senior Championship
- European Open
- Coaching Foundation
- Welsh Pairs Championship
- European Championship
European Masters Championships / Belgium / 3rd - 13th June 2009
The European Championships this year were held in Duffel Belgium and had three representatives from Wales, Darren Morgan (Newbridge) Ron Jones (Merthyr) both playing in the Masters Event and Phillip Williams (Llanelli) playing in the Senior Event.
It was a good start from all three in the round robin stages with all three qualifying for the Final stages of their respective Tournaments, the first casualty came in the Senior Event with Phillip Williams losing to Reind Duut 4-2 of the Netherlands in the last 32.
Ron Jones and Darren Morgan were making steady progress and both players made it comfortably into the quarter finals, Ron Jones had a scare in the Quarter Finals narrowly scraping through a 5-4 winner over Nick Van Hee of Belgium to set up a clash with his old foe Joe Delaney of Ireland in the Semi’s.
Darren Morgan started rolling back the years and started to really motor in the breaks department, on paper this was going to be a tough match against his Maltese opponent Arthur Cachia who was holding the highest break of the Tournament with a 102, but it was Morgan who won comfortably 5-0 with a break of over 50 in every frame including a total clearance of 120.
Ron Jones went down 5-4 against Delaney in the Semi Final, it was never going to be easy, the all Welsh Final had slipped away, Morgan on the other hand made very short work of his opponent from Jersey David Brabiner winning 5-0 again hitting a 50 plus break in every frame.
The Final did not go all Morgan’s way, it was Joe Delaney who took the early lead at 1-0, Morgan hit back with the highest break of the Tournament a 122 Total Clearance, his third hundred of the Tournament, he then followed it with a 78 to lead 2-1, the next four frames went a bit scrappy both took two each so the score was 4-3 in Morgans favour.
Morgan again rattled off two more quick fire frames with breaks of 65 and 78 to win the European Masters Championship for the second time and take his tally of titles since coming back as an Amateur to eight, Morgan will now go to India later in the Year to try and win the World Title.
Quarter finals
David Brabiner 5-2 Rene Dikstra
Darren Morgan 5-0 Arthur Cachia
Joe Delaney 5-0 Peter Vertommen
Ron Jones 5-4 Nick Van Hee
Semi finals
Darren Morgan 5-0 David Brabiner
Joe Delaney 5-4 Ron Jones
Final
Darren Morgan 6-3 Joe Delaney
Highest Breaks
Darren Morgan 122, 120, 112, 97, 96, 84, 82, 78,77, 73,70, 69, 68, 65, 58, 58, 56, 53, 52, 52
Ron Jones 73, 69, 69, 63,
Welsh Pairs Championship / March 2009
The Welsh Doubles Championship was contested this year at the Red Triangle Snooker Club Crosskeys, It was a good entry much improved to recent years, sixteen entries altogether making it a straight fight to the finish.
At the start of the day the favourites for the Tournament would have been Michael White and Dale Lawrence of Swansea, Michael being the brand new Welsh Champion which he won the previous week, the other pair which were highly rated were Phillip Williams and Richard Rees both Llanelli Boys.
No shocks in the first round the favourites safely getting through, in the second round Michael White and Dale Lawrence went down to Byron Phillips And Malcolm Wilcox, On the move playing some great Snooker , Alan Morgan And young Rhys Thomas they beat the Stiens Brothers to move into the Semi Finals.
Brian Rees and John Terry a former Welsh Junior Champion and International were making good progress as well, Brian Rees scoring very well indeed, their test came in the Semi Finals against Phillip Williams And Richard Rees, it was a good match but it was Terry and Rees who got the better winning 3-1 and safely making it to the final.
Byron Phillips and Malcolm Wilcox must have thought that they were going to make the final after slaying the favourites but it was not to be as they lost to Alan Morgan and Rhys Thomas by 3-1.
This set us up for a great Final, the young pretenders against the old foe, it was an interesting Final but it was Bryan Rees and John Terry who lifted the title with a 3-1 win, Brian Rees played very well and scored highly in the Final with a top break of 71, for John Terry this was the second time he had won the Welsh Doubles the first being 30 Years ago with Jim Selby.
Thomas Rees from Swansea, representing Whitez snooker club won the W.B.S.A. Coaching foundation national handicap tournament held at Morriston S.C.
Thomas had put out last years winner and Welsh junior international Jamie Clarke at the quarter final stage and this excellent win seemed to spur him on to a fine win.
In the final he played some superb snooker to defeat Morristons Sam Jones.
Quarter Finals
J. Terry / B. Rees 3-2 K. Phelps / C. Davies
P. Williams / R. Rees 3-1 G. Davies / S. Wickes
B. Phillips / M. Wilcox 3-1 D. Lawrence / M. White
R. Thomas / A. Morgan 3-1 J. Steins / K. Steins
Semi finals
J. Terry / B. Rees 3-1 P. Williams / R. Rees
R. Thomas / A. Morgan 3-1 B. Phillips / M. Wilcox
Final
J. Terry / B. Rees 3-1 R. Thomas / A. Morgan
The plate competition was won by the promising Lewis Burke (Bridgend) who defeated jay Aspinwall (Swansea) 2 - 1 in the final.
Welsh Coaching Foundation Championship / March 2009
Thomas Rees from Swansea, representing Whitez snooker club won the W.B.S.A. Coaching foundation national handicap tournament held at Morriston S.C.
Thomas had put out last years winner and Welsh junior international Jamie Clarke at the quarter final stage and this excellent win seemed to spur him on to a fine win.
In the final he played some superb snooker to defeat Morristons Sam Jones.
Quarter Finals
Ryan Rowlands 2 - 0 McCauly Cole
Tom Rees 2 - 0 Jamie Clarke
Sam Jones 2 - 0 Luke Allen
Daniel Tobin 2 - 0 Kelvin Chang
Semi finals
Tom Rees 2 - 0 Ryan Rowlands
Sam Jones 2 - 1 Daniel Tobin
Final
Tom Rees 2 - 0 Sam Jones
The plate competition was won by the promising Lewis Burke (Bridgend) who defeated jay Aspinwall (Swansea) 2 - 1 in the final.
The annual Coaching Foundation Championship will be held on Saturday 23th May in the Morriston Snooker Club at 10-30am. This will be for the West Wales Area only and played down to the last 8 to go through to play East Wales the following week on Saturday 30th May at 10-30am. The plate to play down to the last 4.
There was an overwhelming response last year to this Tournament and approx 120 players attended which seems to be very popular with all that entered.
A handicap system will be in place with each Coach doing the handicap for their players in their club. Finally in order to do the draw will Coaches please send their players names to me by e-mail urgently.
Ryan Day Snooker Exhibition
Ryan Day (Bridgend) who recently went to the Quarter-Finals of the world Championship in Sheffield and is ranked No.8 in the World will be giving an Exhibition Match in the Morriston Snooker Club on Friday 22nd May 2009. Entry Fee is £10 and together with Ryan, Lloyd Davies the comedian from Neath will be there to entertain as well as the snooker so come along and have a good time. Tickets available at the door. Please call Morriston Snooker Club for more information on 01792 415944.
European Masters Championship 2009 / St Petersburg, Russia / March 2009
Rileys Newport
Darren Morgan and Phillip Williams set off to Russia to defend their European Masters Title that they won last year in Scotland, for Darren Morgan it was going to be three in a row if triumphant in Russia after winning it the first time in 2007 with Jesse Brain and then Phillip Williams in 2008.
Wales sent two teams this year in the Masters, Ron Jones and Gerwyn Davies made up the other team Wales 2, in the group stages Wales 2 got through with no great drama with 4 wins and 1 draw which put them into third seeds for the knockout stages.
Wales 1, Darren Morgan and Phillip Williams got through as well without dropping 1 single frame, played five matches and won five and won 40 out of 40 frames to win the group and finish top seeds, once the draw had been done the two Wales teams were in different halves so it looked as if we could both reach the final.
Wales 2 came unstuck in the Quarter Final and lost to the second team of the Irish 7 frames to 4, Wales 1 won their last sixteen match against Israel 5 – 0, Q/F beat England 7 – 3 Phillip Williams losing his only match to Alan Trigg, S/F beat Finland 7 – 0 and in the Final we played the same team has last year the Irish 1 consisting of Joe Delaney And Brendon Cooney beating them 7 – 2.
Phillip Williams lost a frame to Joe Delaney only his fourth of the Tournament out of 33, Darren Morgan also lost a frame to Joe Delaney, losing his first frame of the Tournament the very last one that was played, played 33 won 32.
In the 33 frames that Darren Morgan played he had 22 breaks over 50 with two centuries 104 & 100, in the 33 frames that Phillip Williams played he had 11 breaks over 50 with two centuries 102 + the highest break of the tournament a magnificent 137 total clearance.
Quarter Finals
Wales 7-3 England
Semi Finals
Wales 7-0 Finland
Final
Wales 7-2 Ireland
Highest Breaks
Darren Morgan 104,100,94,87,87,85,76,75,73,71,69,69,65,63,62,59,57,53,53
Philip Williams 137,102,97,85,69,64,54,52,50,50
Welsh Senior Event 4 The Qualifiers / Rileys Newport, Morriston Snooker Club / 5 April 2009
The Finals
Michael White (Swansea) won the Senior Ranking Event 4 at the Rileys Snooker Club in Cardiff beating The Welsh Senior Team Captain Rhydian Richards (Merthyr) by 3-2 in a close final.
Playing in the last 8 of the Tournament two players failed to turn up Duane Jones (Mountain Ash) the junior Team Captain and Marcel Price (Swansea) with the result that Mike Hodge had a by to the semi-final and also Rhydian Richards.
On the top of the draw Michael White beat North Walian Rhys Williams (a surprise winner from that area) and won comfortably 3-0. He then went on to play Mike Hodge and had a close game winning 3-2 to reach the final.
Moriston’s Jordan Stiens won his first round against Gareth Allen the former Welsh International in another close match 3-2 but went out in the next against Rhydian Richards 3-0 in the semis.
The final between White and Richards was again a close affair with Michael White coming out on top to win 3-2.
Highest Breaks
Michael White 67, 86, 64
Gareth Allen 67
Mike Hodge 76
Rhydian Richards 67, 72
Mario Berni (Neath) Former Welsh International
It is with sadness that we report the death of “Mario Berni” the former Welsh International snooker player who died peacefully after a long illness. Mario was a well known snooker player having represented Wales at International level and an ardent fan supporting snooker throughout Wales in his latter days.
Known as the “Professor who was always relating to snooker, his favourite being the stories about Walter Lindrum the former World Professional Billiards player saying what a great player he was. On behalf of myself and the Welsh Billiards and Snooker Association we would like to extend our deepest sympathy to all his family.
Jack Carney
Rileys Newport
It was a good days Snooker with all the top guns out, the three seeds in the first round found no trouble getting through, the match of the first round on paper was Lee Walker v David Donovan, Lee Walker played very well and dispatched David Donovan 3-0.
The second Round again saw all three seeds getting through, but it was Marcel Price who had to come back from 2 down to beat Kishan Hirani 3-2 to keep his hopes alive, it was Duane Jones who was starting to shine he was hitting breaks all over the place and dispatched of Darren Thompson 3-0.
Third Round the Qualifying round saw a couple of shocks two of the seeds fell at the final hurdle, Gavin Pantall lost to Jordon Stiens 3-0, Jordon played consistently all day hitting breaks of 68, 53, 71 on his way to qualifying, Marcel Price who looked out in the previous round beat Andrew Rosser 3-2 this again was a grinding performance, and was the only seed to qualify.
Lee Walker the man in form came up against a young lad on a mission Duane Jones who had already played remarkable to get this far, The first two frames went to Duane with a faultless display, Lee fought back to level the match at two frames all and went fifty up in the decider, Duane then capped off a brilliant days Snooker with a terrific seventy clearance to pinch the decider and qualify for the last eight to be played next week at Rileys Cardiff.
Morriston Snooker Club
Michael White showed some scintillating form making breaks of 66,64,and 120 just losing out on a maximum break After taking 15reds and 15 blacks he went out of position on the yellow leaving himself a hard yellow to pot His opponent Pembrokeshire’s John Lloyd had no chance to recuperate and lost 3-0 to an in form White. He then beat (Neath’s) Joe Bullin 3-1 to qualify to the last 8.
Former Welsh International Mike Hodge overcame Alan Morgan 3-1 who had a long wait for Lee Stoneman to beat his opponent Twm Son Jones 3-2 which lasted more than two and half hours. Hodge also beat Dale Hughes 3-0 who had a W/O Ian Seargent who failed to turn up.
Welsh Captain Rhydian Richards also qualified but not without a scare from14yr old Jamie Clarke (Llanelli) who made his maiden century against Richards an excellent 103 break but was not enough and lost a close battle 3-2.
North Wales
There were two surprises in this area with two of the winning European Team players being knocked out in the first round. Peter Roscoe the former Welsh Team Captain losing out to Rhys Williams 3-2 and Elved Evans losing out to former Welsh International Gareth Allen 3-1.
Both players went on to qualify to the last 8 with Gareth Allen beating Alex Taubmann 3-2 and Mathew Roberts 3-0 and Rhys Williams winning against Ashley Evans 3-1 and Gerallt Williams 3-0.
Highest Breaks
Lee Walker 75, 67, 71
Jordan Steins 68, 53, 71
Gavin Pantall 75, 82, 64
Marcel Price 67, 71
Michael White 120, 66, 64
Gareth Edwards 103
Gareth Allen 111
Brian Rees 96,51
Jamie Clarke 103,60
Duane Jones 54,66,70,65,55,70
European Team Championships / St Petersburg, Russia / March 2009
Wales sent their Senior Team off to Russia with high hopes, the Team consisted of Lee Walker, Peter Roscoe, Elfed Evans both from North Wales, it was never going to be easy for them to win and pull the double off with our Masters Team.
There were 10 Teams in their group one of them being the defending Champions Ireland 1, made up of Martin McCrudden, Brendan O Donohue, David Hogan, this was going to be their test, and that was the case Wales won all of their matches up until they played Ireland it was a close match but wales lost 10 frames 8, Lee Walker winning all 6 of his, Peter Roscoe and Elfed Evans only winning 2 out of their 12.
The knockout draw came and Wales were in a different half to the Irish so there was a great feeling that at least they could make the Final, this was achieved but not without a scare, they beat Scotland 10 – 4 in the Quarters with relative ease the two players from North Wales starting to find their form, in the Semi they faced Malta and it went very close with Wales pipping them at the post 10 – 8.
In the Final it was a nail biter they were playing again the Irish who were trying to defend their title and had already beaten the Welsh In the round robin stage of the Tournament, it went all the way to sudden death 9 – 9, again Lee Walker winning 5 out of 6 Frames.
The two teams nominated one player from each of their teams to play a 1 frame shoot out, for Wales it was lee walker by far the player playing the best snooker in the senior event, for Ireland it was Brendan O Donohue, it was a very close and up tight frame but it was Lee Walker who cleared up with a Yellow to Pink clearance to pinch the Final and win the Championship, it was a great achievement all three Welsh Players played their part, but Lee Walker was in Great Form Hitting seven Centuries along the Way with his highest being 123.
Quarter Finals
Wales 10-4 Scotland
Semi Finals
Wales 10-8 Malta
Final
Wales 10-9 Ireland
Highest Breaks
Lee Walker 123,103,102,101,100,100,100,96,84,84,82,81,81,80,73,69,69,69,66,60,60,59,58,56,53,51,50
Peter Roscoe 87,79,73,62,60
Elfed Evans 77,74,73,73,72,71,66,61,60,58,56,53,52,52,51
Welsh Senior Event 3 The Finals / Red Triangle Club Cross Keys / 8 March 2009
The Finals
Following his success in the “North v South Challenge” Match in Pontardawe the previous day when he went on to make the highest break a brilliant 131 clearance, Michael White won the third ranking Event of the season beating Marcel Price in the final 3-2 at the Red Triangle Club Cross Keys.
Quarter Finals
First to play was the Welsh Team Captain Rhydian Richards (Merthyr) who came up against the former European Champion David John (Bridgend) who had an excellent run up to the quarters beating three Welsh Internationals on his way. However Richards came out on top winning 3-1 against John.
Marcel Price (Swansea) who came runner up to the winner Michael White overcame the Junior Welsh International Jac Jones by 3-0. Michael White then came on against Peter Roscoe who won the first frame on the black followed again with a 45 break from Roscoe only for White to clear up and win on the black. White then won the last frame winning 2-1.
Elved Evans the former Welsh Champion showed he has not lost some of his skills and aided by a 75 and 76 break went on to beat Newport’s David Donovan (3-2) winning by the odd frame This was after losing the first two frames and looked down and out at one stage but recovered to snatch victory.
Quarter Finals
First to play was the Welsh Team Captain Rhydian Richards (Merthyr) who came up against the former European Champion David John (Bridgend) who had an excellent run up to the quarters beating three Welsh Internationals on his way. However Richards came out on top winning 3-1 against John.
The semi-Finals produced another close game between Rhydian Richards and Marcel Price and with the scores at 2-2 Price went on to snatch victory to get into the final.
Michael White came up against Elved Evans who swept past Elved without to much trouble making a 75 break in one of the frames to Elved’s 54 break winning 3-0.
The Final
Michael won the final but not without a scare as Price went 2-1 up and in amongst the balls but could not get over the line in a game he should have won, but Michael took his chances levelled the match and then went on to win winning by the odd frame (3-2).
Highest Breaks
Elved Evans 77,76,54
Michael White 69,63,57
Rhydian Richards 54
Marcel Price 52
Welsh Senior Event 3 Qualifiers / Morriston / Rileys Cardiff / 1 March 2009
The Qualifiers
There were some interesting clashes in the third Ranking event of the season and with only the 4th Ranking Event to go plus the Welsh Championship, points were important to get into the top 8 of the ranking list. Those who qualified to the Quarter Finals were Michael White (Swansea) Rhydian Richards (Merthyr Tydfil) Marcel Price (Swansea) and from Cardiff Jak Jones (Cross Keys) David Donovan (Newport) and David John (Bridgend) and two from N. Wales Peter Roscoe and Elved Evans. The finals will now be played in the Red Triangle Club Cross Keys on Sunday March 8th at 10.30am.
Morriston Snooker Club
One of the surprises of the tournament was the youngster Jordan Shepherd (from Bridgend) who after beating Jordan Steins (3-1) in the first round showed no fear playing one of Wales,s best protogies Michael White taking the first frame off Michael and potting some very good balls. However Michael picked up his game to rattle in breaks of 85,53,53,69 to secure the next 3 frames.
No. 1 ranked player Lee Walker had a shock in the first round going out to Marcel Price of Swansea who won by the odd frame (3-2) and qualified to go through to the last 8 beating Alan Squire (3-1) in the next round.
A keenly contested game was the match between David Mills (Neath) the former Welsh Champion and Anthony Krysa (Pontardawe) which was taken to the final frame which Mills won (3-2). However he came unstuck against Llanelli,s Gavin Pantall No2 Ranked player and lost (3-1) and despite Pantall beating Jonathan Bushnall who made a come back after playing pool for several years winning (3-1) he went out to the Welsh Team Captain Rhydian Richards losing (3-2.)
Rileys Wellington
After a bad start to the season David John (Bridgend) did well to Qualify to the Quarters beating former Welsh International David Bell (Barry) 3-1 in the first round followed by another, beating the No 6 Ranked player Alan Morgan 3-2 and Junior International Jamie Clarke (Llanelli) (3-0) before finally beating Welsh International Darren Thompson 3-2 to qualify.
Former Welsh International David Donovan (Newport) also had a good run up to the Qualifyers with a win against Dale Lawrence (3-0) a far much tighter game against Jamie Tudor another up and coming youngster from Llanelli winning (3-2) and finally winning against another former Welsh International Michael Hodge by (3-0).
Welsh Junior International Jak Jones (Cross Keys) did well for his age to qualify to the last 8 beating Swansea,s Stephen Ellis 3-0 Welsh Junior International Twm Sion Jones (3-1) and Luke Pitman (3-1)
Highest Breaks
David Donovan 104,60,51
Darren Thompson 75
Michael White 85, 53, 53, 69
David John 75
European Open Qualifiers / Rileys Newport / Matchroom Llanelli / 1 February 2008
With a trip to Ghent Belgium to the eventual winner and r/up at stake, it was down to the last 8 in the competition. The quarter –finals produced some excellent standard of snooker with 2 centuries recorded.
Quarter Finals
North Walian “Gareth Coppack” just off the main tour was the first to do a century an excellent 105 break against Llanelli’s “Andrew Morgan” who gave up the game for a few years but has recently come back to competitive play. Coppack was a regular member of the Welsh Team a few years back and played solid snooker to win (3-0).
Former quarter finalist in the World Professional Championship Lee Walker (Newbridge) was another to hit form producing a 114 break to beat his opponent “Rhydian Richards” (Merthyr) the current Welsh Team Captain 3-1.
Llanelli’s “Phil Williams” came up against pool player “Tom Cousins” who was the dark horse of the Tournament beating Michael White and Darren Thompson in the previous rounds but despite making a 59 break could not contain Williams who went on to win 3-1.
In a hard fought game Llanelli’s Gavin Pantall came up against North Walian Peter Roscoe both members of the Welsh Team and with the scores at 2-2 it was Pantall who went through aided by breaks of 63, 54 to go through to the semi’s.
Semi Finals
Lee Walker v Gareth Coppack
Lee Walker came up against Gareth Coppack in the semis with Walker taking the inititive to get an
excellent win over Coppack and win 3-0.
Gavin Pantall v Phil Williams
This was an excellent win for Pantall who beat his fellow clubmate Phil
Williams (3-0) both from Llanelli.
Final
Gavin Pantall v Phil Williams
Lee Walker came out the winner in this encounter and won (3-0) both now represent
Wales in Belgium in June 2009.
The Qualifiers
Approx 60 players took part in the above European Event and the 8 players to go through are Lee Walker, Andrew Morgan, Phil Williams, Gavin Pantall, Rhydian Richards and pool player Tom Cousins. They all now go through to the last 8 of the competition to be played in the Red Triangle Snooker Club Cross Keys next Sunday Feb 8th 2009 at 10.30am. They will be joined by Peter Roscoe and Gareth Coppack from North Wales.
Rileys Newport
The former European Champion David John (Bridgend) who won the event 2 years in a row could not find his past form and lost to Swansea’s Craig Marsh 3-1 in a very scrappy game. Having a bye in the 2nd round through a default Marsh went on to play the former Pro Lee Walker who was another player struggling to find his form and won 3-2.
Llanelli’s Phil Williams and Andrew Morgan also came through to qualify to the last 8 Williams especially won his games without dropping a frame.
Matchroom Llanelli
Surprise package of the day was the defeat of Swansea’s Michael White and Darren Thompson (Newport) by Tom Cousins a pool player of renown. Cousins played Welsh International Darren Thompson in the first round and won 3-0 followed by a tighter game against White and winning by the odd frame 3-2.
Welsh Team Captain Rhydian Richards (Merthyr) played well to defeat former Welsh Champion David Mills (Neath) 3-1 followed by Welsh Junior Internationals Jamie Clarke (Llanelli) 3-0 and finally Jak Jones (Cross Keys) 3-1. The man in form Gavin Pantall the former Welsh International gave a good account of himself winning against Gerwyn Davies 3-0 Steven Ellis 3-0 and finally David Donovan (Newport) 3-2 by the odd frame.
Beaches Hotel / North Wales
These matches produced some high quality games with the former Welsh International Gareth Allen despite making the highest break in the competition so far with a brilliant 136 break could not contain Gerallt Williams and lost 3-2. Another Century breaker the former Welsh Champion Elved Evans also made a century 112 against Ian Jones winning 3-0 but went out in the qualifier rounds to Gareth Coppack who’s off the Main Tour this season by the odd frame. Former Team Captain Peter Roscoe and Gareth Coppack showed they are still a force to be reckoned with both qualifying to the last 8 and will join the South players in Darren Morgan’s Snooker Club this coming week-end.
Highest Breaks
Gareth Allen 136, 43
Elved Evans 112, 87, 62, 60, 49, 42
Peter Roscoe 88, 38, 46, 38, 38
Gareth Coppack 83, 76, 89, 95, 52, 68, 38
Mark Shaw 89, 39, 58, 43
Brian Rees 80, 66
Phil Williams 54, 52
Lee Walker 79
Gavin Pantall 44
David Donovan 52
Welsh Senior Championship Finals / Terry Griffiths Matchroom / 17 May 2009
The Welsh Amateur Final this year was contested by Darren Morgan, 43 years of age a veteran these days on the green baize and Michael White aged 17 the new great hope of Welsh Snooker.
Morgan was bidding to win the Welsh Title for the second time, the first being in 1987 when he then went on to win the World Title in Bangalore India, this was Michael Whites second Welsh Final he lost the first in 2005 but went on to win the World Title and become the youngest ever winner of that Championship.
Morgan was bidding to win the Welsh Title for the second time, the first being in 1987 when he then went on to win the World Title in Bangalore India, this was Michael Whites second Welsh Final he lost the first in 2005 but went on to win the World Title and become the youngest ever winner of that Championship.
Morgan these days plays mostly in the Masters Tournaments which he has already won three European Team Events, a European Singles Championship and capped it all off by winning the 2007 World Masters Championship twenty years after winning his first World Title.
This was always going to be tough for Morgan playing a player that’s right at the top of his game, in contrast Michael White plays six hours a day getting ready for the professional ranks while Morgan is lucky if he plays six hours a week, It was a good start for Morgan winning the first frame with a couple of 40 plus breaks, in the second frame again Morgan was in total control until fouling the cue ball which allowed White to make a sixty eight and settle his self down.
White went from strength to strength looking every bit the professional, White stormed into a six frames to one lead at the mid session interval, in most frames White won with one visit with a sixty plus break the high light being a superbly constructed 128 in the sixth frame.
They resumed in the night, for Morgan to have any chance he would have to get out of the blocks quick and get some frames on the board, he started well with a break of forty four but missed a relatively easy pot, Michael stepped in cleared up again with a sixty plus break to be within one frame of becoming Welsh Champion, he led seven frames to one.
Morgan would not give up and with a break of eighty two put a frame on the board, but it was too late Michael went on to win the next frame and become Champion, White turns professional again this year after finishing number 1 in the Welsh Rankings, he has already had one season in the Professional ranks but dropped off in 2008, it was a good experience for the young Michael White and he has grown has a player and is much improved, this young seventeen year old has a massive future ahead of him, keep watching.
Quarter Finals
Darren Morgan 5-0 Brian Rees
Phillip Williams 5-0 Marcel Price
Michael White 5-0 Gareth Coppack
Gavin Pantall 5-1 Stephen Ellis
Semi Finals
Darren Morgan 6-5 Phillip Williams
Michael White 6-5 Gavin Pantall
Final
Darren Morgan 2-8 Michael White
Welsh Senior Championship Prelim & Round One / Whitez Snooker Club / Rileys City Road / 18 January 2008
Round 2
From an entry of approx 79 players including North Wales the Championship was played down to the last 16 players at the week-end in both venues. Round 3 will be played in Whitez on Sunday March 22nd.
Going through were Rhydian Richards (Merthyr), Duane Jones, Brian Rees, Phil Williams, Michael Hodge, Marcel Price, from Newport and from Swansea, Andrew Rogers, Anthony Davies, Michael White, Gavin Pantall Lee Walker, David Mills, Stephen Ellis. They all go through to play in Whitez Swansea on Sun March 22nd 2009 together with the North Wales players 1 & 2.
Whitez Snooker Club
The man in form young “Michael White” the former World Amateur Champion had breaks of 61,60,65,50, and 64 to secure his place in the next round giving no chance to club-mate “Anthony Krysa” winning 4-0.
The clash of the two former pro’s “Lee Walker” (Newbridge) and Swansea’s “Mark Fenton” ended in a whitewash for the Swansea Player with Walker winning 4-0.It was the same again for Ron Allen against Swansea’s Welsh International Stephen Ellis who also beat Allen 4-0.
With the former pro “Ian Seargent” and pool player “Tom Cousins” failing to turn up, it was a w/over for “Anthony Davies” and the former Welsh Champion “David Mills” (Neath).
“Gavin Pantall’s” experience showed through against his opponent Luke Vokes winning (4-1) and showed some of his old form making breaks of 95c and 79c just missing out on a century break. There was also a good win for “Andrew Rogers” who took the former European Champion “David John” (Bridgend) to a black ball decider eventually winning after John missed an easy pot into the middle bag for game.
Rileys Newport
Welsh senior Team Captain “Rhydian Richards” had a good run against the ever improving “Alan Morgan” aided with breaks of 59,51 and won 4-1.
This was followed by the surprise package of the day with the Under 16's welsh Team Captain “Duane Jones” beating the experienced “David Donovan” (Newport) 4-3 by the odd frame. A good win for Duane.
“Phil Williams” the former Welsh Champion continued his winning ways against Neath,s “Joe Bullen” winning 4-1. with breaks of 58,56. Brian Rees also had a 4-1 win against his opponent “Luke Pitman”.
The games between “Michael Hodge” and “Darren Thompson” (Newport) went all the way to the fina frame with the former Welsh International coming out on top 4-3.
It was the same case for Marcel Price and Craig Marsh with Price winning another tight match 4-3. The game between “Darren Morgan” and “Richard Rees” was postponed until next week due to work comittments.
Pre-lim and First Round
The 2009 Welsh Championship played their first Round and pre-lim yesterday in the above venues which produced some interesting clashes. Former Pros Lee Walker (Newport) a former Quarter finalist in the World Professional Game and Swansea’s Mark Fenton both went through to the next round.
Whitez Snooker Club
Lee Walker came up against the former Welsh Champion David Bell (Barry) with an excellent 4-1 victory which was followed by Mark Fenton’s win against Adam Jones by 4-1. There was a whitewash however, for Stephen Day who came up against another former Welsh Champion David Mills from Neath 4-0.
Young Michael White also sailed through without much trouble beating Cardiff’s Twm Sion Jones a Junior International by 4-0 and Rhys Thomas by the same score who had a w/o in the pre-lims against Alex Fussell who failed to turn up.
Former European Champion David John (Bridgend) who of late is not playing anywhere like his form when he won his European title also came through in his two games beating Junior International Jak Jones (Cross Keys) 4-1 and again against Andrew Morgan 4-1 .
Also going through to the next round were Welsh International Stephen Ellis (Gorsenion) beating Dale Lawrence 4-2, Anthony Krysa beat J.S.Davies 4-1 and Tom Couzens beat Gareth Aries 4-0.
Rileys City Road
In Cardiff as expected Welsh International Darren Thompson (Newport)came through 4-1 to the next round winning his game against Richard Moule (Neath) as did Welsh Team Captain Rhydian Richards (Merthyr) against Neaths Andrew Rosser by 4-2 and Byron Phillips 4-0.
Llanelli’s Richard Rees also qualified beating T.S.Walters 4-1 and also Daniel Norris 4-1. The much improved Alan Morgan came through against Gerwyn Davies a o/40 Welsh International 4-0 and also Welsh Junior International Kishan Hirani 4-1.
Welsh Junior International Duane Jones (Mountain Ash) and captain played well to go through beating Morriston’s Kyle Steins 4-2 and then Ian Zallick 4-2. Also through was Marcel Price who beat Jordan Steins 4-1, Mike Hodge beat Kristian Phelps 4-0 and Luke Pitman beat Thioroo Muratori 4-0.
Highest Breaks
David John 72, 49, 62
Lee Walker 72, 61, 49
Michael White 62
Welsh Senior Event 2 Finals / Whitez Snooker Club / 7 December 2008
The Finals of the above Ranking Tournament was played to a finish with North Walian Peter Roscoe and former Captain of the Welsh Team coming through to win against the under-dog Alan Morgan in the final by 3-0. Two long standing members of the WBSA namely Brian Rees and Alan Morgan (Vastly improved players) who deservedly came through to the last 8 with some good wins against current Welsh International Rhydian Richards (Merthyr) and Morgan reaching the final going runner up to Roscoe.
In his run up to the final Roscoe had two very good wins knocking out former Welsh International Mike Hodge 3-0 and in the Semis another Welsh International Gavin Pantall (Llanelli) 3-2. He continued his success by winning the final against Alan Morgan by 3-0. In the bottom half of the draw former Pro’s Lee Walker and Michael White playing in his own club, battled it out with Walker coming out on top by 3-1. He then went on to play Alan Morgan only to lose by the odd frame 3-2. Elved Evans another North Walian went out in the Quarters to Alan Morgan 3-0.
Quarter Finals
Peter Roscoe 3-0 Michael Hodge
Gavin Pantall 3-1 Brian Rees
Alan Morgan 3-0 Elfyd Evans
Lee Walker 3-1 Michael White
Semi Finals
Peter Roscoe 3-1 Gavin Pantall
Alan Morgan 3-2 Lee Walker
Final
Peter Roscoe 3-0 Alan Morgan
Highest Breaks
Peter Roscoe 51
Lee Walker 47, 52
Qualifing Rounds / Morriston Snooker Club / Rileys Newport / 30 November 2008
In the Qualifying rounds last week the 8 players to go through were Michael White, Lee Walker, Gavin Pantall, Alan Morgan, Brian Rees and Mike Hodge.
There were some excellent wins for Alan Morgan against Stephen Ellis and David John also Brian Rees against Rhydian Richards and John Lloyd, Mike Hodge against Darren Thompson 3-2.
Welsh Senior Event 1 Finals / Rileys Cardiff / 12 October 2008
Michael White won the first Senior Ranking Event Event of the season when he beat the Welsh Team Captain Gavin Pantall 3-2 what was considered by many watching, as the best final in a ranking event for years.
Quarter Finals
Michael White v Emyr Humphreys
Michael stamped his authority
winning his game again Humphreys who just arrived in time to play and lost 3-0.
He made the first of his two century breaks an excellent 108, 35 and 31 to win and
go through to the next round.
Andrew Pagett v David John
This was a crunch match for
both players with the former Welsh Champion coming out on top in a close match with
the former European Champion David John 3-2. Despite making breaks of 74, 48, 32
John succumbed to Pagett who also had breaks of 62 and 36.
Gareth Coppack v Gavin Pantall
Gareth Coppack who this
week made a maximum in practise a 147 Break could not sustain his form and went out
to the consistent Gavin Pantall (Llanelli) 3-1.
Phil Williams v Marcel Price
The former professional Phil
Williams aided by breaks of 52 and 36 defeated Swanseas Marcel Price 3-0.
Semi Finals
Michael White v Andrew Pagett
Andrew Pagett raced into a 2-0
lead but Michael came back to win the next three games to win by 3-2 aided by breaks
of 87 and 34.
Gavin Pantall v Phil Williams
This was an excellent victory
for Gavin beating fellow club mate and former pro Phil Williams by 3-0 to go through
to the final.
Final
Gavin Pantall v Michael White
This final was considered
by many watching as one of the finest final for years. Michael produced some of his
best form when he won the World Grand Prix Championship in Prestatyn last year when
he made the highest break of the competition a brilliant 135 break to go 1-0 up.
Gavin won the next and the next two frames were shared to make it 2-2. A fitting
climax to the final frame saw Gavin go ahead only for Michael to make a 27
clearance to win on the Final Black ball.
Highest Breaks
Michael White 135, 108, 35, 31, 30, 87
Andrew Pagett 62, 36
Phil Williams 52, 36
Gavin Pantall 54, 44
Gareth Coppack 32