AMATEUR BILLIARD CIRCUIT
The Corn Exchange, Albert Street, Derby
Sunday 11th October 1998
The first ABC event of the season commenced at the Corn Exchange,
Derby with 51 entries from all over the country contesting the onehour
games. Lee Lagan made a good start with breaks of 71 and 69 in
his first round victory over Richard Lodge, (388-175) following this
with breaks of 71, 52 and 50 to defeat Peter Shelley (345-207) in his
next match. Paul Bennett included runs of 97 and 73 when defeating
local player Paul Devitt in his first round match and then added breaks
of 82, 62 and 53 when eliminating Joe Bird in the second round. Other
notable performances from the early rounds included breaks of 88 and
66 unfinished from Tony Keeling in his 278-118 victory over R. Shanks.
Darren Kell was also in good form as he swept aside the challenge of
John Carman 418-152 with breaks of 72, 65 and 58.
| B. Cousen | 227 | M. White | 196 | ||
| G. Rogers 53 | 254 | D. Bavister | 126 | ||
| L. Lagan 120, 56 | 331 | J. Smith | 189 | ||
| N. Routledge | 223 | N. Rewhorn 53 | 198 | ||
| P. Welham 89 | 457 | D. Smith | 145 | ||
| D. Kell | 361 | J. Rees | 147 | ||
| J. McCann 56 | 247 | T. Keeling | 157 | ||
| M. Hirst | 218 | P. Bennett | 212 |
The feature of the third round was a magnificent break of 200 by Darren
Kell which was his first competitive double century and it proved
sufficient to earn him the £25 high break prize. Lee Lagan was also in
the mood for big breaks as he hit a 120 and a 56 in a 331-189 victory
over John Smith of Worcester. Bradford’s Mark Hirst provided an upset
by eliminating Paul Bennett (218-212) in a closely fought match. This
was Hirst´s first success in competitive events against the Amateur
Champion.
| G. Rogers | 201 | B. Cousen | 166 | ||
| L. Lagan 102 | 358 | N. Routledge | 183 | ||
| D. Kell 96, 55, 54, 79unf | 427 | P. Welham | 168 | ||
| M. Hirst 111, 71 | 331 | J. McCann | 159 |
Kell continue his high scoring form against Norfolk´s Phil Welham
making breaks of 96, 55, 54 and 79 unfinished in racking up an
aggregate total of 427 points in the one hour match. Lee Lagan and
Mark Hirst both made century breaks in their respective victories over
Norman Routledge and Jim McCann.
| L. Lagan 139, 106 | 510 | G. Rogers | 120 | ||
| D. Kell 67 | 297 | M. Hirst 58 | 202 |
The semi-finals again brought more century breaks for Lee Lagan as
he included efforts of 139 and 106 when recording the day’s highest
aggregate total of 510. His opponent Gary Rogers from York stood no
chance against this onslaught finishing 390 points in arrears. Kell´s
sequence of easy victories was challenged as he was made to fight all
the way against an in-form Hirst. A top break of 67 by Kell helped him
into an all-Teesside final by a margin of 95 points.
| D. Kell 99 | 312 | L. Lagan | 297 |
personal record break of
200 on his way to victory
in the first of the ABC
ranking events.
The final was played on what was considered to be one of the better
tables in the centre after several complaints had been aired about the
quality of the cloths and pockets on some of the tables. Kell moved
into an early lead after breaks of 43 and 99, but Lagan was gradually
creeping back and he set up an intriguing last few minutes after a 42
break and he found himself in play with a minute to go and 61 points
behind. With a rapid-fire style which can be matched by few players
on the circuit, he managed to accrue
46 points as the bell sounded leaving
Kell the winner by a margin of just 15.
Darren received £150 while Lee had
to settle for £80 as runner-up.
The plate competition was won by
Bradford’s Richard Lodge who
included a break of 85 in defeating
Leeds’ Steve Crosland in the final.
Notable performances came from Jock
McGregor, who had a 59 break in a
narrow first round victory over Richie
Evans, and Matthew Sutton who
included breaks of 73 and 54 against
E. Houghton before he was eliminated
by Crosland in the semi-finals.