18^th October 2008

Twelve year old Haydon Pinhey started the season as he means to go on by defending his Plymouth crown win a win in the opening event of the WEBSF Bronze Waistcoat Tour at the Victoria Snooker Centre. Pinhey had a convincing win against future prospect Cody Hall in the final. He quickly raced to an early lead with the help of breaks of 38 & 16. Despite Hall’s best effort Pinhey maintained his nerve to win 2-0 win on the colours. Pinheys route to the final included a 2-0 win over the youngest competitor, Dan Legassick in the last eight. In the Semi Final he was pushed all the way by Peter Beckwith. Pinhey eased to a 1-0 lead With breaks of 39 & 20 and with him dominant in the next frame victory seemed a formality. However, following a reckless attempt at a pot, a chance fell to Beckwith who took it with determination, clearing the colours to win on the black and level the match. A shell-shocked Pinhey took time to get into his stride in the decider before battling through a tense frame to win on the colours.

Hall, showed great potential in a trouble free route to the final, firstly winning 2-0 against Dylan Chilcott, back on the tour after a year off, in the last 8. In the semi final, Hall faced the ever-consistent Chris Coumbe, a definite front-runner for this year’s crown. The first frame was a bit one-sided, with Hall easing to an early lead. The match looked like going all the way as Coumbe dominated the potting and safety battles. Hall hung on to stay within touching distance before latching onto a loose safety shot from Coumbe to take blue, pink and black to pinch the frame by just 2 points and secure a place in the final.

In-group A, top spot went to Coumbe after four wins, his only defeat was 2-1 at the hands of Legassick. Second place went to Beckwith also with four wins and a defeat against Coumbe. Third spot went to Hall, whose qualification was due to Beckwith’s win against Sam Lloyd. The last qualifying place went to Legassick following two wins and three defeats. The two players that will have to try again next month were Sam Lloyd and Stephen Dyer.

Group B saw Pinhey dominate wining all five matches 2-0. Second place went to Adam Lewin with three wins and two defeats. Third place went to Dylan Chilcott, also with three wins. The last qualifying spot went to tour veteran Chris Corry with two wins. The unlucky players to miss out were newcomer Jonathan Jolly and Daniel Dyer.

Notable breaks of the day were Haydon Pinhey 39, 38, 38, 20; Daniel Legassick 33, 24, 23; Peter Beckwith 29, 27 and Chris Coumbe 22.

Report by Wayne Branton