25th June 2005
The third West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation (WEBSF) Gold Waistcoat tournament was held at Rileys, Exeter. This is the first time the WEBSF have staged one of their tournaments at Rileys, Exeter and it was hailed a success by officials and players alike. Tournament Director Keith Millard said "The facilities and service provided by the staff were first class and we look forward to building a long and lasting relationship with the club". Millard went on to say "The WEBSF are in no doubt that the Rileys Club will more than fill the void left the closure of previous Exeter tournament centre, Sidwell Snooker Club."

This the penultimate Gold Waistcoat tournament of the season was won by Rileys based England International Mike King. King now sits comfortably at the top of the ranking table in a very strong position and with one hand on the trophy. Second in the table is Andy Symons-Rowe, Tavistock just above Andy Radford, Exeter who leap-frogged into third position.

King defeated Symons-Rowe 3-2 in the final reversing the epic final they had in the previous Gold Waistcoat tournament last month in Falmouth. Throughout the day the quality of snooker was again worthy of this prestigious tournament and the final lived up to expectations with six breaks over thirty. King opened the scoring with a 37 break only to watch Symons-Rowe clear to the pink with a 35 break full of brilliant potting. King later said "That was the best 30 plus break anyone had ever made against him to win a frame". The second frame was won decisively by King aided by a break of 50 to level the match 1-1. King followed suit in the third frame registering a 38 break winning the frame 62-55. Symons-Rowe levelled the match by taking the fourth frame with the aid of a 41 break 72-16. In the deciding frame King crafted a 38 break at a critical stage running out the winner 65-17 and 3 frames to 2.

In the semi-finals there was an all Exeter clash between long term adversaries Andy Radford and King. The match enthralled onlookers as it went the full distance. It could have gone either way with Radford amongst the balls when 2-1 in front, uncharacteristically missed a relatively easy pot allowing King back into the game with a superbly fashioned 60 break to level 2-2. King with the bit between his teeth knocked in a punishing 46 break to take the match 3-2 and qualify for his second consecutive final.

The other semi-final saw another pair who had faced each other on many occasions in the Plymouth Snooker leagues; Kris Vincent and Symons-Rowe, the latter winning 3-0. The match was a lot closer than the score line suggests, with Vincent making just one mistake in each of the first two frames and being severely punished for them by Symons-Rowe. In the first frame Symons-Rowe made a 44 break. However, Vincent could still win on the colours. With all the colours were on their spots and the yellow hanging over the middle pocket Vincent looked in with a good chance, uncharacteristically he over cut the yellow allowing Symons-Rowe to pot the yellow, clear up and take the frame. The second frame Vincent, amongst the balls, was faced with an easy pot made difficult due to awkward bridging. He jawed the pink and sat out the frame whilst Symons-Rowe compile another 44 break to take a 2-0 lead. In the third frame Symons-Rowe grew in confidence and with a burst of brilliance knocked in a match winning break of 78 to march into his second successive Gold Waistcoat tour final.

The Quarter finals matched Radford against Steve Downing (Redruth). This promised to be a great contest. However it ended a one sided affair with Radford running out a comfortable 2-0 winner. The second pairing brought together, the recently crowned West of England Champion King and Darran Lock (Seaton, Cornwall), the latter never concedes defeat easily. The contest was very tight with King’s experience and a well fashioned 49 break taking him to a 2-1 victory. The third quarter final was between Vincent and the young potting machine Darren Bond (Tiverton). Vincent continued his winning streak two frame to nil aided with a comprehensive 65 break. The final pairing was between another pair of big guns Greg Batten (Tiverton) and Symons-Rowe. Batten came out firing first, taking a 1-0 lead with a 57 break. In the second frame Batten was away again with a 44 break only to watch Symons-Rowe come back and take the frame to level the match at 1-1. Out-potted but not out-fought Symons-Rowe held his nerve to clinch a well earned 2-1 victory with a decisive 52 break.

In the group stages England International Kris Vincent once again showed his class by notching up the highest break of the day, a magnificent 104 in his 2-0 victory against the young promising player from Falmouth, Bobby Southworth.

In group A the players amassed no fewer than twenty four breaks over thirty and the group saw fierce competition with only four points separating the top six positions. The final placings went right to the last frame of the last match! The eventual winner of this group was Radford with 12 points. Although Radford lost two matches he picked up valuable points by winning frames in the lost games, this lifted him to the top seed position. Radford hit four breaks over thirty, two (75, 45) were recorded in his 2-0 win over Phil Lane (Hayle). In an high quality match Radford sat out as Symons-Rowe built a huge lead with a 57 break, only to be given the chance to come back and steal the frame to take the lead. With the second frame underway Radford had an injection of confidence and knocked in a fantastic 92 break to clinch victory 2-0.

The runner-up spot went to the English Amateur Champion - Southern Region Symons-Rowe with 11 points. Symons-Rowe recorded five break in the 40’s; three in the 50’s and a break of 70 in an authorative performance of break building. Symons-Rowe made his 70 break and a 56 in his 2-0 demolition of Sam Baird (Halberton). Baird had a ‘bad day at the office’ after his excellent performance in the previous Gold Waistcoat tournament in Falmouth.

\Third place went to Lock with 10 points Lock recorded an array of breaks the highest being a credible 66 in his 2-1 victory over Wayne Branton (Plymouth). The fourth and final place in group A was decided after the last match of the group ended. Bond had to wait for the result of the match between Branton and Neil Chiswell (Plymouth) to see if he was to qualify. Bond knew if Chiswell won he would qualify by virtue of beating Chiswell in his group match but if Branton won He would be eliminated from the tournament by the same virtue that he had lost to Branton earlier in the group stage. If Bond thought there were going to be any favours given to Branton by fellow Plymothian Chiswell they were soon quashed when Chiswell took the first frame to lead 1-0. Bond must have been fretting when Branton levelled the match one apiece. Chiswell then took the deciding frame to win 2-1 eliminating Branton from the tournament and allowing the five times Devon under 16 Champion to leap frog into the knockout stages. Former Devon under 19 Champion Baird struggled to find his form and was left ruing missed chances. Lane will be disappointed after winning three of his seven matches was unable to pick up extra points in his defeats. Lane’s best effort of the day was a 54 break in his 2-0 win over Bond. Other notable breaks were Bond 72, 61 & 38; Chiswell 36, 34 & 30; Lock 49, 42 & 37 and Symons-Rowe 55, 46, 42 & three 40’s.

In group B only two points separated the top four places with the winner Vincent finishing top with 11 points out of a possible 12, losing only to Batten 2-1. Second place went to King by virtue of defeating Batten 2-1 after both players finished with 10 points. King recorded seven breaks over 30 in the group stages, the best a 69 break recorded in King’s 2-0 win against the 2005 WEBSF Silver Waistcoat Champion Grant Cole (Plymouth). Batten was awarded the third qualifying spot in the group. Batten contributed four breaks over 30 with the highest being a 53 break in a 2-0 win over Mike Day (Plymouth). The fourth and final qualifying position went to the West of England Championship runner-up Steve Downing. Downing recorded five breaks over 40, the best coming in his first frame against Cole a superb 93. Downing was unlucky not to compile a century. When on 93 he potted the yellow only to watch the white drop into the middle pocket and end the break. Cole responded well levelling the match aided by a 45 break. Cole then watched Downing hold his nerve and knock in a frame and match winning break of 40 to win 2-1. Day played solidly throughout the day taking frames from three of the four qualifiers to finish fifth in the group. Day made a 35 break in his 2-1 win over Southworth. Other notable breaks were Batten 49, 40 & 33; Cole 39; Downing 2x51 & 50 and King 56, 40, 2x34, 32 & 31.

Report by Keith Millard