Gold Snooker Series 2017/18
Sponsored by
The penultimate event of this seasons West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation, Gold Snooker Series, sponsored by Totally Reward, took place at the Galaxy Centre, Torquay recently and the overall rankings could not be more close. Andy Symons from Tavistock won this latest event, beating Eddie Manning from Newquay in the final. The top sixteen players are competing for the chance to be invited to the end-of-season WEBSF Gold Masters flagship event. At the top, reigning champion Andy Neck (Newton Abbot) is on 216 points followed closely by Andy Symons 215 points and Haydon Pinhey (Plymouth) 211 points. Nearer the top sixteen cut-off point it would not take much for three players to drop out of the top sixteen.On route to the final Symons won six out of seven matches 2-0, losing just one match to Alan Tunney (Torquay) in the group stages. Tunney was to take the highest non-qualifier break prize, a respectable 85. Manning’s route was less emphatic but showed the tough matchplay side of this ex-professional, finishing second in his group before opening up in the knock-out stage to reach the final. In the semi-final Manning posted the best break of the day, a quick-fire 109. The losing semi-finalists where Andy Neck and Billy Ginn (Exeter) and losing quarter finalist; Luke Stilwell (Bristol), James Lee (Torquay), Martin Pitcher (Plymouth) and Jason Whittaker (Torquay).
The overall standard of play and competition among the players was consistently high with twenty-eight breaks over fifty and seven group places having to be decided on frame count-back. No player made a 147 break so the unclaimed prize for this goes into the Gold Masters prize money pot.
The final event in the series is to be hosted by Top Q Snooker Club, Gloucester on the 14th April 2018.
WEBSF Tournament Director said, “The series is building towards an exciting climax with several players vying for; the overall top spot and coveted title of The WEBSF Gold Series Champion; an invite to the Gold Masters and to receive free tickets to what promises to be a great Exhibition evening with Snooker Professional Dominic Dale.” Anyone interested in purchasing tickets for the exhibition; players interested in entering WEBSF events or potential volunteers willing to get involved with the work of the WEBSF they should contact Steve Canniford, Mobile 07891940995 or visit http://www.websfsnooker.com or WEBSF Facebook. Thanks to International Referee Nick Harry, for another tireless day of refereeing and the Galaxy Centre, Torquay who hosted this event.
Report by Steve Canniford
Gold Snooker Series – Event 5 Results 2017-18
