Neil Robertson (left) and Jack Lisowski before the final. (Referee Paul Collier in the background)
The first pro event of the season, the Riga Masters, took place over the weekend and the title was claimed by Neil Robertson – who seems to like the start of the season better than most do! But, with absolutely no disrespect whatsoever to Neil, I would have liked Jack Lisowski to have beaten him in the final for his first ranking title.At one stage it looked for all the world to be a 5-0 for Robertson but Jack took a couple of frames, and to be honest could, maybe should, have had more.
Lisowski is only 26 but has been on the main tour since 2010 in recognition of coming first on the 2009/2010 PIOS Tour. Up to then he had been competing on the EASB Premier Junior Tour with the likes of Kyren Wilson, who was a quarter finalist in this latest event.
Barry Pinches (Right) receiving the Challenge Tour 3 Trophy from Olivier Marteel
Alongside the Riga Masters was the third event of the Challenge Tour and the spoils went to Barry Pinches who at 48 still fancies his chances on the main tour and will be hoping for more good results to get him back there. He’s in a race with his son, Luke, to get on the tour and with any luck we will have another father and son duo competing.Pinches is the third different winner of the Challenge Tour events along with Brandon Sargeant and David Grace. Sargeant went out in the semi finals to Jackson Page but the £700 will keep him on top of the all important rankings.Back in the UK and there was a big money pro-am at the Castle in Brighton where Luke Pinches was competing. I don’t know any results at the minute but no doubt they will be available later – maybe on the Facebook page, “Pro-Am Snooker UK”.At the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester the Pink Ribbon amateur rounds took place and the qualifiers will be facing the pros over the next couple of days. You can follow the event of Facebook and on mySnookerStats.As usual there were lots of events on over the weekend and you can always check our calendar if you fancy entering anything yourself.
