2010 CARLING NEWPORT POOL OPEN
For immediate release
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
TRIUMPH FOR COLLINS IN THRILLING
CARLING NEWPORT POOL OPEN FINAL
NEWPORT (Shropshire): Newport’s Mick Collins let slip a two-frame lead in a thrilling 2010 Carling Newport Pool Open final against Hinstock’s Colin Pink, but the King’s Head landlord refocused in the fifth frame to claim the prestigious title for the first time.
Pink had already been in action in a marathon two-hour doubles match and it looked as though it had taken its toll when he missed a crucial pot in the first frame and Collins took full advantage.
The Chetwynd End potting machine was at it again in frame two and Pink was clearly rattled. But the 2007 champion dug deep with some solid safety play in rack three and managed to squeeze a frame back. Pink was now in the ascendancy and strutted around the table with renewed confidence in frame four. He managed a useful clearance to level the match and swing the pendulum back in his favour.
Collins had thrown away a two-nil lead in the semi-final against Stafford’s Chris Broomhall and in the final against Antony Heathcote two years ago and he kept glancing nervously at the trophy that had eluded him for so long.
He started well in rack five, potting six balls when Pink failed to get going from the break. Pink kept the pressure on with some solid safety play, but he opted for a snooker behind two reds rather than taking an easy ball into the top corner and he left the smallest of gaps available for Collins to slot his remaining yellow into the middle bag and send the King’s Head faithful into raptures.
“I was starting to think it was slipping away towards the end,” said a relieved Collins. “But I made a good start in the last frame and I went one better than two years ago. I have been playing well, so I knew I had a good chance, but Colin is a great player and made it a cracking final.”
Pink and Mick Manning took two hours to overcome Whitchurch’s Cyril Evans and Brian Sumner in a mind-numbing Worthington’s Newport Doubles final. The eventual winners got the better of their old adversaries in a marathon 35-minute first frame and quickly pressed on into a two-nil lead.
Evans and Sumner hit back in rack three and Evans had an easy black in the centre to pull a frame back. He missed it, slammed his cue down in disbelief and headed towards the lavatories in disgust as Pink stepped up to win the match. But he too missed the black into the corner and Sumner was on hand to seal an unlikely frame. It was nip and tuck again in rack four and the Whitchurch duo somehow managed to sneak back into the match and force a tie-break frame.
If the speed of play wasn’t bad enough, referee Greg Heathcote called a re-rack in frame five and the balls were re-spotted. Pink and Manning were always on top and Pink found his form to pot several balls and leave Evans and Sumner a mountain too high to climb. The result marked the first time that someone had retained a Newport Open trophy and won it twice.
Irene Whittington overcame Lyn Day in an entertaining clash for the Fusion Hair and Beauty Women’s Open title. She surged into a two-nil lead with some useful potting, but Day clawed her way back into contention in frame three and had her chances to level the match in the fourth frame. Whittington was not to be denied and hung on to claim the maiden Newport Women’s Open title, which was presented along with a full makeover prize by Fusion Hair and Beauty’s Catrina Roche.
The 2010/2011 Newport & District Pool League starts on Wednesday, November 10th.
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Tel: 07831 123153
www.ndp-publicity.com