2006 Newport Pool Open
For immediate release
October 25th, 2006
Paul Trevor wins inaugural Newport Pool Open
NEWPORT (England): Snooker player Paul Trevor was the winner of the inaugural 2006 Newport Pool Open, which reached its conclusion at the Railway Tavern on Tuesday evening. He beat local favourite Ray Talbot 3-1 in a tense and exciting final.
In front of an enthusiastic and vocal crowd, Trevor and Talbot had reached the final by beating Muxton?s Kim Worrall and Newport?s Andy Dean in the best-of-five frame semi-finals earlier in the evening.
In the final, Talbot surged into a one-frame lead, but when Trevor seven-balled the Tavern star in the second frame, the tide of the match turned and Trevor was able to benefit from a couple of stray safety shots and a crucial missed pot by Talbot to clinch the match and the Open title in the fourth frame. Talbot was never able to repeat the form he had shown in the earlier rounds and Trevor was a deserved winner in the final frame.
?I am absolutely gobsmacked,? said Trevor. ?I did not expect to even reach the final. I decided to use my own game strategy and leave nothing to chance. Ray didn?t play to his potential in the final, but he was a great sportsman. It?s a strange feeling to win the title. It?s totally surprising.?
Trevor had beaten Worrall 3-1 in a tense semi-final, which had seen the Muxton player edge into a one-frame lead, before clinical potting and solid safety play won the day for Trevor.
Talbot won the first frame of his semi-final after Dean missed a crucial pot to seven-ball his team mate, but the Potteries star made no mistake in frame two to level the match with some awesome potting. Clinical finishing and a crucial miss by Dean put Talbot into a 2-1 lead and the Newport player booked his place in the final with some superb pool in the fourth frame to record a 3-1 win in arguably the match of the tournament.
Finals? night also raised ?40 for the Newport Cottage Care Centre and NCCC representative Jeremy Blackburn was on hand to receive a cheque from event organisers.
In the last of the quarter-finals, business commitments had forced the King?s Head?s Matt Collins to concede his game to Andy Dean, Ray Talbot disposed of Muxton?s Andy Dyas in two frames, but Paul Trevor waited until two days before the semi-final to clinch a nervy 2-1 win over Tavern landlord Dave Wilkinson, after Wilkinson had edged into a one-frame lead in the tension-filled clash.
?We are delighted that the first ever running of the Newport Pool Open was a success,? said Neil Perkins of NDP Publicity Services. ?There has been a lot of interest in the tournament already for next year and we are talking to a major sponsor, who is looking to come on board in 2008 to bolster the prize fund and the amount we will be able to give to charity.
?We will also try and link the Newport Open in with the Newport Pool League, so that every registered player in the Newport Pool League is also registered to play in the singles? tournament. The target of 128 starters and a substantial prize fund should then be achieved.?
Semi-final results
Paul Trevor beat Kim Worrall 3-1
Ray Talbot beat Andy Dean 3-1
Final result
Paul Trevor beat Ray Talbot 3-1
Ends