The last BB & SC Handicap Snooker competition for the year was well subscribed, with a health field of 25 players signing up.
There were some epic matches in the early rounds. A special mention to Judith Swanson who had to give Joe Keily a start of 51 points in each frame and managed to come away with the win. Legend has it that the match took over 3 and a half hours. So, when Dave Smith defeated Judith Swanson in the quarter finals it was obvious that Dave was the player to watch. Ryan Cairney met Dave Smith in the semi-final. Ryan has been in excellent form this year and is a big match player, holding his nerve to chase down some big handicap gaps to win the Crosby Shield earlier in the season. Dave showed no mercy and potted well to progress to the final.
On the other side of the draw there were also some great handicap tussles. Notably, in the quarter final Jim Schofield defeated Norb Stampfer (2023 Champion of Champions). There was some suspicion about the Club Captain (Darian Ward) who has progressed well in a few handicap competitions this year and again scraped through to the semi-final. In the semi-final Darian played Jim Schofield in a match that could easily have gone either way. The first frame was tight with Darian fighting back from well behind to clear up the last few colours and pot the black to clinch it. In the second frame, it came down to the black again. Darian missed the black and left it precipitously hanging over a pocket with an awkward cue ball position requiring Jim to use the rest. Applying a bit of top spin, saw Jim “Pot the black” But followed it in with the Cue ball.
The final was to be the best of five frames. Dave again showed no mercy and polished it off with some excellent potting and snookering techniques. A perfect ending to the 2024 season for Dave, who immediately headed overseas for a holiday.
However, when you Thrash the Handicapper rumour has it that there will likely be consequences. We will see what Christmas brings.
Congratulations to Dave Smith on showing excellent potting and snookering skills to take out the final competition for 2024.