SB Classic Leeds: Lines Makes His Mark
A cracking first day at the Snookerbacker Classic in Leeds yesterday saw this year’s top UK Amateur event get off with a bang and a hard fought victory for homeboy Oliver Lines, who managed to come through 4 deciding frames to pip Ant Parsons to the first Finals Day qualifying slot.
Myself and Mrs SB arrived in Leeds the previous evening and got ourselves prepared for the event very early yesterday morning. It was quite weird really as we remembered doing exactly the same thing last year, being greeted by the same member of the cleaning staff who again took the opportunity to take piss out of our accents in a purely lighthearted way as she checked all the valuables were secure.
The other weird thing was the way we were feeling. Last year, this being the first ever event we’d run we were both very nervous, me more than Mrs SB who tends to steady the ship better than I do. But this year we were a bit calmer, not complacently calm, but confident that we could give the players a good all round experience and hopeful that we could also draw a bit of a crowd. I think both went according to plan.
The Players Packs again seemed to go down well and this year they contain SB Classic badges, a unique CD for each venue, some sweets and some gifts from sponsors Lake Creative and John Parrott Cuesports.
Mrs SB also set up her ‘antique’ silver cake stand to display her ever popular baked goods which were snapped up in record time by the hungry potters and as a very special guest was expected later in the day we also set up a little tribute to the one and only Neil Robertson, which for want of a better word was described as a veritable ‘shrine’ to the Aussie.
Gavin Lewis was the first player to arrive after SB Classic stalwart ref Matthew Lowson arrived for duty fully blazered-up. Others followed and I had a chance to catch up with my fellow Scouser John Whitty, who I haven’t seen for years, it was great to see him again and we had a good chat and caught up on things. Ben Harrison was the last player to arrive having taken a little too long in hair and make-up, a joke by the way, Ben being what Mrs SB described earlier today as ‘possibly the prettiest man I have ever met’.
Anyway, as play got underway it was clear that everyone was treating the event very seriously and Sanderson Lam started the day with a bang hitting what was to remain the highest break of the day of 93, in the very first frame of his first round match. He went on to beat Martin Ball 4-1, this scoreline quite weirdly being the outcome in 6 of the 8 first round matches, Ant Parsons, Gavin Lewis, Ben Harrison, Gary Wilson and Shaun Murphy Scholar Sean Hopkin all winning by this score. John Whitty scored a 4-0 first round win over Ryan Bailey and Oliver Lines won a hard-fought match against Jamie Barrett, a finalist in the Classic last season in his first decider of the day.
The Quarter Finals followed and a great match was contested between Ben Harrison and pre-tournament favourite Gary Wilson, whilst neither hit top form the tension built and it was Gary in the end that took the match in a decider. Ben will be back in action at event two in Gloucester in two weeks time. Ant Parsons played solidly to knock out Sean Hopkin who was disappointed but for me it was clear that he has improved a lot since last season and he’s a very dedicated young man and one I will be keeping a close eye on. Gavin Lewis played very well indeed to knock out Sanderson, who is another with talent and a very nice lad who got right into the spirit of the event. Meanwhile, Oliver was battling away with John Whitty and again held himself together in a decider that could have gone either way. John will also be playing in Gloucester and it’s clear he still has the game to compete at this level without a doubt.
It was around the time that the semi-finals started that I decided to have my first drink of the day, something which unfortunately could not be said for everyone. Jaykay/killamabob from the blog had been wandering around with two pints in his hand since noon on discovery of the two for a fiver deal, at one point forgetting that both his hands were full and pouring one down his top while attempting an ambitious and ultimately careless head scratch technique. Prior to this unfortunate event, we had been having a perfectly intelligent conversation about a tortoise on a skateboard rolling down a hill so that put an end to that.
The Wizard of Glos turned up and did an excellent job of looking after Snoopie Louise, who despite turning many heads only has eyes for the Wizard. I have offered to pay his train fare for the December leg of the Classic but only on the condition that I can dress him up as a snowman for the Christmas themed leg of the tournament. He’s going to get back to me but I’m sure he’ll see sense. Louise has also promised to put together a Christmas themed outfit for our Leeds return, so having my top Snoopie on the case should guarantee a decent turnout.
Indeed, away from the baize the Classic is turning into something of a social event, even extending to that dreaded cheesy business phrase ‘networking’ yesterday as I seem to have arrived home with a few business cards, which I carelessly don’t have myself, as instead I prefer to offer everyone a pocket-sized massive poster. In fact, there were so many people to talk to I was forced to make a call to a local Lookalike Agency and they sent over a rather dubious doppelganger of me to pose for photos and generally pretend to be me (and also I’d heard Jimmy Michie was coming so I felt I’d let him take the punches), though they carelessly dressed him in a shirt similar to one that I wore to the Classics last year I think he fooled enough people in there and it left me time to watch the snooker.
Ant Parsons was highly impressive in his semi-final win over Gavin Lewis, the Welshman is another very dangerous player who also turns his attention to Gloucester now. Ant meanwhile faced a long wait as he had won through before Oliver and Gary Wilson had even started their semi-final. With lots of credit to Oliver however, he didn’t at any point hold things up, always keen to just keep on playing. He again used all 7 frames to defeat Gary, who had only entered the one event this time around and will now undoubtedly be looking for other routeways back to the pro-game.
As the Final was about to commence, it was time for Robbo to enter the building. He strode in and Mrs SB immediately introduced herself and asked him if he liked his shrine, he understandably looked rather bemused but more was to come as she forced a cake she had made for him into his hands for a photograph. It then seemed to click with him what was going on and he then asked me if I was Snookerbacker, to which I responded by pointing him to my lookalike who was a few feet away and still doing an excellent job.
Mrs SB was by this time getting a little giddy at the sight of one of her favourite players and gave him his players pack and got a photo with him. The great man said that he liked Mrs SB as she had in the past awarded him a Willie for Best Hair, he then turned his attention to me and asked how he could have also won a Worst Hair Willie in my awards, I again led him to my lookalike to take it up with him and left them to it.
But once Robbo had been introduced to go and do his thing it was time to concentrate on the Final. It was a real ding-dong affair with both players alternating frame leads and Ant at one point looking like the winner. But Oliver again produced in the decider under the watchful eye of his proud dad Peter and his stepmum Sarah, who both seemed over the moon at his win.
In fact, there was happiness in the air all around and even me and Jimmy Michie agreed to bury the hatchet, though if he’d actually had a hatchet I’m not sure where it might have ended up as I reached for his hand and said ‘Hello Jimmy, I’m SB’. Mrs SB by this time had started to worry that Neil Robertson might think she was a crank, to which I lied ‘of course he won’t’, she seemed to be reassured by this and I’ll try and hide the restraining order as the last words she said to him were ‘we’ll be in touch’.
I also got a chance to have a word with Matt Selt who was in fine ‘diamond geezer’ form and was there to keep Robbo company, although the venue by now was absolutely heaving. A nice touch also happened when the MC announced to the packed crowd watching Robbo that Oliver had won the event to rapturous applause and cheers from the locals. I also caught up briefly with David Grace, who had painted a fabulous picture of Neil which fetched a fair bit at auction for the chosen charity.
Oliver looked delighted with his day’s work as he should be, an almost non-stop 28 frames of competitive snooker against top opponents from 10am until around 9pm is something that takes a lot of dedication and stamina, which he shows in droves. He is also a very polite young lad and thanked me a couple of times personally for the event, as did Peter and Sarah. He’ll be up there with the favourites to assume The MO’D’s mantle as SB Classic Champion 2013.
By then, me and Mrs SB were a bit tired and went outside to stand in the cold with blog hardman Ian White who had also by then arrived, we watched loads of taxis go past until one eventually had our name on it and we returned to our hotel, leaving our fellow revellers to revel.
It was a great day and a fine start to the tournament, it belonged to Oliver of course, but I’d like to think that everyone who attended took away a bit of it. Even if it was a hatchet in the back, what did happen to that lookalike anyway?
You can view all the stats from yesterday here and a big thanks to Andy and Steve from My Snooker Stats for coming along and showing me this excellent initiative in action. That was me you were talking to by the way, not the agency guy. You can also read Matt from Pro Snooker Blog’s thoughts on the day here and view his pics here.
The next two legs of the Snookerbacker Classic take place at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester on 12th and 13th of October, click here for details. If you are in the area, please come along. Incidentally, Oliver’s win means there is now a spare slot in the SB Classic in Leeds in December, when the Classic goes Christmas, it’s £50 to enter and will go to the first person that contacts me. It remains the only place left in any UK event.
I’ll leave you with this……