Gary McNabb wins again
Gary McNabb retained the SMPT UK Open in Chelmsford at the weekend retaining the title he won last year and is now a three-time UK Open champion. He was in magnificent form winning every one of his games over the weekend’s event. He beat Alistair McCrea in the final by 11-4 after a stunning 13-6 win against Alex Kley in the semi-finals. The quarter finals saw McNabb involved in a close encounter against Andrew Hudson before he emerged with a 9-8 win. Alistair McCrea reached the final with an 11-5 win against Andrew Shorney in the semi-finals and a 14-8 win against some people’s pre-tournament favourite Craig Burgess in the quarter-finals. Ben Pay won the secondary Plate Competition, for players finishing third and fourth in their groups, by beating Joakim Andersson 12-3. The Shield, for players finishing fifth and sixth in their groups, was won by Steve Whiting by 13-7 against Pam Neilly.
Spotlight on Norfolk’s Craig Quantock & Chris Willies
Craig Quantock of Horsford BC carried Norfolk’s hopes into the UK Open knockout rounds at Chelmsford after finishing second in Group 21 to qualify for the main event. He started Saturday off well with a resounding 19-7 win against Melissa Morris but lost his next game against eventual group winner Andrew Shorney by 16-9 before going down by 11-9 to Kevin Collins. His fourth game on Saturday saw him gain what turned out to be a vital 8-7 win against Jonas Hager. Craig followed that with a 16-5 win against Stuart Pierce in his last group game which left him level on points with Hager. Craig’s win against Hager meant that he clinched the runner-up spot in his group. The Last 64 knockout round saw Quantock up against Robert Martin but a close game ended with Robert Martin ending Craig Quantock’s participation in the UK Open with a narrow 11-10 win. Chris Willies of Watton Expendables got off to a great start in Group 32 on the Saturday morning with a 19-2 win against Chris Terry and a 9-8 win against the talented Pieterjan Stevens but slipped to a 9-3 defeat to David Hall in his third game. A heavy 22-5 win against Raymond Prescott followed leaving Willies with one game left to play against Julian Scales on Sunday morning. A win for Willies would have put him through to the knockouts but it was not to be as Scales grabbed second place in Group 32 with a 12-11 win. This left Willies third in the group and qualifying for the Plate competition. In the Last 64 knock-out round Willies beat Alistair Mahaffy 10-9 followed by a 12-5 win against Terry Bradshaw in the Last 32 round. An 11-9 win against Steve Smith took Chris Willies into the quarter-finals and a match against Jonas Hager but a tight 10-9 defeat ended his hopes in the Plate competition.
SMPT World Rankings
The weekend’s results leave Craig Burgess of Essex still at number one in the SMPT World Rankings and still well clear of Ireland’s Gary McNabb who occupies second place. McNabb is closely followed by a trio from Belgium with Sibe Laureys in third, Pieterjan Stevens in fourth and Jonathan Payne in fifth. Brilliant young Dorset bowler Alex Kley follows them in sixth place.
Gary McNabb - SMPT UK Open Champion for third time
photo courtesy of SMPT