Newcomer takes £100 prize in Worthing snooker handicap tournament

Paine, a newcomer to the Worthing and District Snooker and Billiards League, took the £100 prize in the open handicap singles competition, defeating Lancing Empire’s Oli Poole 3-0 in the final.

The victor, playing off a handicap of owe seven, knocked out Brian Mitchell and Michael Jackson in best-of-three matches at West Worthing Tennis and Squash Club on Saturday.

He returned for the closing stages of the tournament on Sunday, beating Richard Miller – winner of the league’s inaugural snooker shootout event in May – taking three frames without reply and scoring a high break of 47.

Poole, deputy political editor for this newspaper, could not take advantage of a seven-point-per-frame head start and failed to secure a frame.

He had defeated James Welsted in a preliminary round to make the main draw, going on to despatch Jack Lulham, Mark Lawson and Empire teammate Nigel Stilwell en route to the final.

Paine raced to a two-nil lead with steady potting, with Poole struggling to replicate the form which took him to the last two and unable to take advantage of scoring opportunities.

The final frame proved a tighter affair but the Empire player, who received £50 as runner-up, could not secure a snooker on the pink to extend the match.

Visit www.worthingsnooker.org for more details about the league and sign up to the organisation’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WorthingSnooker for notification of future open tournaments.

The league’s main season is drawing to a close but a three-man tournament will run soon after from clubs around Worthing, Shoreham and Lancing.