Mark Poole takes his first singles title

He overcame Pelsall Social B’s vice-captain Anthony Rhodes by a three-frame aggregate score of 171-83.

Both finalists were off the same handicap of 49 so it was a straight battle between the two, with Poole moving into a 26-point cushion after the first frame and continuing to build his lead through to the end.

Rhodes finally conceded with three reds left on the table in the final frame as Poole won the Captains’ Cup for the first time – his maiden singles triumph.

Meanwhile, Jack Harris picked up his third Under-21 Junior Championship – bouncing back from losing last year’s final to regain his crown.

He overcame the spirited challenge of first-time finalist Joshua Walker 3-1 in the final.

The opening frame was a scrappy affair with neither player really getting a chance early on, but it was Walker who eventually did enough to leave his opponent needing snookers to take a 1-0 lead.

Frame two was more open with both players having chances, but Harris made the most of his opportunity as he took a break of 35 to level the match.

Frame three was more one sided as Harris started to find his range and a break of 48 put him into a 2-1lead.

The final frame saw both players have an early chance each before Harris got in once again and this time took a further break of 38 to clinch the trophy.

Earlier in the week, the remaining semi-final of the Pairs & Singles Handicap was played – where St Johns pair Steve Barton and Robbie James made it through to the final as they saw off the challenge of Wednesfield Cons duo Oliver Spooner and Terry Hales.

The first frame saw Steve Barton take a chunk out of the handicap deficit as he took the opening singles frame against Terry Hales by 70 points overall.

The second singles frame was closer, but a couple of unfortunate kicks for Spooner left James in the balls and he duly took his chance to eventually take the frame by 39 points to nearly pull back the remaining handicap deficit.

That win appeared to give James momentum as he was the first player to get in among the balls in the first pairs frame as he produced an excellent break of 73 to take the frame and put him and Barton into a commanding 64-point lead going into the final frame.

The last pairs frame started with Hales and Spooner potting a few good balls to take an early lead in the frame, but it was not enough to halt the momentum of their opponents as James got in again. Another excellent break of 69 saw him and his partner through to the final, where they will take on Willenhall Libs pair Lee Thomson and Lee Bannister in what promises to be an exciting match-up.

The first of the semi-finals was played in the Individual Handicap, where Stafford’s Rob Wharne came back from 2-0 down to beat Pelsall Social’s Scott Tapper.

After taking a scrappy opening frame, Tapper set himself on his way to a 2-0 advantage with a break of 42 – despite the best efforts of Wharne, who threatened a comeback in that frame with a break of 36.

That, however, seemed to settle Wharne and a break of 48 in frame three halved the deficit before he came out the right side of two tense frames to reach the final.