HAMISH BIDWELL
Paku Brown walked away with the spoils from yesterday's Hawke's Bay Handicap Snooker Tournament.
Brown beat Neal Lincoln two frames to one in the final of the main draw, while David Meier-Bailey took out the plate by the same score over Bill Schofield.
"Paku played very, very well and his experience
really told in the final against Neal. He was a worthy winner and, at the same time, there were a couple of the other performances that really caught the eye," said controller of the Builda Builder-sponsored tournament, David Knott.
"David Meier-Bailey had a handicap on minus-28 and with Bill Schofield at plus-21, he had to give him s 49 point start on every frame. That's a huge advantage to give away and he had to play very well to win.
"The other one was Terry Dapson, who had breaks of 39 and 56 and really impressed everyone and it took Neal Lincoln to knock him out. That 56 was the highest break of the tournament and it was great to see him playing so well.
"Everyone was also delighted to see Judy Thompson came through and play in the main draw. It's the second time she's qualified and she really played her heart out."
Knott said the "boys' brigade" also produced performances of note. Sixteen-year old Greg Lancaster qualified for the first time and did well, before falling to Chris Valk, while 15-year old Ryan Knott also had a good run in the main draw until Brown beat him two frames to one.
