The Gordon Lewis Memorial Scratch Billiards Championship 2014-15
Trevor and John with the prestigious Gordon Lewis Memorial Trophy at Shirley Cons
Final
MULLANE MAKES IT FIVE GORDON LEWIS MEMORIAL BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A ROW!
John Mullane (Chandlers Ford Central) has retained the Southampton and District, Gordon Lewis Memorial Scratch Billiards Championship, after beating compatriot Trevor Thorn (Chandlers Ford Central) at Shirley Cons club in the two by one hour final.
After beating multiple winner Daniel Zagaroli (Chandlers Ford Central) in the semi final the week before, Mullane was in no mood to relinquish his title, but saw his opponent, who had a fine semi final victory over Terry Azor (Chandlers Ford Central), make the better start with a 30 break. Mullane hit back with a top-of-the-table 33 and a 19 (which broke down after missing a pot red four inches from the pocket!). Thorn then led by 96 points to 80 after contributions of 17 and 14. Mullane then fluked a pot red but missed Thorn’s white completely to give his opponent the advantage.
However, Thorn could not keep the champion at bay for long, as Mullane made a wonderfully thoughtful break of 61. It was compiled with a selection of delicate mid table cannons from hand to leave in-off whites (as opposed to leaving the in-off red, to enable him to place Thorn’s white ball behind the top spot from the in-off). Mullane then lost his opponents white when playing a drop cannon from distance towards the top-of-the-table to finish the break.
Thorn, cueing smoothly despite Mullane’s tempo, then unfortunately made four visits to the table without scoring to trail 106 to 160. Mullane then made a fine all round break of 55, gathering the three balls at the top-of-the-table, only to line all three balls up and miss a run through cannon by millimetres. He didn’t let that affect him though as he then made a superb 68, again showing fine all round control of the white, yellow and red, and not just with rehearsed metronomic top-of-the-table play, to lead by 229 to 120. He then made a 25 break at the buzzer for the one-hour halfway stage to lead by 312 to 124.
Mullane carried on with the break at the resumption and made another half century, this time a fine 52. Thorn could only watch in admiration of Mullane’s consistency, but himself replied with a 23, only to narrowly miss a cannon when in amongst the balls. Mullane then made breaks of 16, 55 and 13 to extend his lead. Thorn replied with a 16 and 19, but again was unfortunate to miss by fractions when set to make a telling contribution.
Mullane then made breaks of 36 and a wonderful top-of-the-table 66 to lead by 590 to 199. Thorn made a gallant 28 towards the end of the two hours, but Mullane made a 31 (finishing with his yellow ball touching his opponents white for a re-spot. This happening an extraordinary three times in the match) and another top-of-the-table 29, to retain the trophy by 735 points to 272. Well done to John and well done to Trevor for getting to his first final!
John Mullane 735 V Danny Zagaroli 272
SDBSA Chairman Peter Green presents John Mullane with the Gordon Lewis Memorial Trophy for the fifth time in a row!
Semi Finals
John Mullane, Trevor Thorn, Terry Azor and Daniel Zagaroli relax before their semi final matches!
TREVOR THORN WINS THROUGH TO HIS FIRST BILLIARDS FINAL TO MEET HOLDER JOHN MULLANE
The Gordon Lewis Memorial Scratch Billiards Championship Trophy entered the semi final stages at Shirley Cons, with an all-star Chandlers Ford Central club playing quartet, vying for a place in the final on Wednesday 20 May at the same venue.
The draw, made by multi town billiards champion Jeff James, pitted defending champion John Mullane against multiple winner Daniel Zagaroli, and Terry Azor verses first time entrant Trevor Thorn.
In the two by 3/4 hour format match, Thorn started confidently against multi finalist Azor, and led in the first five minutes. But Azor came back strongly and led by 176 to 131 at the halfway stage, thanks to four breaks in the teens and a 27 and 23. He took the score to 246 to 209, but back came Thorn to trail by only 248 to 235. Thorn then made a first visit 27 from the restart, followed by a 29 and 21 to give him some hope.
Thorn then fluked an in-off red and was about to play Azor’s white ball while his yellow was in the pocket, but Azor gallantly advised him he was about to do so, thus avoiding the two point penalty. With the score at 276 to 270 in Azor’s favour, Thorn made a fine 34 and three lesser breaks to lead for only the second time in the game. And with only a minute to go Azor missed a relatively straightforward pot red into the green pocket to give his opponent a fantastic first appearance in the final, winning the match 322 to 308.
The other semi had Mullane and Zagaroli struggling to make any real telling contributions. But the defending champion made a 28, 32, 32, 27 and 37 to lead by 187 to 141 at the half way stage. Zagaroli made breaks of 28 and 23 but could not get his normal accurate potting aligned with a mix of in-offs and cannons. Mullane then made breaks of 24 and 32 to lead by 275 to 188. Zagaroli responded with a 21 and numerous 10s but then saw his opponent make a 39, 21, a fine 53, 25, 19 and 25 to win by 491 to 252.
So well done to our defending champion for getting back into the final, but the final word must go to Trevor Thorn for a wonderful win over his Chandlers Ford Central captain and a date next week for his first Southampton final!
Quarter Finals
Paul Lawrence 284 V 300 Trevor Thorn
Steve Allen 191 V 300 Terry Azor
Daniel Zagaroli (51) 300 V 201 Paul Adams (44)
John Mullane 300 v 184 Mike Kunzi
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