ADAM Guyatt admitted he was “well happy” but weary after defeating former England captain Nathan Williams in the final of the Salisbury Snooker Club Championship, writes Tim Dunkley.
The 25-year-old renowned pool player, who is now focusing more on snooker, fought back from 1-0 down to pocket £100 prize money in the Cavanfields Autocentre-sponsored event.
Although delighted with the 2-1 victory, Guyatt revealed he was suffering the effects of a first all-day snooker tournament since reaching the semi-finals of a Cuestars South of England Championship Tour leg at his home club nearly two years ago.
“I was well happy to win,” he said. “There were a few good players in there.
“But I was very tired and had a headache from concentrating all day.”
Guyatt conceded the first frame of the hour-long final to his practice partner with two reds left but squared the match with a 34 break from 19 points behind in the next.
With one point separating the pair in the decider, the left-hander won a length safety battle on the green and cleared to the pink.
“I had to sink a long green and then they were all there,” he said.
Guyatt, a cleaner at Salisbury Reds bus company, first joined the club, which opened in 1985, 15 years ago.
“I did a first break and dish (total clearance) on a pool table when I was ten,” he explained. “And my dad said ‘you should start playing snooker now’.”
Williams was crowned Pontin’s under-21 Star of the Future in 2004 and earned a place on the Challenge Tour, then the qualifying circuit for the professional ranks. He went on to captain England at under-19 level.
Eleven days prior to the club championship, the 29-year-old had returned from a three-year working holiday in Australia and New Zealand.
A total of 26 breaks of 30 or more were recorded by the 19-strong field, which was split into four round-robin groups with the top two in each qualifying for the knockout.
Richard Swaffield, who pocketed the £10 high-break prize for a 76 in his 2-1 group-stage defeat against Guyatt, went out 3-1 to Williams in the last-four after clawing back a 30-point deficit with two reds left in the fifth and deciding frame of an epic quarter-ball tussle against Neil Carroll.
In the second semi, Guyatt prevailed 3-1 against old friend John Hunter, one of the pre-tournament favourites who was been running Cuestars events for more than 25 years.
Cavanfields Autocentre is a used-car dealership based in Tidworth. Go to cavanfields.co.uk for more details.
BREAKS
Richard Swaffield: 76, 69, 53, 38, 37.
Adam Guyatt: 73, 58, 45, 42, 34.
Nathan Williams: 58, 38.
Neil Carroll: 49, 32.
Neil Herd: 47, 46, 39, 32.
Anthony Rice: 46, 33, 30.
John Hunter: 44.
Simon Peacock: 40.
Stuart Dreyer: 34.
Simon Petrou: 32.
Steve Ashton: 31.
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