OPENSHAW HAS MADE IT TO THE FINAL AT LAST
He goes extra mile to make the cut
MAVER MATCH THIS QUALIFIER Tunnel Barn Farm (102 pegs) FOR Steve Openshaw it was starting to look like ‘always the bridesmaid, never the bride’.
He had come close to reaching the final on numerous occasions, and he finally went all the way in this heat.
Drawn on peg 6 of the prolific Jenny’s Pool, he soon whipped the big F1s into a frenzy and managed to place a highly impressive 224-0-0 of fish to 4lb into his nets. He didn’t have it all his own way, though, as Richard Bond piled on the pressure.
Rotating lines from peg 12 on Canal kept the fish coming and saw him end the match on 206-13-0.
Result: 1 S Openshaw, Lingmere, 224-0-0; 2 R Bond, Matrix Image, 206-13-0; 3 M Rodger, Lincs, 197-8-0; 4 C Barlow, Daiwa/ Guru, 192-9-0; 5 F Gianocelli, Preston Innovations, 185-12-0; 6 K Rich, Middy/Burt Baits, 181-12-0.