Wilson is on red-hot form to win event
COMPETING in his first local competition since returning from the recent World Championships in Sheffield, Gary Wilson turned in a superb performance of safety playpotting and break-building at Whitley Bay’s latest one-day handicapped event last Saturday that would not have looked out of place at the home of World Snooker - the Crucible.
Drawn out to play one of the three preliminary round matches in the 19-strong field, Wilson who was conceding 56 points a frame proved to good on the day for the Canadian visitor Bob Jezequel who he went on to beat 3-0.
Boldon’s Joe Cromby with a 42 start must have fancied his chances after running away with the first set, but it was the Wallsend potter who turned on the magic to claim the next three frames with century breaks of 123, 112 and a fantastic 146 which was just one point short of the maximum 147 to seal the match 3-1
Another player to suffer at the hands of the on-form Wilson was Durham’s talented cueman Dale Allan (off 35), who after winning the closefought opener then lost the match 3-1 when Wilson rattled off further runs of 74-68-84 to reach the semi-finals, where he took out Durham’s Phil Gwillham 3-0 with another century break of 110 plus an 86 to reach the final.
Contesting the final from the bottom half of the draw was the other Wallsend professional Elliot Slessor, who made his way through to the last two with 3-0 victories over Rotherham’s Sam Fordham (42start)Washington’s David Lilley (off 7) and Newcastle’s Daniel Lozinsky (off 56) and with breaks that included two hundreds 112-110 and further smaller runs of 68- 53-54.
And so, for the first time since the competitions started, the top two seeds won their way through an event to face each other off level in the final. Chasing the first prize of £100 Wilson kicked off by firing in his fifth century of the competition, a well compiled 109 to race 1-0 ahead.
He then went on to claim the match 3-0 after winning the next two frames, the third with a run of 86, leaving the disappointed Slessor with the beaten finalist’s £40.
Wilson also earned a bonus £10 for the highest break award with his amazing 146.
Beaten Semi-finalists Phil Gwillham and Daniel Lozinsky both pocketed £20 each for their efforts.
Rotherham traveller Sam Fordham didn’t go away empty-handed after picking up the Plate winner’s £25 following a close-fought 2-1 defeat of local player Wayne McDonald.