Mac cannot keep up with the Jones

IT is not often an unknown player registers to compete in Whitley Bay Snooker Centre’s One-Day Handicapped Pro-Am, is given a 28-points-a frame-start and then astounds everyone by coming through the 24-strong field to claim first prize.

That is just what Gateshead’s Malcolm Jones did - beating Bay’s Wayne McDonald 3-0.

Jones kicked off with 3-1 wins over North Shields’ TJ Rendles and Whitley Bay’s J Wears before putting out Elliot Slessor 3-2 on the final black (received 70).

He then reached the final with a comfortable 3-1 defeat of Gateshead’s Andrew Turner.

In the bottom half of the draw McDonald (off 14) saw off Shields’ Craig Sexton 3-1, Tim Taylor 3-2 and Whitley’s Gerry McNally 3-1.

However, he proved no match in the final for Jones, who took the first frame 78-43, the second 81-40 and the third 73-52 with a string of breaks in the 30s. 40s and 50s.

Highest break of the day went to Tim Taylor for a fine run of 77.

Gary Wilson’s 2-0 defeat of Whitley Bay’s Mark Faichen and his break of 120 (he missed a yellow on a maximum) won the Wallsend potter both the Plate prize and the Plate’s highest break award. ■■THE latest of the World Snooker Assocation’s ranking events was held at Watford’s Colosseum Stadium.

All matches were played over 10 minutes and players had 15 seconds to play a shot in the first five minutes and 10 seconds in the second five minutes.

Gateshead’s John Astley broke his recent run of bad luck after outscoring Ross Muir 47-43 only to go out in the last 64 47-41 to the classy Martin Gould.

Gary Wilson scraped through 29-27 against Belguim’s Luka Kleckers with little to spare, only to fall victim in his second match to Cambridge’s Joe Perry 28-10.

Elliot Slessor (below) beat Leeds’ Sanderson Lam 87-4 and Hartlepool’s Michael Williams 51-0 before losing 60-0 to former world champion Stuart Bingham.