Sussex was well represented at the World Championship in Jersey last weekend with 59 players packing their suitcases and making the trip to the Merton Hotel in St Helier.
Last man standing for Sussex was Phil Osborne who played superbly to reach the Final where he lost out to Paul Sainsbury of Kent. Having lost the toss Paul played out the table 14640 to set Phil a tough target to chase. Phil had a good go but lost his break of just over 5k when missing a ball behind the 30 hole and conceded at this point.
Phil beat Nigel Senior in the semi-final while Paul had beaten another Sussex player in Martin Cole. Both Nigel and Martin falling short of the Final having chased down big breaks to win in the quarters.
Martin recorded a 17240 break to fight back after England Captain Curt Driver had set him a target of 16310 in the first leg, while Nigel won possibly the greatest game ever played in the World Championship.
Up against Sussex teammate Kevin Tunstall, Nigel won the toss and put KT in. Kevin quickly settled into his rhythm and played the table out for an incredible 21460. Nigel began the second leg at lightning speed, and despite a few hairy moments early on, he caught Kevin to record a 22220 break.
Other Sussex players in reach the latter stages of the Main competition were Alan Brackenridge, Kevin Hall and Richard Wooton who all reached the Last 16.
Chris Tupper won the plate competition beating Stuart Carruthers in an all Sussex Final. Both players were not at their best in a scrappy match but Tupps held on well for a deserved victory and to complete a Channel Islands plate double having previously won the plate at the Guernsey Open.
Also taking place over the weekend were the World Championship Doubles and Sussex were again represented in the Final with Matt Knight and Joe Oakley taking on Matt Jones and Cliff Slade from Bucks. ‘Silent’ and Joe were 16k down after a break from Matt Jones in the first leg and despite a good break from each of the Sussex pairing in the second leg they fell just short.
Kevin Tunstall and Martin Cole reached the semi-finals as did Jim Millward who was partnering Guernsey’s Trevor Gallienne.