*Yorkshire Snooker Handicap Finals Day*
The Yorkshire Snooker Handicap Finals Day took place on Sunday, 10th May at the Northern Snooker Centre, bringing together 29 players across 8 groups for what proved to be a superb day of competition.
Group matches were best-of-3, with the top 2 from each group advancing to the knockout stages. Five players — Saood Nawab, Aidan Holroyd, Richard Binns, Michael Rhodes and Luke Farrell — topped their groups with perfect records.
The standout performance of the group stage came from Michael Whaley in Group E, who hit the ground running with breaks of 100 and 51 in a 2–0 win over Martin McGuigan, setting the tone for his run through the day.
The last 16 saw lower-handicap players Richard Binns, Stephen Broadhead and Tommy Doherty all falling to Jack Walker, Tony Fell and Martin Glen, respectively. Also progressing to the quarter-finals were Conrad Norcliffe, Danny Peel, Aidan Holroyd, Chris Hart and Michael Whaley.
The semi-finals saw Whaley face Martin Glen, who had earned his place by defeating two minus-handicap players in Doherty and Hart earlier in the day. Whaley proved too strong, winning 2–0. In the other semi-final, Danny Peel edged out Tony Fell 2–1 in a closely contested match.
The final got underway at 8:20 pm, with Whaley giving Peel a 20-point start. Whaley again started sharply and moved 2–0 ahead, only for Peel to fight back and level the match, forcing a deciding frame. Whaley held his nerve to close out the victory 3–2, with the match concluding just after 10:30 pm.
Feedback from competitors throughout the day was extremely positive, with the format widely praised. Our thanks go to the Northern Snooker Centre for hosting, to Simon Taylor for refereeing, and to everyone who entered. The YBSA are already looking forward to next season’s event.
Allen Slingsby, Tournament Director
