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Gillard makes it 5 for the Year |
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Gillard makes it 5 for the Year
Gary Gillard (Christchurch) picked up his 5th snooker tournament victory for the 2009 year when he won the Sunshine Classic held 13th, 14th & 15th November at the Marlborough Club, Blenheim.
Attracting a field of 24, 2 from the North Island, the tournament started with section play Friday and Saturday with the first round of post section play Saturday evening. The quarters, semis and final finished up by 4pm Sunday. Of course for the Christchurch players this was their Show Weekend.
Gillard started the tournament strongly cracking in an 84 break in his very first frame. He went on to win the match and remained undefeated throughout section play.
Others unbeaten through section play were Mike Boyd (Nelson), Barry Ede (Christchurch) and Brent Simmons (Blenheim). All these players progressed through to the quarter finals where Gillard beat Bill Earle 3-0, Simmons beat Mark Friend 3-0, Ede beat Kevin Kemp 3-2 and Mike Boyd lost to Dylan Englebretson 0-3.
Semi finals saw a great match between Ede and Englebretson with Ede storming out to a 2-0 lead only to see Dylan fight back and level the match at 2-2. The final frame was dominated by Ede giving very few chances and in the end winning comfortably enough, 3-2. In the other semi Gillard proved too steady for local Brent Simmons winning 3-0.
The final was an excellent match, Barry Ede started very convincingly with 2 faultless frames, storming into a 2-0 lead in the best of 5 frame match. In the 3rd frame an opening safety exchange saw Gillard take control and then finish off the frame with a coolly composed 32 break to be behind 2-1. The forth frame saw Gillard crack in a 55 break to level at 2-2. In the fifth both players had opportunities to take the match, however after building a small lead and surviving some outstanding safety from Ede Gillard took the frame and match 3-2.
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