Adam Guyatt wins the 2016 Salisbury Club Championship

ADAM Guyatt admitted he was “well happy” but weary after defeating former England captain Nathan Williams in the final of the Salisbury Snooker Club Championship.

The 25-year-old renowned pool player (pictured), who is now focusing more on snooker, fought back from 1-0 down to pocket £100 prize money in the Cavanfields Autocentre-sponsored event.

Although delighted with the 2-1 victory, Guyatt revealed he was suffering the effects of a first all-day snooker tournament since reaching the semi-finals of a Cuestars South of England Championship Tour leg at his home club nearly two years ago.

“I was well happy to win,” he said. “There were a few good players in there.

“But I was very tired and had a headache from concentrating all day.”

Guyatt conceded the first frame of the hour-long final to his practice partner with two reds left but squared the match with a 34 break from 19 points behind in the next.

With one point separating the pair in the decider, the left-hander won a length safety battle on the green and cleared to the pink.

“I had to sink a long green and then they were all there,” he said.</p><p style=”text-align: center;”><img width=”282″ height=”212″ src=”/userfiles/image/Nathan%20Williams%20&%20Adam%20Guyatt%20240116%20TD%20(640×483).jpg” alt=”” /></p><p style=”text-align: center;”>FINALISTS: Runner-up Nathan Williams (left) and champion Adam Guyatt</p><p>Guyatt, a cleaner at Salisbury Reds bus company, first joined the club, which opened in 1985, 15 years ago.

“I did a first break and dish (total clearance) on a pool table when I was ten,” he explained. “And my dad said ‘you should start playing snooker now’.”

Williams was crowned Pontin’s under-21 Star of the Future in 2004 and earned a place on the Challenge Tour, then the qualifying circuit for the professional ranks. He went on to captain England at under-19 level.

Eleven days prior to the club championship, the 29-year-old had returned from a three-year working holiday in Australia and New Zealand.

A total of 26 breaks of 30 or more were recorded by the 19-strong field, which was split into four round-robin groups with the top two in each qualifying for the knockout.</p><p style=”text-align: center;”><img width=”253″ height=”187″ src=”/userfiles/image/Salisbury%20SC%20TD%20(640×475).jpg” alt=”” /></p><p style=”text-align: center;”>VENUE: Salisbury Snooker Club</p><p>Richard Swaffield, who pocketed the £10 high-break prize for a 76 in his 2-1 group-stage defeat against Guyatt, went out 3-1 to Williams in the last-four after clawing back a 30-point deficit with two reds left in the fifth and deciding frame of an epic quarter-ball tussle against Neil Carroll.

In the second semi, Guyatt prevailed 3-1 against old friend John Hunter, one of the pre-tournament favourites who was been running Cuestars events for more than 25 years.

Cavanfields Autocentre is a used-car dealership based in Tidworth. Go to <i>www.cavanfields.co.uk</i> for more details.

BREAKS

Richard Swaffield: 76, 69, 53, 38, 37.
Adam Guyatt: 73, 58, 45, 42, 34.
Nathan Williams: 58, 38.
Neil Carroll: 49, 32.
Neil Herd: 47, 46, 39, 32.
Anthony Rice: 46, 33, 30.
John Hunter: 44.
Simon Peacock: 40.
Stuart Dreyer: 34.
Simon Petrou: 32.
Steve Ashton: 31.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS

GROUP A: 1st, John Hunter; 2nd, Nathan Williams; 3rd, Anthony Rice; 4th, Neil Herd; 5th, Stuart Dreyer.

GROUP B: 1st, David Rice; 2nd, Neil Carroll; 3rd, Ally Pollard; 4th, Keegan Reed; 5th, Tony Ward.

GROUP C: 1st, Richard Swaffield; 2nd, Adam Guyatt; 3rd, Lee Stagg; 4th, Simon Petrou; 5th, Kaine Petty.

GROUP D: 1st, Simon Peacock; 2nd, Steve Ashton; 3rd, Richard Arnold; 4th, Martin Hill.

KNOCKOUT RESULTS

QUARTER-FINALS: Hunter 3 Ashton 1, Guyatt 3 D Rice 0, Swaffield 3 Carroll 2, Williams 3 Peacock 1.

SEMI-FINALS (£20): Guyatt 3 Hunter 1, Williams 3 Swaffield 1.

FINAL (£100/£40): Guyatt 2 Williams 1.

Report and picture by Tim Dunkley