BRIAN Salmon defeated world snooker champion Shaun Murphy as he again triumphed at the Jimmy Carney Snr Memorial Masters pool tournament.

The first four frames of the quarter-final were tense but Salmon moved up through the gears to beat his good friend 5-2.

The earlier rounds had seen Aidan Finch show his masters experience by defeating debutant Dan Sparks in front of around 200 spectators at the Q Ball Club in Basildon.

Ian Nash also came through a tricky-looking tie against pre-tournament favourite Rob Donkin.

A break in the competition saw five members of the audience play against Murphy, with commentary provided by special guest and former snooker pro Willie Thorne.

The semi-final draw saw Jordan Sillett turn in the performance of the night to quickly brush aside Nash and book his place in the final.

Old masters foes Finch and Salmon locked horns in the other last-four match and played out a classic which Salmon just edged.

The final was well contested but Salmon came out on top to win his fourth Jimmy Carney Snr Memorial Masters title.

Event organisers Jimmy Carney and Mark Neylon, of Turtle Promotions, thanked everyone who supported the night and Q Ball for staging it.

 

CHAMPIONS DOUBLE FOR IAN NASH

IAN Nash is celebrating double success at the pool table.

The Southend player bagged the Champions League of Pool Open title and the Over-35 Champions League of Pool titles in the Turtle Promotions-organised events.

It crowned a fine year for Nash (pictured top) which has seen him reach seven finals in 2014.

Echo:

Ian Nash - how many finals?

 

Nash beat Brian Salmon 4-3 in the Champions League of Pool Open final having also beaten the Basildon potter in the group stages.

And Nash also had to come through a titanic two-hour battle against Nigel Bailey which saw Nash eventually win 4-3 after Bailey was 3-2 up at one stage.

The over-35 competition saw Nash defeat Ray Harris 4-2 in the final.

The group stages had seen Basildon player Terry Hogarth go undefeated with wins over Mayur Pater and Matt Holden.

But in the knockout stages Harris had to be in top form to overcome Lauckland Boyce and Patel to reach the final.

Mick Mannix will be kicking himself that he did not make his first Turtle Promotions final after losing to Nash.

Harris was quickly 2-0 down but fought back to level the match but Nash’s determination saw him win the event.

Des Smith defeated Darren Ditzel in the plate final.

l Essex A county players Rob Donkin (pictured bottom) and Jordan Sillett were in good form throughout the £1,000 Basildon Open.

Echo:

Rob Donkin - impressive win

 

But it was Donkin who took away the prize money by beating Sillett 5-3 despite throwing away a 3-0 lead.

The competition featured a strong field including Joe Flaherty Jnr, Youssef Gormati, Neil Toms, Dave Mckenzie and Ian Ali.