Allan Morgan won his first Cardiff Open title last night with a 4-3 win over reigning champion Neil Tomkins in a classic final. Read on for full report and links to photos and videos.
Neil took the lead with a 54 in the first frame but Allan replied immediately with a 45 to win the second with two reds left. The third frame saw the highlight of the match as Tomkins hit a superb 87 break, missing out on what seemed to be an inevitable century as he jawed the last long red. Nevertheless it was the highest break of the competition.
However the fourth frame saw Morgan level the match once again after winning the first close frame of the evening by clearing from the last red to the pink.
Following a brief interval, with the singer now in full flow downstairs at the Mackintosh, the play deteriorated a little in standard. Morgan edged a scrappy fifth frame to take a 3-2 lead. Tomkins made sure that the match reached a decider with a solid sixth frame, an early 20 break to take the lead followed up with a clearance to the pink.
Both players started off the decider in edgy fashion, but after a few skirmishes Allan fluked a red to begin a solid 45 break that clinched him the match and the title.
It gave Allan his second title in the week, and the Cardiff Open and Open Pairs double. He can make it a hat-trick next week in the Cardiff Handicap final. Astonishingly, this was Neil’s first ever defeat in the Open in his fourth year in the competition.
This includes some footage of Allan’s decisive final frame break in two parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Also see Allan’s 4th frame 30 break here
