Rhys Carpenter Wins Open Plate

Cardiff Open Plate Final

Albert Columbo 0 v 3 Rhys Carpenter

Congratulations to Taff’s Well’s Rhys Carpenter as he won the inaugural Cardiff Open Plate title after a hard-fought 3-0 victory over Rumney British Legion’s Albert Columbo. The match was a closely-fought contest with all three frames being settled on the colours, with Carpenter winning the opening frame after establishing an early lead and leaving Columbo needing a snooker on the yellow.

The second frame was a pivotal one as Columbo built an early lead with some good potting and solid safety play, before Carpenter managed to edge back into it and take it to the colours with the scores level. Further safety play on the yellow eventually saw Carpenter take his chance and pot yellow, green and brown before an excellent blue down the side cushion moved him a snooker ahead on the pink, and despite some good attempts by Columbo, Carpenter moved into a 2-0 lead.

The third frame went the same way as the previous two and was littered with excellent safety play, and in a match where Columbo laid some excellent snookers against his opponent, Carpenter once again pulled off two or three very good escapes, which along with strong long potting ensured he had a healthy lead heading into the final stages of the frame. Columbo managed to reduce the deficit on the last handful of reds, but Carpenter still had a lead as the frame reached the colours. An in-off from Columbo on the brown looked decisive and although Carpenter wasn’t able to take advantage, he quickly made amends as he potted blue to move snookers ahead, followed by the pink to seal the match.