Cardiff Handicap Pairs Final
Clive Marsh & Rob Baker 3 v 2 Graeme Prance & Rob Richards
A deciding frame at Taffs Well was required to determine the 2024/25 CDSA Handicap Pairs winners, as an entertaining and tense final was won by Rob Baker & Clive Marsh as they beat Rob Richards & Graeme Prance.
Prance & Richards won the opening frame without potting a ball as their opponents weren’t ready to start the match by the 7:45pm cut off point, but Marsh & Richards levelled the match after winning a scrappy second frame. Some excellent safety and well-laid snookers by them yielded 27 points in fouls early on, and the resulting 30-point lead was maintained through much of the frame. Prance & Richards managed to reduce the deficit on last few reds to 19 on the colours, but two excellent long pots on the green and brown by Baker were enough to make it 1-1.
The third frame was more open, but largely followed the same pattern with Marsh & Baker building an early lead and maintaining it throughout. A fluent visit of 22 by Marsh, which only ended due to an unlucky in-off, gave them a commanding lead, but Prance & Richards managed to get two of the three snookers they needed on the last red. However, their efforts were in vain as Marsh closed the frame out by potting the last red and the baulk colours to move 2-1 ahead.
After falling to get much going thus far in the match, Prance & Richards showed the form that got them to the final in frame four, with some excellent long potting by both players. Prance extended the lead with a visit of 22 that included two long blues, and despite the best efforts of their opponents it was Richards that finished the frame in style with a string of brilliant pots from the last red to clear to the pink to level the match.
In the deciding frame, Marsh & Baker dominated the early safety exchanges, before Marsh capitalised on this with a run of 17 that put him and his partner 25 ahead. Despite Richards producing the shot of the match, a miraculous cross-double plant, a missed blue left an opportunity for Baker to extend the lead. He potted a fantastic black along the baulk cushion which looked to have sealed the frame, but a crucial miscue ended the visit and gave Prance & Richards hope. However, this was short-lived as a long pot on the penultimate red by Baker extended their lead to 36 with only 35 remaining, and the concession came after the final red was left over the pocket to end a dramatic final.
Twm Sion Jones
