Planet Snooker Premier League: World rankings were turned upside down when Michael Rhodes of Coxhoe, number 80 in the list, beat the visiting Mike Dunn of Redcar, number 55, by the odd point to retain his place at the top of the table.
Dunn took the first frame after he laid an excellent snooker, which earned him a 55 break, which he followed with 25 to win 95-19. Dunn established an early 20 points lead but Rhodes turned a tight chance into a 97 clearance to level. A long bout of safety in the third eventually saw Rhodes come through with runs of 34 and 26 to win 103-22. Dunn levelled with a win in the tight fourth when he took the deciding pink at 65-47. After Dunn missed an attempted snooker in the fifth, Rhodes built up a good lead and denied the Hartlepool man's further snooker attempts to win 74-18. The match was levelled when Dunn took a good opening red and compiled an early 58 break. The decider saw the reds go to the cushions making break building difficult, but Rhodes steadily built up a lead, which Dunn never looked like equalling and went down 93-27.
Paul Davison of Spennymoor joined Rhodes at the top after he beat Michael Rudd at Hartlepool Snooker Centre. Rudd made an excellent start when he took the first two frames with a 48 break in the first. However Davison showed his fighting qualities when, without the help of any big breaks, he took the next four frames and then finished in style with an 89 clearance, which just failed to reach the ton when he missed the final pink.
A safety conscious, tactical battle took place at Tow Law, where David Craggs dropped valuable points to John McCallum of Ashington. The first frame saw both players make 21 shots each before the first colour was potted, even though seven reds were down. Craggs won 59-16 and made a 28, the best of the night, to win the second 67-39. McCallum had his chance when looking for a clearance from last two reds but he broke down on the blue and Craggs won 66-39. McCallum took the fourth at 62-23 and the fifth when he cleared the colours. The feature of this clearance was when he thumped the yellow in with the cue ball cannoning into black, pink to make it a sitting duck over the middle and them moving the hard up green right over the pocket and won 46-42.
Certain victory came for Craggs at 67-47 in the sixth. A tight final frame saw Craggs jump the cue ball off the table when attempting a deep screw for the yellow. McCallum took the colours to the brown with Craggs failing to get the required snooker.
Wallsend's Wizard, Gary Wilson visited Ormesby Institute to take on Anthony Parsons before he makes the trip to Wellingborough to represent England, as the current English Under 19s Champion, at the European Under 19s Championships. Wilson struggled in the early frames especially after Parsons knocked in a 58 break leaving Wilson trailing 3-1 by time the interval was reached. The fight-back started in the fifth frame when Wilson potted a 58 to win 64-51 and levelled with a 64-19 win. A tactical safety battle in the final frame saw Parsons triumph at 76-40.
David Lilley of Fairholme Club entertained Chris West of Whitley Bay and went two up, with a break of 46 in the second, before West knocked in the highest break of the night, a 77 in the third. Lilley took the fourth and them made a 45 clearance to boost his lead but West, with a break of 44, took the sixth. A scrappy final frame ended with Lilley edging through at 43-30.
Fixtures: Monday, April 5: Mike Dunn v David Craggs at Hartlepool Snooker Centre;
Wednesday: John McCallum v Michael Rudd at Ashington Northern Social Club; Andy Craig v David Lilley at Stanley Central; Chris West v Anthony Parsons at Whitely Lodge Snooker Centre. Gary Wilson v Michael Rhodes is postponed because Wilson is away on international duty.
All matches start at 7.30pm but anyone wishing to travel should contact the venue before or telephone Planetsnooker.com on 07830 101228.
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