The 2009 ACTEBA Open Singles Champion is:
Matt Harmon
Congratulations to Matt on winning his 4th Open Singles title, to go with his 2000, 2003 and 2004 victories. Number 4 puts Matt level with Steve Woods for most Open Singles Titles, and into 2nd place for overall Open Titles (with his 1999 & 2005 Open Doubles Titles).
7 weeks of Open Singles (and 3,988 frames) culminated in Saturday’s Top 4 Shootout, with Matt taking on defending champion Dean Welsh, Australian Under 21 Champion Daniel Sostarko and first time Top 16 qualifier Stephen Thomas. Unlike last year, where Dean had to start way back in round one, all four players were seeded, with Steve the lowest at 27.
Unfortunately, Daniel was unable to compete on the day, changing the dynamics of the shootout entirely. As Matt and Steve commenced the first match of race to 7, this left Dean to sit and wait for an hour and 45 minutes for his first frame. Similarly, Matt and Steve were to have similar waits later in the day.
Steve started the day by picking up the first 2 frames against Matt, before leading 3-1. Both players were making uncharacteristic mistakes as they eased into the day’s play, and it was Matt who started to find his form first, completing a number of runouts as he swept the next 6 frames for a 7-3 victory.
The pressure was now on Steve, a loss to Dean in the next match would put him out of the final. But Dean also had to step up after a long wait with a couple of hits on the spare table against Steve’s 10 competition frames. Steve was obviously the warmer as he jumped to a 4-0 lead, but Dean was able to grab the next two frames and then trail 3-5. By this stage Steve was rarely missing and picked up the last two frames for a 7-3 triumph.
With Steve now on 10 wins and 10 losses, Matt needed only 4 frames in the last match against Dean to stay in the running, but let’s not make it too complicated just yet. In short, Dean needed to defeat Matt by 7-3 or better, while Steve was already guaranteed at least a playoff. The spectators were already trying to work it out while Dean took a break before the matchup.
Matt continued his good form early, with Dean finding himself down 4-0 once again. This had actually settled the final, with even a 7-4 win to Dean not being enough to make the final. The evidence was that Dean realised this, as his play slipped dramatically from here to suffer a 7-1 defeat and a 3rd place finish in the tournament.
Matt then entered his 8th Open Singles Final, with Steve playing fantastically to reach his first. Only a race to 9 now separated the two form players from last weekend and the State Title. A good crowd had built by this stage to watch the players battle it out. Matt broke the first frame, with Steve missing his second shot before Matt ran out to lead 1-0. A much tighter second frame saw an early run from Steve end in a foul. Matt then potted a couple before leaving Steve snookered, another foul from Steve and Matt had a foul snooker. Matt then ran the rest of his balls before a tough miss on the black left Steve to clean up and tie the match 1-1.
Steve got another early run in the next frame, but went in off and Matt ran out again to reclaim the lead. The pair swapped a few visits in the 4th before Steve ran out for 2-2 scoreline. Matt potted the white off the break in the next, and Steve took full advantage before going in/off for the second time, this time on his last object ball and Matt was left with a clear table and an easy runout to lead 3-2.
With the first 5 frames going with the break, the match was poised for a tight one, before Matt took a great run at his first visit all the way to the black before missing. Steve then went in/off for the third time and Matt needed two visits to pot the black for a 4-2 lead. Matt continued this in the 7th frame, capitalising on a miss from Steve and 5-2 lead.
Steve’s break left the pack tight in the next frame, but some great white ball play from both players opened it up for Matt to take a run before missing his last ball. Steve’s balls where still tough, though, and he was unable to stop Matt from improving his lead to 6-2. Play tightened again in the 9th frame, as both players were forced to snooker each other on the way to a black ball game. Steve missed his first shot at it, but Matt returned the favour and Steve clawed one back to 3-6.
Matt potted the first ball in the 10th frame, but Steve continued his comeback with a great run before missing the black. Matt immediately took the opportunity to snooker, and Steve played a tough shot to make contact, but Matt was left once again with a clear table and easy runout for a 7-3 lead and only two frames away from the title.
Faced with an open table, Steve missed his first shot before Matt gifted him two visits by going in/off. Steve showed the pressure, unable to pot a ball and left Matt to complete yet another runout on his way to 8-3. The final frame played out much the same as the rest, with Steve running three off the break, before allowing a red hot Matt back to table to run 7 balls and the black yet again to seal the title 9-3.
There had been 12 excellent frames in the final, with only errors late in frames from Steve allowing the scoreline to blow out. This being said, Matt was clearly the better of the two on the day, rarely missing an opportunity and showing poise under pressure that comes from experience. Matt is once again a worthy champion, with Steve proving that he will a force in the Open Singles for years to come. The form of both players on Saturday gives us confidence for a strong performance at the Nationals.
As an interesting side note, Matt’s title is his 8th overall, including 4 Singles, 2 Doubles and 2 Nine Ball. Together with his father, Roger, and wife, Kath, they have 13 overall titles, one ahead of brother and sister Dean and Nicole Welsh, who have 12.
A big thank you must go to our umpires on the day, Greg Murphy, Steve Phillips and Trent Billington, as well as Matt Connor for recording the final. Thanks also to the Maram for hosting the shootout, your assistance is greatly appreciated.
As is the assistance of all the venues in this year’s tournament, The Maram, The Basement, Canberra Labor Club, Ojo’s Bar and Café, Fyshwick Tavern, Tuggeranong Southern Cross Club and Lanyon Vikings Club, without whom the tournament could not be successful.
Also to the adjudicators, Cath Jones, Scrol, Trent Billington, Greg Murphy, Jason Scott, Penny Foudoulis, Tony Aleksovski, Les Otuhouma, Matt Kendrick, Joseph Morrall, Phil Morton, Pete Madden, Kylie Power, Nicole Welsh, Glenn Thomson, Darren O’Connor and of course Vera Sansum, who ran around collecting scoresheets for me on the Sunday afternoons as well. I hope I didn’t miss anyone there.
So once again we wrap up the year’s biggest tournament, but we still have the Ladies and Open Doubles, 9 Ball and the Under 21’s and Juniors to come. Thank you last of all to all players who took part this year, your play and attitude contributed to a great couple of months for all involved.
