Paul Mifsud wins snooker thriller

Press, 20 October 1986, Page 44

Paul Mifsud wins snooker thriller

PA Invercargill Invercargill might have been one of the most out-of-the-way venues for the world amateur snooker championships, but the city will always be remembered as the scene for one of the great snooker finals.

In a fascinating contest on Saturday night, which saw 20 of the 21 frames available used, the little master from Malta, Paul Mifsud, withstood the magnificent challenge from a 28-year-old Welshman, Kerry Jones, to retain the world title.

Mifsud, the defending champion who had been unable to practise four-and-a-half months before coming to New Zealand, used every game as a stepping stone towards the final. Mifsud won the first session 4-3, Jones the second, 4-3. They shared the first four frames of the final session and it seemed that a late finish was in store, so hard was the battle fought. Mifsud started the day confidently and produced his best break with, a 42.

Jones had his cifences but he was unable to

match Mifsud’s placement of the cue ball and the champion won the first, 70-41.

The second frame saw Mifsud bring into play his length of the table shots and he won, 77-25.

Jones opened the third frame with a break of 32 to which Mifsud replied with 31. Mifsud missed a vital blue on the way to a possible big break, a point the more obvious when Jones made a break of 45 to take his first frame of the day, 77-31.

The first shot of the fourth frame produced a

genuine mess on the table. This resulted in a drawn-out battle of intrigue as the players poked and prodded the cue ball for the slightest of touches for position to embarrass the opponent into mistake. Both were cautious before Mifsud broke the deadlock by sinking a red. With such a mess there were not many colours available and he was unable to go on. So the pendulum swung towards Jones who made the highest break of the day with a 66.

Two fouls suffered by Jones offered Mifsud

some hope of winning the frame, but eventually Jones sunk the final green and brown balls to win the concession from Mifsud and the frame, 75-40.

After the interval Mifsud was right into his stride with an initial break of 21, which he later extended to 31 and 38. Jones picked up eight but another 23 to Mifsud and some beautiful snookers meant that the Welshman had to concede jit 6214.

Jones produced an uncharacteristic double to open the scoring in the 20th frame but left himself with no chance on the black. Mifsud then made his move, playing with unerring deliberation. He made only 31 in the break, but it was just what he needed to seal the title.

The champion’s reign was extended for another 12 months until the next championships in Bangalore.

Frame scores (Mifsud first): 70-41, 77-25, 31-77, 4075, 62-14, 57-15.