Connor Cinato won the annual Spalding Open singles tournament for the first time after beating former world champion and current world number two Nicky Brett in a thrilling final.
The tournament, which concluded on Saturday, is part of the nationwide Open Singles Circuit and was sponsored by Jet2.com who generously donated the prize money.
Play commenced at Spalding IBC on the Friday night, with two sessions before a full days play on the Saturday, with knockout matches played to a sets format, with seven ends in each set, best of three sets.
Cinato’s opening match saw him drawn against the current world number one and another former World Champion, Greg Harlow. Cinato was on form from the outset and beat Harlow in straight sets.
Brett also won his opener in straight sets, beating Chris Ballard 11-4, 9-3.
After nine sessions of play, there were just eight players remaining.
Despite there being no Spalding players left in the competition, there was still a large crowd to support all the players involved.
In the quarter-finals Scott Whyers beat Stephen Harris 2-1 (10-5, 2-7, 2-0), Cinato defeated Robert Elmore 2-1 (1-7, 8-5, 2-0), Brett defeated Andy Walters 2-1 (4-5, 7-1, 2-0) and Paul Roberts edged out Glenn Williams 2-1 (11-2, 3-7, 2-0).
Both semi-finals were decided in straight sets, as Brett secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Roberts (9-4, 6-2) and Cinato beating Whyers 6-3, 9-0.
The final lived up to expectations, as both players found great form to thrill the packed crowd.
Cinato struck first, winning the first set 7-4 before Brett took the second by the same score-line.
In the deciding end of the tie break, Cinato ditched the jack to leave his rival very little room to draw a shot. And, despite a fantastic effort, Brett fell a few inches short to give Cinato the shot he needed to take the title and the £800 first prize.
Brett received £300 for his efforts, while losing semi-finalists took £150 each and losing quarter-finalists receiving £75 each.
A Spalding IBC club statement said: “Huge thanks go to tournament organiser, Graham Smith and his daughter Beth for their time and effort on the day.
“Thanks to Colin Wilson who was the umpire for all sessions, racking up over 17 hours of duty.
“Thanks also to the catering staff, spectators, markers and of course the players for making the event a great success.
“The biggest thanks go to the sponsors Jet2.com for donating the prize money, which attracted some of the best players in the world to Spalding.”
