Magic Mick beats two internationals en-route to last 16 of national billiards championship

Long Sutton hot shot Mick Cooper helped knock out two England players as he booked his place in the last 16 of the country’s national billiards championship.

Cooper, who plays for Norfolk, progressed from the English South East group stage at Cambridge behind Rob Hall as runner-up thanks to having a better points record than his county team-mate Nathan Mann.

The Lincolnshire cue ace beat Chris Taylor before losing to Hall and Mann. However, he’d still done enough to pull off probably the finest feat of his impressive amateur career.

The 60-year-old – who is a regular in the Spalding and District Billiards League – travels to Clay Cross, near Chesterfield, on Saturday to take on his next opponent, which will be drawn on the day.

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