David Lloyd of Soham has won first prize at the Specflue East Anglian Open 4-pin Bar Billiards Championship – after forming his team days before the competition.
After the former Newmarket and BSE Bar Billiards league ended over 20 years ago, some players in the region just refused to stop playing.
A group of bar billiard lovers, including David, go together and had “a few practises” before entering a major competition.
The old Tharp Arms team packed up when players moved away in the early 90s, so David and his team, in memory of the former team, called themselves ‘The Tharp Arms Chippenham Players’.
They entered the Specflue East Anglian Open, which saw 64 players enter from all over the UK.
David said: “Four of us have been practicing a little, sometimes at my house in Soham where I have a table and also a couple of evenings at the White Horse in North Street, Sudbury.”
The competition staged 16 leagues of four, with the top two sent to the Cup and the bottom two sent to the Shield section.
During the opening game of league nine, David had already “scrapped through” and won all three of his games.
He added: “I won all of four KO matches (and both legs to boot) which included Chris Haynes from Surrey to make it to the final and play the England captain Curt Driver of Kent.
“So there it was, two finals side by side, the Cup and the Shield with Tharp players in both.
“For me in the Main Cup, the two-leg final saw me get the highest score of the event in 3,250 and open a cushion of 1,800 points for the second leg which was one heck of a cushion but still won that by a further 300 points - making me the winner of the cup.
“Tharp players wiped the board of the biggest 4-pin tournament in the country.
“We did it for the Tharp Arms and for the old Nmkt & BSE league that has been gone nearly 25 years, truly, truly remarkable.
“If anyone knows about the demise of the league, would like a game or if a pub would like to try the game.
“I have a table that can be tried for a period of time so please contact me on 07951010542.”
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