Daryl Peach took the winner's trophy and £1000 first prize at the BPPPA Doncaster Open on Sunday 23rd May 2004, beating snooker professional Tom Ford 9-3 in the final. It was Tom Ford's first appearance in a BPPPA event, and although he didn't get much table time against Peach, can be pleased with his performance, knocking out the likes of Martinho Correia and fellow snooker pro Nick Dyson on his way to the final.
Daryl was in blinding form and made the game look effortless all weekend. He is the first person to win two tour stops, and with Doncaster being a double points event, has given himself a substantial lead at the top of the rankings table. The fact that most of the top eight got no further than the last 16 stage did Daryl's cause no harm. A crunch game came when Peach was paired up with the number two Raj Sagoo at the last 16 stage, a match he won 9-7. Raj and most of the top eight will be hoping for a reversal of fortunes in the next double-pointer, at the end of the season.
"I'm very pleased with the way I played", said Peach, "Coming runner-up in the German Open recently was a big confidence booster, and I'm glad I brought the same kind of form to this tournament."
Finishing 3rd - 4th were Nick Dyson and Steve Brown, with Jay Trivedi (the highest finisher out of the top eight apart from Daryl), Wayne Lloyd, Clark Smith and Martinho Correia making up the remainder of the last eight. Other players in the money were Gareth Esprit, Norman Kay, Raj Sagoo, Steve Higton, Graham West, Paul Medati, Andy Worthington and Nigel Webb.
This 6th event of the BPPPA season was the first to be held over two days, and the spacious and modern Rileys club in Doncaster proved to be the perfect venue for the event. The new format - double elimination down to the last 32 on the Saturday and then a straight knock-out to the finish on the second day - proved very popular with the players, with the late starts and early finishes meaning no hotel to book on Friday night and time to enjoy the Doncaster night-life for those that stayed over for the second day.
June is going to be a bumper month for pool lovers in Britain. The BPPPA's next events, between 10th and 13th June, are qualifiying tournaments for the World 8 Ball Championships which take place in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates in September. The next tour stop is at Rileys Leicester on 26th & 27th June. See the BPPPA website for full details.
