Shorto claims sixth Island title before Desperques sets new record with 143 break
ADAM SHORTO lifted the Guernsey Brewery Trophy as Island Snooker Champion for the first time in four years, following a 5-3 win against Martyn Desperques in another enthralling encounter between the two.
Shorto, for whom this was a sixth Island title, has largely been playing second fiddle to Desperques in recent times and came into the match on the back of defeats in the previous two finals and a 3-0 league loss to his rival earlier in the week.
Add to that Desperques’ sparkling recent form in making back-to-back centuries, including the highest competitive record that Shorto himself had held and one could be forgiven to expect more disappointment for the Island captain.
But it was Shorto who started the brighter with breaks of 35, 52 and 45 to open up a 2-0 lead inside half-an-hour, only for the warning signs to soon emerge.
Desperques fired in his third century in as many days with a brilliant 116 clearance and a 54 in the next tied the match going into the interval.
The break in play could not have come at a better time for Shorto, but the resumption saw both players struggle to find the same level of fluency.
Shorto edged ahead again with the thinnest of cuts on the pink, then restored his two-frame advantage with a colours clearance.
What followed was the most dramatic of frames with Desperques looking well set only for referee Paul Le Sauvage to correctly spot a foul when his shirt brushed a red.
That looked to be Desperques’ final act as Shorto went on to have a pot on the blue for the match, but a miss with the rest reprieved Desperques, who gladly took the three remaining balls.
Shorto was later to confess that the miss ‘fried his brain’ going into the eighth frame, knowing full well that opportunities have to be taken against Desperques, but what followed was one of his proudest breaks as he managed to slowly clear his head.
A very well taken 69 left Desperques forlornly chasing the unlikely number of snookers he needed, before Shorto finally potted the pink to earn his CI Final place against either Aaron Canavan or Gary Britton at the Gremlin Club on Friday 12 April.
Martyn Desperques increased his highest competitive break record on Monday night, surpassing the 139 he compiled in the Island Championship semi-final last week by making a brilliant 143 in the Team Handicap knockout.
