Best ever Martyn races to a ninth title
YOU fancy there will never be a need for a Top 100 to showcase Guernsey’s all-time best snooker players.
Why? Martyn Desperques will win it hands down.
Adam Shorto will fill second spot, a Desperques in second gear would be third, and even with one hand tied behind his back this wonderful modern-day talent may be even fourth.
Should anyone ever doubt his brilliance at domestic level they should have been at the Gremlin Club on Saturday evening when a 5-1 win over Shorto, achieved in a shade under two hours and four scores in excess of 50, showcased a remarkable talent.
This was Island title number nine for Desperques, 18 years after he achieved the first.
Given good health he will sail past the record held by the legendary Norman Wale who won a dozen at a time when big breaks (50-plus) were as rare as Desperques dropping a frame.
Six-time winner Shorto got next to nothing going and was brushed aside before the clock struck nine.
Generations of past island snooker players would not believe how good a potter Desperques is, but this was not only about rattling in pots, long and short, but safety play of the highest order.
In that respect poor Shorto was put under extreme pressure and it cost him a shed load of points.
Desperques refused to consider the match as straightforward.
‘It wasn’t easy and I struggled a bit with the heat,’ said the man who had won another Island billiards title earlier in the week.
‘It was a massive fifth frame at 3-1 when I played a great snooker and basically that won me the match to be honest,’ he added, bashfully ignoring some supreme break building.
‘I scored well early doors. I felt relaxed, confident and I’ve been playing well recently. It was good to bring that form into tonight.’
Earlier in the day, the Gremlin had hosted the Island women’s final which went the way of Kate Le Gallez 3-2 against Anne Le Maitre.
It is the fourth straight year Le Gallez has won the crown.
More in Monday's Guernsey Press.
