West Acre's Phillip Welham narrowly failed to add another National Billiards title to his portfolio at Nuneaton, when losing by 18 points to reigning champion Dave White (Cornwall) in the final of this year's English Grandmasters Championship.
Welham, twice a former English National Champion and the current UK Seniors Champion, hoped to progress further than his previous semi-final defeats in the last two years.
Welham gained victories over Gary Norman (Cambs) 300(73)-189, Mick Cooper (Lincs) 302(131)-168 and Chris Mitchell (Cornwall) 350(88.55)-147 before defeating Berkshire's Jamie Wayman 320(76.65)-200(69) in the quarter-finals and Cheshire's Chris Achilles 340(106.56)-167 in the semis.
The final proved a high quality match, with White recording an early break of 101, and Welham following with breaks of 54 and 58 to take a 68-point lead with seven minutes left of the 60-minute final.
However, the reigning champion replied with a late break of 88 to clinch the Championship again.
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