By Stephen Helliwell
Louis Barker, of Kingston, won the Total Active sponsored Halifax Handicap at Luddendenfoot on Sunday with a 21-5 victory against Mytholmroyd’ s Clive Austin.
Barker opened with a 21-14 win against Josh Craven, of King Cross before facing his Kingston clubmate Simon Page in the quarter-final. Barker recovered from 3-7 with breaks of five, five and seven to win by 21-11. In the semi-final, against Siddall’s Brendan Malone, the scores were level at 4-4 before Barker took control with a break of seven and went on to reach the final with a 21-10 victory.
Drawn in the preliminary round, Austin had an extra game to play and began with a 21- 6 victory over Luddendenfoot Philip Brown. Awaiting him in the next game was another homester, Steve Bridges, who led by 1-6 before Austin reached 19 with a thirteen break, eventually winning by 21-13. He found himself behind by 6-11, in hist quarter-final, to Hill Crest’s Bob Woodhead but again recovered to lead 13-11 before finishing with a break of eight to win by 21-12. He reached the final with a 21-11 victory against Hill Crest’s Linden Harris.
In the final, Barker began with a three-point advantage but Austin had reduced that to a single chalk at 3-4 before Barker raced ahead with a break of eight to lead by12-3. Austin’s pair at the next end proved to be his final contribution as Barker ran out to win by 21-5
Quarter-final scores: S. Page 11 L. Barker 21; B. Dawson15 B. Malone 21; B. Woodhead 12 C. Austin 21; J. Dawson 16 L. Harris 21.