Professional play-offs 1988

Professional play-offs 1988
Tournament type:	Qualifying tournament
Attendees:	14th
Venue:	Guild Hall , Preston , England
Opening:	March 22, 1988
Endgame:	March 27, 1988
Winner:	several
Finalist:	several
Highest Break:	106 ( Robert Marshall )
1989 →

The Professional play-offs in 1988 were a qualifying tournament for the Snooker - 1988/89 season . They were from 22 to 27 March in the Guild Hall of Preston in England held. Seven professional players met seven amateurs, with the amateurs qualifying for the upcoming Main Tour season in the event of a win. The highest break of the tournament and also the only century break was played by professional player Robert Marshall with a 106 break.

Games

A total of seven professionals and seven amateurs took part in the tournament, with one professional always meeting an amateur. All games were played in the best of 19 frames mode .

Derek Mienie vs. Tony Wilson

The South African Derek Mienie had been a professional player since 1978 and won the South African Professional Championship a year later . In the world rankings, he was ranked No. 114. He hit the by the Isle of Man coming Tony Wilson , the 1986, the first event of the WPBSA Pro Series ticket had won.

Tony Wilson dominated the beginning of the match, he quickly took a 2-0 lead. But Mienie managed the turnaround and took the lead after an equalization with 2: 5. But now it was Wilson, born in 1964, who turned the game in his favor and took the lead 6: 5. Mienie equalized immediately, which he repeated after another lead by Wilson. At the score of 7: 7, Wilson was able to break away and take the lead with 9: 7. Mienie came up to 9: 8, but Wilson won the 18th frame of the game and the match with 60:46.

Final: Best of 19 Frames Guild Hall ,  Preston , England ,
Derek Mienie	8 10	Tony Wilson
27: 76 , 29: 91 , 68 : 30, 108 : 8 (93), 67 : 56, 84 : 44, 58 : 49, 36: 68 , 36: 83 (54), 15: 91 , 15: 68 , 8 : 7, 39: 86 , 67 : 11, 25: 57 , 25: 72 , 66 : 38, 46: 60
93	Highest break	54
-	Century breaks	-
1	50+ breaks	1

Maurice Parkin vs. Nick Terry

Englishman Maurice Parkin won the English Amateur Championship in 1955 and became a professional player in 1971. But by 1988 Parkin had only won two games, the last in 1978. In the world rankings, he was 122nd, making him the seventh worst player. He met his compatriot Nick Terry, who had won an event in the WPBSA Pro Ticket Series in 1986 and 1987 .

After a cautious start to the game with three equalizations from Parkin, Terry was able to win three frames in a row to take the 3: 6 lead with a score of 3: 3. Parkin narrowed it to 4-6 before Terry increased the lead to 4-8. His opponent came up to 5-8 before Terry won the last two frames to win the match with 12:79 and 1:74.

Final: Best of 19 Frames Guild Hall ,  Preston , England ,
Maurice Parkin	5: 10	Nick Terry
46: 67 , 61 : 54, 43: 57 , 55 : 24, 43: 49 , 62 : 60, 4: 62 (60), 9: 91 , 34: 59 , 80 : 31, 22: 51 , 12: 70 , 59 : 26, 12: 79 , 1: 74
-	Highest break	60
-	Century breaks	-
-	50+ breaks	1

David Greaves vs. Mick Price

David Greaves in 1971

The Englishman David Greaves had been a professional since 1972 and made it into the main round of the World Snooker Championship in 1981 . Born in 1946, Greaves was world number 117 at the time of the game. He met his compatriot Mick Price , who had failed in the quarterfinals of two WPBSA Pro Ticket Series tournaments in 1986 .

David Greaves got off to a better start and took the lead 1-0 and after an equalization by Price 3-1. But Price managed the turnaround: He left first and then took the lead 7: 3 - also thanks to an 88 break, a 73 break and a 70 break. His opponent was still able to come close to 4-7, but Price won the last three frames necessary to win the match with 4:10.

Final: Best of 19 Frames Guild Hall ,  Preston , England ,
David Greaves	4: 10	Mick Price
74 : 39, 35: 62 , 71 : 29, 66 : 38, 34: 85 , 0: 92 , 57: 70 (70), 17: 100 (88), 16: 72 , 35: 78 (73), 57 : 34, 7: 59 , 52: 73 , 10: 64
88	Highest break	-
-	Century breaks	-
3	50+ breaks	-

Robert Marshall vs. Darren Clarke

The Englishman Robert Marshall had only been a professional player since the previous season . At the time of the game still without a world ranking position, he should occupy position 119 for the coming season. He met Darren Clarke , who failed in the 1986 quarter-finals and semifinals of the WPBSA Pro Ticket Series .

Marshall dominated the match from the start: With the help of a 106 break - the only century break of the tournament - he took a 7-0 lead before Clarke could win his first frame. Marshall restored the previous gap before Clarke could get to 8: 3. After a frame gain by Marshall, Clarke was able to win two more frames to 9: 5, but Marshall saved himself with a 50:42 in the last frame and won the match with 10: 5.

Final: Best of 19 Frames Guild Hall ,  Preston , England ,
Robert Marshall	10 : 5	Darren Clarke
59 : 49, 73 : 37, 102 : 2 (57), 106 : 2 (106), 64 : 62, 64 : 62 (55), 67 : 44, 14: 84 (59), 91 : 26 (76) 16: 86 , 21: 96 (66), 71 : 31, 24: 86 (58), 40: 61 , 50 : 42
206	Highest break	66
1	Century breaks	-
4th	50+ breaks	3

Clive Everton vs. Ian Graham

Born in 1937, Welshman Clive Everton had been a pro since 1981 and made it to the quarter-finals of the Welsh Professional Championship four times . Placed at number 112 in the world rankings, he met 21-year-old Englishman Ian Graham , who made it to the quarter-finals of the WPBSA Pro Ticket Series in 1986 .

The Welshman won the first frame with 67:60, but Graham was able to equalize immediately thanks to a 50 break. The game was now very monotonous: Graham won the next nine frames - sometimes with 83 points or only three points ahead. In the end he won accordingly with 1:10.

Final: Best of 19 Frames Guild Hall ,  Preston , England ,
Clive Everton	1: 10	Ian Graham
67 : 60, 12: 73 (50), 6: 59 , 7: 76 , 43: 61 , 50: 53 , 5: 83 (67), 6: 89 (64), 41: 62 , 21: 71 , 21 : 83
67	Highest break	-
-	Century breaks	-
3	50+ breaks	-

Derek Heaton vs. Craig Edwards

In the fourth and last all-English duel, Derek Heaton met Craig Edwards . Like Robert Marshall, Heaton was born in 1948 and had only been a professional for one season and was set to rank 123 in the world next season. His opponent, born in 1968, was in the final of a WPBSA Pro Ticket Series event in 1986 , which he lost to Tony Wilson .

Derek Heaton got off to a much better start and took the lead 4-0 and 6-1. After Craig Edwards shortened to 6-3, Heaton extended his lead to 7-3. He repeated this shortly afterwards, when Edwards had reduced to 7: 4. But at the score of 8: 4 Edwards managed the turnaround: Thanks to a 78 and an 81 break, Edwards was able to win four frames in a row to equalize 8: 8. Heaton managed to get ten frames closer to one with the next frame, but Edwards made it into the decider with a 63:65 win in the 18th frame . Edwards won this relatively clearly with 20:75 and thus the match with 9:10.

Final: Best of 19 Frames Guild Hall ,  Preston , England ,
Derek Heaton	9: 10	Craig Edwards
68 : 35, 49 : 35, 78 : 71, 67 : 39, 61: 66 , 69 : 35, 64 : 36, 19: 71 , 38: 85 , 73 : 42, 4: 109 (54), 59 : 54 , 27: 65 , 6: 110 (78), 0: 79 , 30: 100 (81), 66 : 25, 63: 65 , 20: 75
81	Highest break	-
-	Century breaks	-
3	50+ breaks	-

Paul Thornley vs. Steve Campbell

The Canadian Paul Thornley had been a professional player since 1979 and was world number 109 at the time of the match. His opponent Steve Campbell from England lost 4-5 to Steve Ventham in 1986 in the final of the third event of the WPBSA Pro Ticket Series .

Campbell dominated the entire game: he won the first seven frames of the game - mostly without much resistance. The eighth frame went to Thornley 61: 3, but after Campbell had won the ninth frame to lead the 1: 8, Thornley gave up and the last two frames went to Campbell without a fight.

Final: Best of 19 Frames Guild Hall ,  Preston , England ,
Paul Thornley	1: 10	Steve Campbell
20: 60 : 8, 88 , 21: 69 , 49: 58 , 45: 64 , 47: 69 , 20: 81 , 61 : 3, 42: 51 , task by Thornley
-	Highest break	-
-	Century breaks	-
-	50+ breaks	-

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Ron Florax: 1988 Professional Play-offs. Cuetracer.net, accessed February 4, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Ron Florax: Rankings - 1987-1988. Cuetracker.net, accessed on February 5, 2019 .