Cooper closing in on Johnson record

From the archive, first published Wednesday 18th Apr 2007.

Wayne Cooper is one match away from equalling Joe Johnson's record of seven individual Bradford snooker titles.

Lilycroft was the venue for the first singles semi-final, with six-time champion Cooper taking on Ilyas Khan.

The first frame was in the balance until Khan, in prime position, declared a foul on himself while cueing the white - one that was unnoticed by everyone in the room. Unfortunately for Khan, Cooper cleared up to lead 1-0.

In the second frame, luck again deserted Khan while clearing the colours as he went in-off after potting the green. Again, Cooper cleared up to go 2-0 in front.

The third frame saw Khan take a healthy lead and looked likely to pull a frame back. But with one red on the table and trailing by 26, Cooper cleared with 35 to go within a frame of victory.

The inevitable happened in the next as Cooper made a 44 break to triumph 4-0.

The final will be played on Saturday, May 5 at Eccleshill Victoria Conservative Club when Cooper will play either Simon Bedford or Howard Mawson, who are in action on Monday at Undercliffe Cricket Club 7.30.

There were two contrasting semi-finals in the Bradford Snooker Pairs Championship.

Bedford and Chris Brannan beat Wahid Khan and Tanveer Mohammed 3-0 at Manning-ham Ward Labour Club, with Bedford making breaks of 107 in the first frame - the competition's highest to date - 47 in the second and 47 in the third.

The other match was a much tighter contest at Thornton Conservative Club, with Mawson and Chris Metcalfe edging out Khan and Keish Kumar 3-2 after trailing 2-1.

The final frame saw Mawson make a 35 break to give the pair a commanding lead but the game was decided when Metcalfe laid a near-impossible snooker on the brown to seal victory.

The final will be played on Wednesday, May 2 at Lilycroft WMC.

Bradford No 1 travelled to defending champions and current league leaders Hudder-sfield No 1 in the Yorkshire Inter-District Billiards Leag-ue and lost 5-2.

Captain Richard Lodge made an 81 unfinished in winning the only points on the night, with Richard Bowes and Paul Devitt being the unfortunate losers.

The side were quickly back into action the following night when they won 5-2 at Wharfedale, with Lodge losing to county team-mate Stephen Crosland, while Richard Bowes and Stephen Kershaw both won their respective games.

The title is beyond Bradford and will go to either Hudders-field No 1 or Leeds No 1.