By Elliott West
Introduction
Held at the JP Leisure Centre in Edinburgh, this tournament was a snooker lottery that any of 50-60 players could have won but on this occasion it was Matthew Stevens that hit the jackpot. Not only did he win £5,000 by defeating Scotland’s Paul McPhillips 9-3 in the final but also an instant entry to the 1996 B&H Masters at Wembley.This win set a record, setting the biggest margin victory since Chris Small thrashed Alan McManus in the all-Tartan final of 1992.
The Road to Success
In an event where the pockets were tighter, centuries were few and far between with 74 less centuries than the previous year. However Preston’s Stuart Pettman did produce a dazzling display of snooker when he knocked in a 141 break during his 5-1 win over Barry Pinches.
Andy Hicks had started as pre-tournament favourite, the then world No 17 and World Championship semi-finalist looked on fire coming into the event but when push came to shove, the fire became a flicker of its former self with Hicks putting on a disappointing performance, losing in the second round to Jason Prince 5-1.
With Hicks out of the equation, the new leading players became Paul McPhilips and Matthew Stevens. McPhilips proved himself as a true contender for the title, winning seven matches, including a 5-3 victory over Nick Walker in the last 16 after he had trailed the match 3-0.
Stevens, who had risen in the rankings from 236 to No 57 after the Skoda Grand Prix, had spent his early years in the company of Terry Griffiths at his Matchroom club in Llanelli, becoming his occasional practice partner. Now with a spring in his step, Matthew began to gain some consistency in this competition, a fantastic run that included a revenge, quarter-final match against Rod Lawler. Stevens was 3-1 down in the game but pulled it back to win 5-4. This was sweet revenge for his loss to the same opponent in the semi-final the previous year. Lawler must have been kicking himself after sensationally beating Stephen Lee 5-4 in the previous round on a black ball finish.
Elsewhere the tournament was littered with victims, Wayne Brown, Graeme Dott,Steve James, Dean Reynolds, Stuart Reardon, Chris Small and Mark Williams to name but a few. All with high hopes but their dreams dashed by surging opponents such as Amrik Cheema and Rob Milkins. Scunthorpe professional, Matthew Couch,should have booked his place in the final as he led Matthew Stevens 3-0 and 5-3 but made several critical errors in the match that led Stevens to clinch the 11th frame decider with ease.
McPhilips lost his way against Milkins after establishing a 5-2 lead and the scores were drawn at 5-5. McPhillips said:
“The kid just started to go for his shots and I hardly got a look in. I was grateful to get in early to finish off the final frame”.
“I expected to get to the money stages but never thought I would get to the semi-final” added Milkins, one of the success stories of the sixth annual B&H Championship.
Summary
Matthew Stevens displayed a glimmer of his future success in this tournament. Then only 17, Stevens would refine and define as a player, going on to win two of the Triple Crown tournaments, the B&H Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003, also runner-up in 1998 and 1999. He also reached the final of the World Championship, finishing runner-up in 2000 and 2005. A prolific break builder, Stevens has made over 300 career centuries and has recently returned to some of his vintage form.
