Sajid takes pro-am title

WINNER: Sajid Zamurd

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HOME player Sajid Zamurd displayed his talents on the green baize to win the pro-am tournament at the Oldham Snooker Academy.

Zamurd, the highest ranking player in the Manchester League, recorded breaks of 57 and 55 as he triumphed 4–2 in the final against Leeds teenager Oliver Lines. He picked up prize money of £100 for his efforts.

The Academy ace overcame Ian Atherton 3-0 in the last four. He earlier beat Ray Hutchinson, from Manchester, in round one and produced a great clearance to edge out Liverpool’s James Myers in round two.

Lines, the reigning England under-14s champion, met PIOS tour player Gareth Green in the semi-finals. And the 15-year-old, whose father, Peter, reached the UK Snooker Championships quarter-finals last month, showed his is a star in the making by clinching a nail-biting 3-2 win.

Local favourite Michael Wild suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Academy team-mate Atherton, who went on to beat Droylsden’s Dean Sheridan.

Main tour professional Craig Steadman registered the top break of the tournament, 138, but the Bolton player got no further than the second round, where he went down to Green.

There were 21 entrants in total, but bad weather meant former World Snooker Championship runner-up Nigel Bond had to pull out of the event.