Cooper crashes to in-form Couch (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Cooper crashes to in-form Couch

12:00pm Wednesday 21st November 2007 in Sport By Sports Desk

Right on Cue

Bradford and Yorkshire champion Wayne Cooper came unstuck at Woking in the second event of the Pro Ticket Challenge Tour.

After beating Brian Cox 4-3 in the first round, Cooper lost by four frames to two to Matthew Couch, a former main tour professional.

Couch is in fine form this season, having won the Paul Hunter Open in September - beating world number five Neil Robertson in the final - and also triumphing in the Pontins Pro Ticket Tour at Prestatyn last month.

Despite this setback, Cooper remains in the top 16 with four tour events remaining, the next of which is at Newmarket in January.

• Bradford's teams are in action this weekend in the Yorkshire Inter-District League, with Division One snooker leaders Bradford No 1 travelling to second-placed Sheffield on Saturday.
• Bradford No 2 are scheduled to host Leeds No 2 on Sunday at Manningham Ward and the billiards side are due to entertain Huddersfield No 1, also Sunday, at Cullingworth Conservative Club. All matches start at 7.30pm.

• In the Bradford Snooker Championship, there were wins for John McEachran (Great Horton Cricket Club) 4-0 over Tony Devanney and John Wellham (Girlington Cons) 4-2 against Andy Briggs (Bingley Cons).
• In the pairs, Simon Jackson and Darren Goy (Eccleshill Victoria Cons) won 3-0 against C Holt and S Thompson (Harold Club), with T Roberts and D Gallagher (Harold Club) beating A Stocks and C Littlewood (Low Moor Club) 3-1.

• The Flexprint Services-sponsored Heys Trophy preliminary round concluded last week and saw 2006 and 2007 champions Undercliffe Cricket knocked out by Cuedos Snooker B.
• Cuedos now entertain top-seeded Bingley Cons, who edged past Buttershaw Lane WMC assisted by the competition's highest break to date of 80 by Mick Sharp.

Other clubs to progress to the first-round proper are Laisterdyke WMC B, Thornton Cons B, Wibsey WMC B, East Ward Labour A, Lilycroft WMC A, Wibsey Libs B, Manningham Ward A, Low Moor WMC A, Northcote Cons, Upper Bolton Cons B, Laisterdyke Cricket A, Tong Libs A, Upper Bolton Cons A, Thornton Cons A and Salthorn WMC.

The new draw and results sheets will be sent to all clubs by this weekend, with the first legs of the first round being played next Thursday.

Could all club captains note that teams who lose their first match only in the Heys qualify for the E Rosse Hopkinson Plate Trophy, which starts in the new year.