Cooper gets sniff of pro prize

12:28pm Wednesday 19th March 2008

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Right on Cue

Wayne Cooper won the latest Challenge Tour Pro Ticket event in Woking to rocket up the rankings.

The Bradford potter started the tournament in tenth position and now stands third on 646 points, just two behind Craig Steadman of Manchester.

And with top seed Peter Lines of Leeds likely to qualify for the main tour via the Pontins Pro Ticket Series, second place is now in Cooper's sights and with it a prized place on next year's professional circuit.

Scheduled first-round opponent Liam Highfield failed to show up so Cooper's opening match was in round two, where he disposed of Nick Jennings 4-1.

This was followed by a narrow 4-3 victory against Philip Wildman and then in the quarter-finals Cooper hit top form to blitz Anthony Parsons 4-0, before edging out Tam Mustafa 4-3 in the semis.

His opponent in the final was highly-rated Merseysider Robbie Williams, who proceeded to build up a commanding 3-1 lead.

Cooper hit back with a 94 break but Williams restored his two-frame advantage at 4-2, only for the Bradford ace to dig deep and draw level before clinching the contest 5-4 with a break of 63.

The final event is in Leeds over the weekend of April 19-20 but prior to that Cooper is in the last 32 of the English Championship, which adds extra ranking points.

Any progress in that competition will see him start in second or even first place in the tour event, with the other top four-ranked players already eliminated.

• The final matches in the Bradford Championship quarter-finals have now been completed and the draw for the semis was made at Bingley Conservative Club.
• Cooper defeated Bradford team-mate Sajid Khan (Cuedos) 4-0 in the singles, assisted by the competition's highest break to date of 91.

Mark Slater (Great Horton Cons) joined Cooper (Laisterdyke Cricket), Simon Bedford (Thornton Cons) and John Wellham (Girlington Cons) in the last four after seeing off Mick Bedford (Cuedos) 4-2.

There will be no repeat of last year's final after big guns Cooper and Bedford were paired together in one semi-final, with Slater taking on Wellham in the other.

In the battle of the brothers in the pairs competition, Simon Bedford and Chris Brannan (Thornton Cons) beat Mick Bedford and James Fisher (Cue Gardens) 3-1.

This was also the score by which Darren Goy/Simon Jackson (Eccleshill Victoria Cons) defeated Eddie Ratcliffe/Paul Storey (East Ward) and Richard Duffield/Mick Sharp (Bingley) put out Mark Slater/Jason Murgatroyd (Great Horton Cons).

The semi-final line-up is Cooper/Proctor v Duffield/Sharp and Bedford/Brannan v Goy/Jackson.

The semi-finals and final dates will be finalised later this week, once the quarter-finals of the Yorkshire Championships - which include Bedford and Cooper - have concluded tomorrow.

• Bradford No 2 return to Inter-District League action with a trip to Leeds No 2 on Saturday. The Bradford side are currently third and looking to gain some ground on second-placed Sheffield No 2.

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