FLYING Scotsman Liam Dunster achieved world glory in Bradford over the weekend, as he became the IPA World Professional Pool champion.

The tournament is a regular fixture at the Cedar Court Hotel, which is on Mayo Avenue, just off Rooley Lane.

After a hiatus last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the competition returned with a bang last week.

Dunster was one of the hot favourites to win the main event, as he sat top of the IPA rankings going into the tournament.

But a first world crown had eluded the Scot until the other day, as he beat fellow favourite Gareth Hibbott 4-2 in a high-quality final to clinch the title.

His triumph would have come as no surprise to the IPA’s press officer, Sean Trivass, who had said in his tournament preview: “Reading Liam during a match is harder than flicking through War and Peace, in Chinese, because he just shows so little emotion once he is in the zone.

“He doesn’t sit at the top of the IPA Professional rankings for the 2021 season without good reason, with his consistency a lesson to us all, but he is the only one of my four favourites (alongside Hibbott, Marc Farnsworth and Ben Davies) yet to claim an IPA World title.

“Only he will know just how much he wants to add this trophy to his cabinet, and could 2022 be the year he finally does it? Only time will tell on that one.”

There were 256 entries into the Open event that Dunster won, so he certainly had to work hard for his victory.

There are few venues in the UK that can accommodate pool like the Cedar Court Hotel, so Dunster was not the only world champion in Bradford last week either.

Aside from the blue-riband Open, there were also Ladies, Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Seniors and Masters competitions taking place.

Poor Hibbott came away from the week empty-handed, despite reaching the Masters final as well as the Open one.

He lost the former 7-5 in a gripping contest against Andy Lucas.

Farnsworth may not have won the big one, but he did at least pick up a trophy last week, coming out on top in the Seniors final, with an 8-4 victory over Rob Donkin.

Harriet Haynes, a dab hand at snooker as well as pool, won 2-0 against Deb Burchell in the Ladies showpiece.

The Mixed Doubles final was an incredibly tight affair, but in the end it was Clint l’Anson and Amy Beauchamp who won it, as they edged out Jon McAllister and Danielle Randle 6-5.

There was a little less jeopardy in the Doubles final though, as McAllister did come out on top.

He was playing alongside Wade Morley, and the pair of them dished out a beating in the showpiece, thumping Brett Carter and Richard Swaffield 7-1 in the end.