IN a closely-fought contest between two in-form players, it was Stefan Risidi, of Owlett Hall Social Club, who came away with the Bradford Snooker Championship trophy after a narrow 4-3 victory against Undercliffe Cricket Club's Kevin Firth at Great Horton Conservative Club.

There was a good turnout to watch an entertaining match and 2012 runner-up Firth set off in fine style, a break of 38 seeing him take the first frame 81-27.

Risidi immediately responded with a break of 47, but Firth hit back with a break of 30 and looked good to go two up only needing blue to secure the frame, but fell out of position and Risidi eventually picked the balls off to level with a 65-53 frame win.

The third frame didn't produce any breaks of note, but both players played some superb safety, keeping each other at bay, Firth taking the frame 67-34 heading into the interval.

This 2-1 lead soon became 3-1 with Firth securing frame four, taking it 53-24 and looking good for his first title win.

Risidi, on the other hand, had other ideas and steadied his game during the last three frames, playing some excellent safety and taking his chances ruthlessly.

Frame five saw Risidi getting more into his usual stride and picked off chances at every possible visit, pulling a frame back with a 76-4 frame result.

The match was soon level, an assured break of 69, composed and fluent gave the Owlett Hall player a frame win of 69-1.

A similar pattern emerged in the deciding frame, a match-winning break of 48 to add to previous scores meant the title was won with an 82-7 final frame win.

Firth will be disappointed, he had played well throughout the match, but could do very little about the last three frames, barely getting his hand on the table.

Risidi, runner-up last season, was overjoyed, focusing on his cue action and demeanour around the table during the final few frames paid dividends and showed what a great player he is when playing consistently well.

This is Risidi's first title and will now hold the honour of being Bradford snooker champion for the next 12 months.