PLYMOUTH-based cueman Haydon Pinhey scooped first prize as Jesters Snooker Hall hosted the latest West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation Gold Snooker Series event.

Pinhey defeated reigning champion Eddie Manning, of Newquay, in the final to win the 26-man competition.

The win means Pinhey moves to the top of the series’ rankings, though Andy Neck, Andy Symons and Manning are all in close pursuit.

On his way to the final, Pinhey finished top of Group B - ahead of Seb Worral and Jake Stewart (both Swindon) and Steve Brookshaw (Plymouth).

The eventual winner then defeated Gloucester’s Aaron Cook in the first knockout round before defeating Tom Kevern (Plymouth) and Worral in the quarter and semi-finals.

Meanwhile Manning’s route to the final looked in jeopardy when he took a large chunk out of his tip.

Some TLC got Manning back on the right track though as breaks of 68, 73, 73, 68 and 124 booked his spot in the knockout stage.

Additional breaks of 58, 86 and 105 in the knockout stage secured Manning’s final spot before Pinhey proved the strongest when it mattered most.

Other notable qualifiers on the day included Chris Coumbe (Plymouth), Symons and Mahmoud Alzaid (Chichester).

Symons hit large breaks of 51, 64, 90, 101 and 108. But it counted for nothing as he ran out of steam in the last 16 fixture against Worral.

Group A was won by Hassan Vaizie (Gloucester) with breaks of 56 and 69 while Group D was reduced to just five players following some no shows.

With two events left to play in the series, all is still to play for.

A WEBSF spokesperson said: “The increased publicity and additional prizes - made possible through sponsorship - and the opportunity to be invited to the Gold Masters has intensified the competition in this series of tournaments.

“We have several players that have or are capable of making a 147 maximum break and all of them are keen to be the first to achieve it in a WEBSF tournament.

“This series of events promises to build towards a nail-biting final event and every player will want to be in that top 16 come the end of the season.”