West Club’s Paul Lindsay won the recent NIBSA European Qualifier event held in the Coach Club in Hillsborough.
Paul was in fantastic form throughout the competition and came through a gruelling day’s play where he beat Current NI amateur champion and NI number one, Robbie McGuigan 3-2, Gordon Boomer 3-2, Connell Doherty 3-0 and in the quarters, he beat number seven seed Stephen Brady 4-0.
In the semis, he faced ex-pro and the winner of the last few ranking competitions, Patrick Wallace.
It was a tough battle with the game tied at 3-3, but Paul produced a fantastic 50 break under pressure and held his nerve to set up a final with Darren Dornan from Drumaness who beat Rab McCullough in the other semi-final 4-3.
The final was a tense affair with early frames shared, leaving the score at 2-2.
Paul came out in the next and produced a great 103 break - unlucky not to land on the last red for a total clearance - to edge 3-2 in front. Dornan had an 84 break to level the match at 3-3.
The next two frames were shared to leave the match at 4-4. The decider was a close game with Paul building a lead of 25 points after a period of safety and tactical play.
Paul showed great composure and made a match-winning break of 40 to claim his first ever ranking title and an all-expense trip in March for the European Championships in Bosnia.
