By beating Craig de Carteret Jess de la Haye added the senior island title to the junior crown he already held. (Picture by Andrew Le Poidevin, 0534761)
JESS DE LA HAYE has become the first player to hold the Senior and Junior Island Pool Championship titles at the same time.
The reigning Guernsey and Channel Islands junior champion was 17 years and 181 days old when he defeated Craig de Carteret 11-5 in the final of the senior competition on Saturday at the Happy Landings.
It also makes the apprentice carpenter the youngest ever senior island champion. ‘I didn’t think I was going to [win it] but I was really going for it because I really wanted to win it before I was a senior,’ said de la Haye. ‘It was a goal I had and I’m quite chuffed to have done it.’
De la Haye reached the final by getting past the experienced Mick Le Noury in the semi-final while de Carteret had to come from behind to beat Stan Lester in his semi.
The final was now set with two competitors who had never been there before.
De la Haye won the lag by a whisker, that had to be adjudicated by referee James Kirk, as both lags were within two inches of the baulk rail.
He also took the first frame and the final was well under way, but he failed to capitalise on an open chance to finish in the second, letting de Carteret, the 2007 Happy Landings Super Summer Pool losing finalist, even it up at 1-1.
What followed was an entertaining final with a display of cuemanship of which to be proud.
It was not a one-sided final by any stretch of the imagination as de la Haye took the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth games.
That left de Carteret the fifth, ninth and 10th to bring the score to 6-4 in favour of de la Haye at the half way interval.
Both players were buzzing and displaying pool mastery to the highest degree to please the supporters who had gathered to watch.
De la Haye was off and running again from the re-start, with de Carteret winning only one more frame, the 13th, leaving his opponent to take the honours 11-5.
‘It was really enjoyable, but it wasn’t an easy match,’ said de la Haye.
‘I was just enjoying being there.’
De la Haye’s attention now turns to July’s Junior World Championships in Blackpool.
‘I hope to do well at that,’ he said.
Saturday also saw Rachel Chandler retain the women’s island title when she got the better of Ruth Vaudin in the final.
Chandler had defeated Guernsey women’s team captain Sian Jones in the semi-finals while Vaudin had taken care of Sophie Dorfner.
The final got under way when Chandler fell a long way short on her lag, leaving Vaudin to get the proceedings going.
But Chandler was undaunted as play went back and forth in the first game that eventually went her way.
A long battle in the second resulted in Vaudin levelling the score to see Chandler inch ahead again with victory in the third.
Vaudin made it all square for a second time with success in the fourth.
That was pretty much how it went until Chandler began to creep out in front to win 7-4 and to hold on to her crown.
The other title up for grabs in the championships, the pairs, went to Andy Eborall and Martyn Le Page after they beat Adam Shorto and Stan Lester in the final.
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