Bell rings loudest

And it was Martin Bell who earned his slot as teams led by pro greats John Lowe and Eric Bristow, and made up of qualifiers from local events, will go head-to-head in February.

The winner of this event automatically goes through to be in one of the teams, while all other competitors scored points which may help them also secure a slot.

Early skirmishes saw Mark Williams beat Andy Markham 2-1 and Terry Cox beat Chris Simpson by the same scoreline.

Steven Emsen beat Chris Fletcher 2-0, his son Kieran Emsen took on Paige Birch, holding on for a nervy 2-1 success.

Gordon Smith took on David Tuplin and promptly beat him 2-0, Kristian Thein saw off Ray Bettison by the same scoreline while Scott Smith, Pete Evans, Liam Simms, Rick Seaman, Ken Wilson and Darrell Webb also progressed to round two.

Lee Woods produced a fantastic display to beat Shaun Drury 2-1 to move into the quarter-finals where his opponent was Martin Bell. Lee found Martin too strong as he was beaten 2-0.

Martin then met Gordon Smith, the latter progressing.

Kristian Thein found Pete Evans too strong in round two while teammates Rick Seaman and Liam Simms met next, Liam claiming a 2-1 win to move into the qaurters where he found Pete Evans waiting, with Pete too strong (2-0).

Scott Smith beat Darrell Webb 2-0 to set up a quarter-final Clash with Terry Cox. Again it was Scott who won 2-0.

In the semis the losers would pick up seven points. Scott Smith beat Pete Evans 2-0 to make the final without dropping a leg.

The other semi saw a cracker of a game between Martin Bell and Gordon Smith, Martin just nicking this one 2-1.

The final was a real mouthwatering prospect, with Scott moving 1-0 ahead and Martin levelling.

The deciding leg saw Martin outscore Scott and find the double first to be crowned the winner.

The next qualifier will be on Friday, December 2.

The Mick Peech Memorial was held at the Liberal Club, where a massive crowd turned up to support Mick’s family in this first competition in his honour.

Thirty players entered the best-of-three format.

Scott Smith was in a mean mood again as he brushed aside Ian Smith and Eric Hammond without dropping a leg to book his quarter final spot.

Chris Royal was his opponent after beating Julian Smith and Liam Clark, again without dropping a leg.

Terry Cox moved into the semi’s with a 2-0 win, Chris Simpson just got the better of Darrell Webb 2-1, Scott Smith had a narrow 2-1 win over Chris Royal and, in the last game on, Gary Garton just got the better of Pete Evans.

Smith met Garton and a classic ensued with Scott edging it 2-1 to move into his second final of the weekend.

The other semi saw Mick’s good friend Terry Cox meet his nephew Chris Simpson.

In another close one Chris edged it 2-1.

In the final, which was best-of-five, Chris averaged 25.47 and ran out an emotional 3-0 winner, an eoutcome his late uncle couldn’t have scripted.

More than £400 was raised for the Skegness Lifeboat at the event.