Matthew Scarborough Wins Q Tour Title in Auckland
Matthew Scarborough defeated Lawrence Millington 6-3 to win the third WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific event of the season in Auckland, New Zealand.
The 47-year-old cueist, who was competing in his first Q Tour event of the season, secured the title on home soil to close the gap at the top of the Asia-Pacific series ranking list which is currently led by Australian former professional Vinnie Calabrese – who won the first two events earlier this year.
The event, know as the New Zealand Open Snooker Championship, was staged by the New Zealand Billiards and Snooker Association (NZBSA) and Asia-Pacific Snooker and Billiards Federation (APSBF).
A total of 30 cueists from seven nations headed to the Papatoetoe Cosmopolitan Club in Auckland where they were initially separated into six groups of five competitiors.
Eventual champion Scarborough comfortably topped his group with a clean sweep of whitewash victories, before overcoming Vineel Nand, Mark Canovan and Hassan Abdalla to reach to Sunday’s final.
There he would face England’s Millington, who had dropped just four frames en route to the final and also compiled the weekend’s highest break of 114.
The early stages of the title match were close-fought with Millington hitting a break of 72 to take the fourth frame and restore parity at 2-2.
Scarborough won the next two frames, taking the sixth by just seven points, to open up a two frame gap in the final for the first time and from there he maintained his advantage to take two of the next three frames and secure the title by a 6-3 scoreline.
The WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific series continues with Event 4 in Sydney, Australia on 10-13 October.
