Second Merit title for Regan
He claimed the Wilkinson Sword Trophy for a second time with a 21-14 final victory over Crossroads’ Peter Clarke.
Regan, whose first success was in 2007, signalled his intent early on, opening with a break of seven before going on to win his first game by 21-5 against Julian Dawson of Akroydon Victoria.
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Hide AdIn his second game he faced Louis Barker of Hove Edge. After each had scored a pair, Regan raced ahead with a break of eight to lead by 10-2, going on to win by 21-8.
He faced stiffer competition in his semi-final against another Hove Edge player, Daniel Radcliffe. Radcliffe was ahead by 6-4 but Regan responded to take the lead by 11-7. Radcliffe recovered to draw level at 13 before Regan took control with a break of three consecutive pairs and went on to win by 21-15.
Clarke’s chances of success looked slim in his opening game against Trevor Gasson of Hove Edge. He was ahead by 8-3 before Gasson’s impressive break of 13 seemed to have put paid to his hopes of progress.
Three pairs brought him back into the game at 14-18 and , after Gasson had reached 19, he drew level with a break of five before snatching victory with a pair at the last end.
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Hide AdIn his quarter-final against Luddenden Foot’s Gareth Swain, he was behind by 11-10 but jumped into the lead with a break of six and went on to win by 21-14.
His semi-final opponent was his Crossroads team-mate Richard Hargreaves. Clarke led 3-0 after two ends and, although the scores were level at 5, he was never behind and reached the final with a 21-13 victory.
In an edgy start to the final, Regan led by 4-3 then fell behind by 8-5 before taking the lead again with a break of six. Clarke was still in touch at 12-14 but four singles to Regan opened up a six point gap which Clarke was unable to close.
First round scores: G.Bradford 14 R.Holmes 21, D.Radcliffe 21 K.Spencer 17, B.Malone 10 L.Barker 21, J.Dawson 5 M.Regan 21, J.Halliday 8 R.Hargreaves 21, K.Barker 11 J.Hamer 21, G.Swain 21 D.Holdsworth 15, T.Gasson 20 P,Clarke 21.
Quarter-final scores: Holmes 18 Radcliffe 21, Barker 8 Regan 21, Hargreaves 21 Hamer 9, Swain 14 Clarke 21.