First ‘major’ for Marquand

Danny Marquand has added his name to a select number of players to have won a major local snooker event by winning the Imperium Trust Guernsey Snooker Open. Another capacity list of entries saw 32 players  start the daylong event at the North Social Club, but it was the same two finalists as last year that survived to the end. In a different outcome to twelve months ago though, Marquand claimed a rare victory over Martyn Desperques for his first major title, doing so on a respotted black.

Marquand’s path to the final was similar to 2022, in that he progressed through his first three matches without dropping a frame. A sterner test came when he needed a decider to beat John Skillett 2-1 in the semi-finals, which ended the prospect of a third final of the season between Desperques and Skillett.

For once, Desperques was more troubled getting to the last two, although there was no stopping him when he again ended Kate Le Gallez’s hopes, this time with a brilliant 113 clearance in the second round. A quarter-final against Darren Hughes needed a decider, before he settled the semi in the same way against Adam Shorto.

The final saw Marquand sprint into a 2-0 lead, and he was well underway to seal a victory by the same scoreline as in defeat last season, but Desperques found a lifeline with a third frame colours clearance. That seemed to hand the momentum to the defending champion, only for Marquand to force a respot on the black in the fourth, which he duly potted to great relief and celebration.