Dollin Mercer and Pat Maher won their respective categories of the 2021/22 Willie Craig Snooker Shootout at Douglas Snooker Bar.

It was a very entertaining weekend, full of all the usual twists and turns the Shootout brings, where the frames can only last a maximum of 10 minutes.

There was also a 15 and 10-second shot clock in operation for the first and second half of the frames respectively.

Mercer’s road to the final saw him narrowly defeat Lee Gale in his quarter final.

After a technical glitch with the scoring system in what was already a very close frame, Gale had one last chance with one minute to go. He took the balls well but left himself an awkward blue which was the last shot of the frame, but it didn’t go in and it was Mercer’s frame.

In the semi-final, Mercer defeated Peter Kirkham 28-27 who in his quarter final victory over Zain Abideen set a new high break of 32.

Abideen was earlier impressive in the group phase. Kirkham was called for a final foul when making one last lash at the final red with one second left as the red was still creeping to a halt when the cue ball was struck. This was a shame as the red went in.

Johnny Myers met Mercer in the final having enjoyed wins over Chris Dagnall and Peter Crellin.

The final was naturally very cagey but Mercer made more key pots, looked more assertive and potted his trademark long shots to claim the title.

In the higher handicapped category, the final was contested between Maher and Jez Hill who has been runner-up on several occasions before.

Maher defeated Brendan Clague and Marc Bolton, Bolton scoring the category’s high break of 17 in his quarter final match.

Hill defeated two new players to the Shootout in Jason Campbell and Joe McAleer, the latter losing out to Hill 19-20 in their semi-final.

The final of was tied on scores after four minutes. Hill had a shot cueing over the pack and whilst sitting on the table struck the cue ball when both of his feet were off the floor and so a foul was called.

As the pair traded strong pots it was Maher who continued the impressive potting he had shown all weekend and ran out the winner.

Mercer and Maher both claim the winner’s prize of £60 each and will be invited to the 2022 Champion of Champions tournament. Myers and Hill will pick up £30 each with Kirkham and Bolton collecting £10 for their high breaks.

Thanks to the sponsor for this event, Dave Kelly, and to Douglas Snooker Bar for hosting.

Big thanks also to tournament director Darryl Hill and to the referees Dave Kelly, Simon Gardner, Ken Kinrade and Paul Smyth.