Cooper wins thrilling county snooker final

Hanging Heaton CC snooker player Wayne Cooper won a fourth Yorkshire title with victory over Gyles Behbood last Friday.

Cooper, from Bradford, staged a thrilling comeback to defeat Harrogate rival Gyles Behbood in front of a large crowd at the Northern Snooker Centre.

Cooper plays for Hanging Heaton’s Monday night snooker team and helped them retain the Ossett and District League Premier Section title this season, while the club also won the Champion of Champions trophy to complete a notable double.

Cooper is a previous winner of the British CIU Championships in Newcastle and had won numerous titles in his amateur and professional career, while both finalists are England international players.

Cooper went into the match in good form having secured a ninth Bradford Singles title two weeks before, in a final which saw him rack up a 109 break.

Cooper had booked his place in the Yorkshire final by winning a qualifying event on March 8 and going on to defeat Anthony Green of Bradford 4-2 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Tommy Doherty (Leeds) 4-2 in the semis.

Behbood won his qualifier on February 15 then defeated Mikey Tomlinson (Castleford) 4-2 in his quarter-final before overcoming Michael Whaley (Halifax) 4-1 in the semis.

Last Friday’s final was played on the same table as the 1987 World Championship Final table, which saw Steve Davis defeat Joe Johnson, and the players produced a superb Yorkshire final which went down to the wire.

Cooper was shocked early in the match as opponent Behbood made the better start by racing into a 3-1 lead and looked on course to seal victory in the best of seven frames final.

Cooper fought back in impressive style, producing some exceptional safety play, which saw him level the match at 3-3 before winning the deciding final frame to secure a fourth county title.