White Acres Country Park Skol Masters Grand Final 2001 at White Cross Near Newquay
HAPPY HARRY’S 25 GRAND CATCH!
THE 2001 White Acres Skol Masters winner take all 12-angler GrandFinal – Cornwall’s biggest sporting payout – saw Manchester’s HarryBilling take the £ 25,000 winner take all cheque thank to a bigcarp in the closing stages at the holiday park near Newquay boostinghis catch to 36 lb 5 oz. With twenty minutes to go in the four-hourevent Harry a 47-year-old engineer from Manchester who fishes forKeenets Northwest was one of several anglers engaged in a nip andtuck battle for the big money cheque when he hooked and landed an 11lb 10 oz ghost carp!
|
|
| worth £ 25,000 in the 2001 White Acres Skol masters Grand Final |
If that wasn’t enough he dropped back in and immediately added 5lb carp that sealed the fate of his rivals and he was able to smileand look forward to the final hooter in somne comfort.
‘I knew when I hooked the big ghostie it was the match winner andwhen I netted it after playing it for ten minutes I was shaking likea leaf,’ said a beaming Harry.
The event backed by the local St Austell Brewery regionalrepresentatives of Skol produced a strong final, all twelve anglers having won through from the preceeding five day 180-angler SkolMasters festival including last years winner Alex Murray from YeovilSomerset and runner up in 2000 Grant Albutt from Halesowen, WestMidlands.
To qulaify for the festival anglers had already won a weeklyresidents match at the UK’s top angling holiday complex or finishedin the top 50 during one of the Spring or Autumn festivals.
|
|
| for winning the festival as he finished ninth in the Grand Final |
Up until Harry surged ahead last years runner up Daiwa Dorking’sGrant Albutt looked like he was edging it after opening with sixsmall carp on feeder before tempting others to 6 lb on the pole, butafter losing a couple of foul hooked carp his swim died ending with24-11-0.
Second place – worth nothing – was once again no consolation forthe Halesowen data cable layer just ahead of a strong peg 5 challengeby Leicester heating engineer Steve Hemingray who teased out 21-11-0of smaller carp, tench and roach.
After the final fishery manager Clint Elliott said: ‘It’s been themost exciting match I’ve seen, very, very tight until the end, and amost popular winner’.
After presenting the big cheque Ian Blunt of sponsors Skol said:’We have been very pleased to once again sponsor this great event andlook forward to doing so again next year’.
SKOL MASTERS GRAND FINAL RESULT
1st Harry Billing (Keenets NW) peg 21 36-5-0
2nd Grant Albutt (Daiwa Dorking) peg 16 24-11-0
3rd Steve Hemingray (Daiwa Leicester Sensas) peg 5 21-11-0
4th Des Shipp (Preston Innovations/ Daiwa Dorking) peg 1917-7-0
5th Dave Lewis (Team Sillybait) peg 13 16-8-0
6th Darren Bickerton (Daiwa Trentmen) peg 18 14-0-0
7th Mark Warren (Shakespeare) peg 6 12-8-0
8th Steve Sanders (Daiwa Dorking) peg 15 12-3-0
9th Richie Hull (MAP Garbolino Starlets) peg 12 9-14-0
10th Simon Gould (Trabucco / Simon’s 2000) peg 8 8-9-0
11th Alex Murray (Team Sillybait) peg 9 8-3-0
12th Craig Evans (Keenets NW) 6-10-0
SKOL MASTERS FESTIVAL
|
|
| receives his £ 25,000 winning cheque from St Austell Brewery’s Ian Blunt (left) watched by Sky TV Tight lines presenter Keith Arthur |
THE preceding five day 180-angler Skol Masters Festival decidingthe finalists was won with maximum 36 points by MAP GarbolinoStarlet’s ace Richie Hull who earned a cheque for £ 2000 plus£ 562 in pools notching up his first White Acres festival win.
A bet with bookmaker Bill Knott added another £ 300 to theHull coffers and went some way to his dissappointment in the finalitself.
‘It was just a bonus to fish the final as soon as I drew peg 12 Iknew I was out of it. What I really wanted to do was win the festivaland that’s what I did,’ said 37-year-old Coventry courier Richie.
Harry Billing and Steve Hemingray were both one point behind butHarry took the £ 900 runner-up cheque with a better droppedresult. The battle for the lower end of the twelve final places wasintense with ten anglers from ninth to eighteenth tying on 32 points dropped scores then weight deciding the outcome.
Festival Result
1st Richie Hull (MAP Garbolino Starlets) 36 £ 2000
2nd Harry Billing (Keenets NW) 35 dropped 8 £ 900
3rd Steve Hemingray (Daiwa / Leicester Sensas) 35 dropped 5£ 800
4th Dave Lewis (Team Sillybait) 34 points dropped 7 £ 700
5th Mark Warren (Shakespeare) 34 points dropped 6 £ 600
6th Des Shipp (Preston Innovations / Daiwa Dorking) dropped 4£ 500
Daily Lake Winners
Day 1
A section Pollawyn Steve Clarke (Daiwa Trentmen) 71-8-0; B sectionTrelawney, Nelson, Eery Rick Haynes (West Mids) 60-9-0; C sectionGwinear Paul Newell (Redditch) 113-9-0; D section Porth Barry James(Ringwood Tackle) 25-6-0; E section Bolingey Des Shipp (DaiwaDorking/Preston Innovations)121-13-0.
Day 2
A section Trelawney, Nelson, Eery Gary Powell (Keenets NW) 96-7-0;B section Gwinear Steve Sanders (Daiwa Dorking) 119-3-0; C sectionPorth Paul Medcroft (Delcac) 26-6-0; D section Bolingey6 Pete Wild(Bristol) 94-9-0; E section Pollawyn Dave Lewis (Team Sillybait)87-13-0.
Day 3
A section Gwinear Will Raison (Daiwa) 174-6-0; B section PorthSean Clifford (South East) 22-14-0; C section Bolingey Neil McKinnon(Shakespeare) 128-5-0; D section Pollawyn Tim Rowe (Keenets TeamMilo) 52-11-0; E section Trelawney, Nelson, Eery Paul Keeley (KeenetsNW) 85-5-0.
Day 4
A section Porth Alex Murray (Team Sillybait) 21-8-0; B sectionBolingey Steve Sanders (Daiwa Dorking) 111-6-0; C section PollawynPaul Newell (Redditch) 42-14-0;D section Trelawney, Nelson, EeryGrant Albutt 113-2-0; E section Gwinear Des Shipp (DaiwaDorking/Preston Innovations) 151-0-0.
Day 5
A section Bolingey Craig Evans (Keenets NW) 91-14-0; B sectionPollawyn Eddie Wynne (Anchor Bristol) 53-7-0; C section Trelawney,Nelson, Eery Neil Tappin (Cormorants) 96-7-0; D section Gwinear PaulHamlyn (PI Delcac) 120-5-0; E section Porth Richie Hull (MAPGarbolino Starlets) 25-12-0.
