SNOOKER: THE BBC's Children in Need Appeal was among the winners when the finals of the Chronicle's 2003 Snooker Challenge were held at Rileys Snooker Club in Crewe on Friday.
A superb night saw more than £1,100 raised towards the fund, as well as some superb snooker.
The Chronicle teamed up with Matchroom Sport and Rileys to hold a special tournament, with the winner earning the right to take on world number one Mark Williams before the opening round of the Premier Snooker League 2004 tournament at Legends Sports Club, Crewe, on Saturday, January 10.
The semi-finals and final of our tournament took place to coincide with Children in Need night and produced some excellent contests.
Darren Potts defeated Karl Rowley 3-0 in the first semi, while Malcolm Dring defeated Scott Beanland by the same score in the other.
Dring, who would have turned professional 14 years ago but for a bad accident, ran out a handsome winner in the final, seeing off Potts 67-39, 62-30 and 69-37.
'It was a really good night and I really enjoyed it,' he said.
He will now meet Williams ahead of his match against John Higgins at Legends in the new year.
Now entering its 18th season, the Premier Snooker League is the longestrunning invitational tournament in snooker history and the 2004 competition will see the biggest names in the game pitted against each other in a unique league format.
It is a blueprint that also makes the league the most widely-viewed televised snooker production shown across the globe.
Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Jimmy White, John Higgins, Marco Fu and Paul Hunter will also be in action in Crewe.
