ANDY Symons-Rowe from Tavistock failed at the last hurdle in his quest to become the English Amateur Snooker Champion 2004/2005 when he lost 8-3 to England International David Grace (Leeds) at Gateshead on the May 28. Although the margin would suggest Symons-Rowe lost easily, this was far from the case, as he turned in a tremendous performance against a opponent who is very much on his way up in the sport. The morning session saw Symons-Rowe race into a 3-1 lead with breaks of 44, 50, 38. For Grace the interval could not of come soon enough for he was struggling to come to terms with the speed of the table. When the players re-commenced battle it was Grace who settled down into his rhythm first and rattled off the next 3 frames without reply making several 40+ breaks. This took the scores to 4-3 in Grace?s favour after the first session. With 8 frames left to play in the afternoon session the stage was set for a great finish to the championship. Both players were firing on all cylinders, the match could have gone either way. However, as is so often the case in these matches the experience shown by Grace was the deciding factor as he demonstrated wonderful composure winning the next 4 frames on the trot with several breaks of 40 and 50 plus, the best being a 73 break. For Symons-Rowe the experience of playing on the centre stage, in the company of the England selectors can only serve as a stepping stone for the future. In this his first attempt to become the English Champion he secured the 2004/2005 English Amateur Southern Area title, which many believe is much harder to achieve than winning the English Amateur Championship itself. l Andy Symons-Rowe (Tavistock) won the second tour of the West of England Billiards and Snooker Foundation (WEBSF) Gold Waistcoat tournament held at Bells Court Snooker Club, Falmouth. During the day a number of match winning breaks were recorded across the board which included a couple of centuries. There was superb play by Symons-Rowe who defeated England International Mike King (Exeter) 3-2 in a magnificent final. In the semi-finals, Symons-Rowe played last month?s runner up Alan Hurley (Redruth) in another high quality match winning the match 3-2. The third quarter final paired Seaton?s Darren Lock against Symons-Rowe. Lock took an early lead only to sit and watch Symons-Rowe rattle in breaks of 48 and 56 to win 2-1. With only two players qualifying from each group to the knockout stages the level of competition was always going to be fierce. Top spot went to tournament winner Symons-Rowe who also recorded six breaks over thirty, these included a 68 and a 78 clearance in his 2-0 defeat of the 2005 WEBSF Silver Waistcoat Champion Grant Cole (Plymouth). Symons-Rowe also had breaks of 71, 2 x 38 and 31.