Five had entered the 2025 Kent Classic, held on Sunday 16th March at the Six In One Club at Tonbridge.And with Paul Jobbins, Clive Thompson, John Slee and Michael Wilson all suffering early exits, it was left to Ricky to shine - and shine he did, making it to the Semi-Final with wins over England Internationals Phil Osborne, Mark James and Mark Trafford.
In his semi-final, against recent West-Sussex Open semi-finalist Martin Cole, Ricky took a 9000 lead from the first leg into leg two with his break to come. Unfortunately when the time came, he was off the table having only added 2000, and his opponent was able to play out the remaining time to win.
Michael Wilson, recent winner of the West-Sussex, made the semi-final of the Plate having made his first complete table play-out in a National of 17,860 in the previous round, but here Matt Jones was able to exact revenge for his Final defeat in the aforementioned competition.
The 2025 Kent Classic was won by Brighton’s Nigel Senior who also took the highest break prize with 21,000. Players from Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Oxon, Buckinghamshire and of course Kent took part.
Michael Wilson
1st Rd - Bye
2nd Rd lost to James Whittle (Wor)
PLATE 1st Rd - Bye
PLATE 2nd Rd beat Pete Sainsbury (Kent)
PLATE Quarter-final beat Bryan Stevens (Kent)
PLATE Semi-Final lost to Matt Jones (Bucks)
Ricky Dewdney
1st Rd beat Phil Osborne (Bri)
2nd Rd beat Mark James (Bri)
3rd Rd beat Vinnie Brown (Oxon)
Qr Final beat Mark Trafford (Oxon)
SEMI-FINAL lost to Martin Cole (W-S))
This near miss leaves Ricky still seeking his first Open Championship, having been in two finals previously, the 2011 Buckinghamshire and the 2015 Sussex.
Meanwhile there are just 3 weeks to go in the Billingshurst Bar Billiards League's programme .... Roffey SSC A's lead looks unassailable, despite this week suffering defeat at the hands of their 'B' string in the home derby - and second and third-placed Windmill GG and Springbok Club both having good wins.
Matches played 19/3/25: RSSC B 3, RSSC A 2; Springbok Club 4, Cricketers 1; Railway 1, Windmill GG 4; Plough 4, Alfold SC 1.
Current standings: Div One 1 - RSSC A 58pts; 2 - Windmill GG 53.5; 3 - Springbok Club 53; 4 - Cricketers 47. Div Two 1 - RSSC B 48.5pts; 2 - Plough 43.5; 3 - Alfold SC 27; 4 - Railway 24.5.