ROYAL Oak Shotts, based at the Royal Oak in Hollywater, near Bordon, have had a major success with victory in the Plate section of the BAPTO National Pool Tournament at Blackpool.

The Shotts, who compete in the Liphook & District Pool League, travel north every year to take part in the event and it proved tenth time lucky. Remarkably, they had failed to make it past the first round the previous nine times and had also always lost their opening match in the Plate for first-round losers.

This time, although they again lost in the first round for the main trophy, the Shotts stormed to victory in the plate competition – a massive achievement for the local team.

“We never thought it would be possible and I’m not sure it’s completely sunk in yet,” said team captain Peter Iles. “Winning the BAPTO National Plate has been one of the proudest moments of my life and I couldn’t have asked for a better performance from any of the guys. We all played a part and at some point all of us were playing the pool of our lives.”

The Shotts never lost a match on their way to the Plate final. Playing rules they were unfamiliar with, they won their three group matches and reached the last 16 on a decider. The Hollywater team then came through their quarter and semi-final matches to eventually reach the final, where they defeated Wigan side Delph Tavern 6-4.

“We treated it the same as the previous matches, held our nerve and took our chances,” said Peter Iles.