Humble Hancorn Makes History claiming 100th English Amateur Championship

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But it was only the best of nine! And the last time it was a best of nine was in 1936!

Ben Hancorn may not be the most recognized name on the planet, but to snooker fans across the globe, they’ll remember him as the 100th winner of snooker’s oldest event since 1916 – the English Amateur Championship.

This year, the event had a glitzy but albeit shortened revamp as they cut it from a best of 19 frame battle to a best of nine frame race to the line.

And, although it was played in front of a much bigger crowd than it normally is where it’s normally played in snooker clubs in places like Sheffield or Gloucester, this 100th edition felt all a little rushed and slapdash, especially played in between the professional event matches being played at The Centaur, the 2020 World Grand Prix.

Both Rory McLeod and Hancorn were welcomed onto the floor by the MC currently MCing the World Grand Prix, Phil Seymour, who SnookerZone has proudly already interviewed!

Hancorn, appearing in his second EAC final since 2008, where he lost to David Grace, however, joins a list of illustrious winners who’ve previously won the title as amateurs and achieved MUCH greater things at the professional level.

Stuart Bingham won the title and went onto win the World title in 2015.
Jimmy White won the title and went on to appear in six World finals.
Martin Gould won the title and went on to win a German Masters title as his first ranking title.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was a runner-up but went onto win five World titles!

Hancorn wrote on Facebook after: “Well: That’s a great feeling. I’m completely overawed with the win. The 100th English Amateur Champion has a good ring to it. And to beat one of the best in Rory to get it was even better. I knew I had to play well. The good thing was I really enjoyed it out there as I didn’t really know what to expect.”

[bctt tweet=” If you look back on the list of previous scorelines though, 5 – 3 does look a bit out of place for 2020 as the 100th!” username=”@chrisgaynor2″]