Pinches On Top In PTC
Barry Pinches roared to the top of the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit with a deciding frame win against Ronnie O'Sullivan in Event Four in Sheffield.
O'Sullivan had the best of the early exchages, winning the opener with breaks of 60 and 47.
Pinches hit back in the second but lost two in a row to trail the three times world champion by three-frames-to-one.
The deficit was reduced to just to just one as O'Sullivan failed to trouble the scorer in frame five before Norfolk's number one took the sixth on the black to force the decider.
After a period of tactical exchanges, Pinches took his chance and made a match winning break of 64 and seal a famous win.
Pinches, a professional since 1990 hasn't really fulfilled the potential that he showed in his late teens but life has begun since he turned 40 earlier this year.
The win is also further testament to the coaching techniques of Stephen Feeney.
Feeney said, "I am delighted for Barry, he really deserves the success and it is great to have our second winner in as many tournaments in the PTC series".
The win also opens up a lead of over 3000 points in the Order of Merit over second placed Mark Selby with Mark Williams in third and Ford in fourth.
O'Sullivan, who has only played in two of the four events moves up to number six.
The top 24 ranked players after the 12 event series is completed qualifies for the PTC Finals in March next year.
