LAST year's finalist John Metters cruised through his qualifying group in the Alexandra Classic sponsored by LET and Scottish and Newcastle Retail last weekend.

The other 1998 finalist Mick Chapman also went through, along with Kevan Shaw from Westhoughton.

On Saturday, Metters - pictured right - ended both his ties in impressive style and looks a good bet to progress further in the tournament.

However, Burnley opponent Simon Wilcox was no easy passage in the opening round and at 22-22, there was everything to play for.

But an unbroken eight break gave John the edge in a fairly close finish 31-25.

Meanwhile, Terry Wood from St Annes, was also involved in a good tussle with local man David Haworth, who began well enough 15-7.

Two breaks from the St Annes men of eight points each, altered the course of the match and from a 23-17 deficit David was always in arrears.

At least David did well to make a game of it but eventually went down 31-28. The eliminator was an anti-climax especially when John led 13-10 and everything looked set for a great contest.

Quite amazingly John put together an unexpected run of 18 that took him to a remarkable 31-13 victory.

Mick won both his rounds quite comfortably and is once again on course for the coveted trophy. He accounted for John Parker in his opened who never recovered from a disastrous start when trailed 12-0.

The second round with St Annes player David Worthington was an even contest until 15-15 when the champion drew clear to win 31-20.

On Sunday, Kevan Shaw outpointed local players Kevin Thompson and Gordon Schofield to reach the last 16 line-up.

A 12-break in the middle of the game ruined the hopes of Kevin, who never got into the game in the late stages.

But second round opponent Gordon had a golden opportunity seized from him in the eliminator.

Before that the Rishton man had played well to overcome Barrow visitor Roy Moxham, in a grandstand finish 31-28.

Obviously previous champion Kevan was going to be a difficult hurdle but for most of this 46 end marathon Gordon held a narrow advantage.

The Westhoughton player mad an excellent start and led 10-4 before Gordon recovered to level up at 11-11. After six shared points Jordan produced a six-break and after 33 ends led 26-18. Back came Kevan with six without reply and two ends later the Rishton man remained in front 28-26. Four ends produced five agonising points against Gordon who went down in a memorable finish by just three points.

Results - First Round: M Chapman 31, J Parker 17; D Worthington 31, J Howarth 19; J Metters 31, S Wilcox 25; T Wood 31, D Haworth 28; K Shaw 31, K Thompson 21; G Schofield 31. Second Round: Chapman 31, Worthington 20; Metters 31, Wood 13; Shaw 31, Schofield 28.

Matches this weekend - Friday: D Barrow, D Lawton, M Lynch, I Broadhurst. Saturday: A Clarke, P Fielding, B Brown, M Gilpin. Sunday: S Houghton, C Crompton, L Bleakley, H Hargreaves.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.