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Brian Cox is the Snooker TV Masters champion of 2012 thanks to an 8-5 defeat of Wayne Martin in the final which was played at Gotham Match Room on Sunday 10th June. Cox had beaten the much fancied Steve Judd and Kyren Wilson on the way to the final and so went in to the match as favourite.
Brian Cox and Wayne Martin before the match
The afternoon session got underway at 2pm and it was hard going for both players. With £600 awaiting the winner neither player wanted to make any mistakes and this led to a great deal of tactical play in the early stages. Cox steadily began to find his touch and he slowly carved out a two frame advantage. Martin was struggling to find his rythm and a 48 break from Cox saw him go 3-0 up. The first three frames had taken two and a half hours to complete and so there was only time for one more frame before the break for dinner. With Martin still struggling Cox took the frame in just under half an hour and went away very happy with a 4-0 lead.
The evening session kicked off at 7pm and continued in much the same way as the first session ended. Martin could only manage 6 points in frame five and a 42 break by Cox saw him extend his lead to five frames. Martin responded well in the sixth and must have thought he was going to get his first frame under his belt when he went 28 points clear. Cox had other ideas though as he compiled a lovely 39 clearance to go 6-0 up.
By now Martin must have abandoned any hopes of becoming Masters champion but in frame seven Cox started to miss a few balls and Martin began to cue much better. Cox could only manage 8 points in a one-sided frame that Martin won easily. Martin was just glad to avoid a whitewash and get his first frame on the board.
Cox looked odds on to restore his six frame advantage in frame eight but a terrific 22 clearance from Martin, including a treble on the black, saw the arrears reduced to four frames. Surely it was too late for Martin to rescue the match?
Martin had now found some form and a 32 break from Cox in frame nine wasn't enough. Martin produced a fine 42 clearance to make it 6-3 and a narrow win in frame ten saw Cox's lead reduced to just two frames.
Martin was on fire in frame eleven. Breaks of 46 and 39 were more than enough to seal Martin's fifth frame on the bounce and make the score 6-5. A remarkable comeback from Martin who looked down and out at 6-0.
Martin and Cox are both fighters and they share a never say die attitude that is the mark of a true champion. It was now after midnight and both players were feeling tired. As a result the next two frames were extremely tight but Cox dug deep to take them both and secure a well deserved victory.
Full video of the match to follow...
Frame Scores (Cox first)
54-36, 70-10, 73(48)-43, 58-14, 68(42)-6, 49(39c)-38, 8-70, 61-63, 34(32)-73(42c), 37-56, 5-89(46,39), 53-25, 54-41
Many thanks to all twenty four competitors who made this a great tournament. It's been interesting seeing how players cope (or fail to cope in some cases!) with the longer matches. We've seen some fantastic breaks along the way, Chris Keogan and Hanzla Zahid both had centuries and who can forget Kyren Wilson's fantastic 128 total clearance. A cheque for £100 will be winging its way to him shortly.
The live streaming has added a new twist and certainly heaped on the pressure. Hopefully as technology advances over the next few years I will be able to take live streaming out into clubs and improvements in picture quality are surely just around the corner. These are exciting times for snooker!