PLYMOUTH’S Chris Coumbe’s World Billiards season is in full swing, having recently returned from a successful trip across the Atlantic for the latest events on the international circuit.
Coumbe travelled to Winnipeg, capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba, alongside Liskeard’s Chris Mitchell for the Vimy Ridge Classic and Pan Am Cup, hosted in the cue sports section of ANAVETS Assiniboia Unit 283.
The tournaments returned to the World Billiards calendar following a seven-year hiatus, with the trip marking Coumbe’s first tournament appearance in North America.
In the Vimy Ridge Classic, Coumbe won all of his group matches against Winnipeg-based opposition and, courtesy of his knockout seeding, earned a bye into the last 16.
He continued his progress through the knockout stages, defeating two of the strongest local competitors in Fraser Durham and Rick Kendall before facing multiple-time World Champion and world-record break holder Peter Gilchrist in the semi-finals.
In what was regarded by many as the match of the tournament, the 90-minute encounter saw Coumbe produce his best form of the event, putting Gilchrist, then the world number two but now ranked number one, under early pressure with a break of 195. Gilchrist responded with breaks of 152 and 136, but with time running out, the match remained finely poised.
A late break of 73 from Coumbe ended with a difficult missed in-off before Gilchrist closed out the final few moments to prevail by just 25 points.
It was Coumbe’s second appearance in a World Billiards ranking-event semi-final, having previously reached the same stage at the 2022 Jersey Open.
Mitchell also enjoyed a strong run in the Vimy Ridge Classic, reaching the quarter-finals to complete an impressive showing for the two local players.
Coumbe continued his strong form into the Pan Am Cup, where additional world ranking points were on offer. The Plymothian topped his group, compiling four century breaks of 162, 151, 136 and 106 along the way.
In the last 16, Coumbe again ended the hopes of Winnipeg’s Rick Kendall before losing a hard-fought quarter-final against fellow Englishman Ryan Mears, 800–389.
Coumbe’s performances across the eight-day double-header saw him rise to a career-high seventh in the World Billiards rankings, with the biggest week of the season now fast approaching.
The action gets underway at the highly regarded Landywood Snooker Club in the West Midlands with the English Open on October 17–18, before attention turns to the sport’s blue-riband event, the World Billiards Championship. Both events feature 60-player fields, with all but two of the living World Champions crowned over the past 40 years set to compete during the week.
Coumbe will be joined at Landywood by Liskeard’s Chris Mitchell and Saltash’s Barry Russell, with all three set to compete during the week.