David Lilley beat Brandon Sargeant 3-1 to win the fifth Challenge Tour event of the season at the Cueball Snooker Club in Derby.
Former European amateur champion Lilley won his first three matches with ease courtesy of whitewash scorelines, before passing his first proper test in the quarter-finals with a 3-2 triumph over top seed Mitchell Mann.
Lilley then overcame fellow ex-professional Sydney Wilson 3-1 in the last four before beating Challenge Tour event one winner Sargeant to claim the trophy and the £2,000 top prize.
With the earnings, the 42 year-old rises up the Order of Merit to fifth, although there’s a bit of a gap opening up at the top of the table with half of the tournaments still to be played in the Challenge Tour’s inaugural campaign.
Event Four winner Mann just about holds on to top spot but now boasts only a narrow £100 advantage over Sargeant, who lies ahead of David Grace and Barry Pinches respectively.
The two players with the highest amount of prize money come the conclusion of the ten tournaments will be invited to compete on the Main Tour and granted with two-year cards.
While the event again fell short of the maximum 72 players that could potentially line up in a Challenge Tour competition, the field of 59 was at least an improvement on the last two events, which were held in Latvia and Germany.
The next Challenge Tour tournament will see the competitors return to Europe with Lommel in Belgium set to host the amateur comp alongside the return of the European Masters.
