Parkin shines on his own and as part of a team

Monday saw two billiards finals, with Nigel Croft retaining his Kenilworth Billiards Trophy with victory over teammate and close friend Tony Marsh.

It was then the turn of old rivals Richie Evans (Nelson) and Geoff Barrett (Lillington Bowls), who were going into their fifth Birmingham Mail Cup final meeting with honours even.

Barrett has been in scintillating form all season and justified his favourites tag to clinch a convincing victory.

Tuesday saw the third billiards final, the Camkin Cup.

John Grubb, the 2007 winner, started the better against first-time finalist Simon Gelfs, carving out healthy leads before twice gettig pegged back by steady, if not spectacular, scoring from his opponent.

Both men missed numerous chances to clinch the match, but it was Gelfs who held his nerve to edge over the line 100-97.

The snooker pairs final followed, with Ian Wagstaff and Glen Powell (Kenilworth Cons) taking on Priors pair Kev Robinson and Mark Smith.

The match did not start well for the Priors duo as both gave away fouls with their first visits.

Worse was to follow as Wagstaff compiled a break of 67, producing a superb thinly cut red to break the remaining reds open, only to miss the black when a century looked a distinct possibility.

Robinson then missed a straightforward pot on the brown to allow the Cons duo to open up a 110-26 lead going into frame two.

Wagstaff stretched the lead with a 32 break in a low-scoring second frame before Powell produced a number of small breaks in the third to seal a convincing 222-80 success.

The Three-Man Challenge Cup final resulted in a comfortable 4-1 win for Nelson over Windsor.

Phil Parkin give Nelson the perfect start with an excellent run of 70 before breaks of 29 from Nigel Croft and scrappy win for Mark Quinton put the holders 3-0 up.

Dean White kept Windsor in the match with victory over Parkin, but Tony Baylis once again prevailed over Quinton to clinch the title for Nelson.

Thursday saw the Pete Hiley Over-50s Cup final which featured first-time finalists Bob Holloway (Harbury) and Gordon Milling (Warwick Cons).

A very tactical opening frame saw a number of fouls conceded by both players, with Holloway taking the frame on the black.

The second saw a similar pattern, with Holloway again pinching it by potting the black and pink.

A run of 20 helped Milling reduce the arrears before be forced a decider with a pot of the final black.

The deciding frame was also a tight affair with both locked together on 57 points apiece before Holloway held his nerve to pot the pink and black to seal victory.

That match was followed by the Eric Briggs under-35s final between two-times winner Sam Blundell (Harbury) and Ben Deller (Warwick Cons).

Blundell started in confident manner, taking the first frame 47-9, but Deller hit back with an 86 break to make it 1-1.

A run of 33 helped Deller take a 2-1 lead and he then made sure of victory as Blundell conceded 18 points worth of fouls in a 78-41 fourth set defeat.

Friday saw the main event of the week, the EJ Riley Individual Singles final between Parkin and 1995 winner Kevin Robinson (Priors).

Defending champion Parkin quickly stamped his authority on the match, taking the opening frame with the aid of a 29 break.

Frame two was more even, with Robinson making 16 before Parkin potted a long red on his way to a break of 52 and a 2-0 lead.

A scrappy third frame saw Parkin extend his advantage to 3-0 at the interval thanks to a break of 23.

After the restart, Robinson again fought hard with the lead changing hands a number of times as both players scored small breaks.

However, Parkin again made the most of his chances, producing a matchwinning break of 22 to retain his title.