Workington's Kevin Basnett is the Cumbria County Snooker Singles champion again, beating Whitehaven’s Rob Sim in the final 5-1.

The 45-year-old needed his best in the final against the five-time champion and, in producing snooker to an excellent standard, Basnett took his own haul to three titles, all in the last five years.

The first frame of the match saw Basnett in early with a break of 43 and as he quickly carved out another chance, he cleared the last two reds to blue for a 81-13 victory.

Whitehaven’s Sim trailed by 30 points in frame two but, in clawing the deficit back, he levelled the scores at 39 points each with just two reds left. A good safety shot by Basnett yielded an opportunity to which he coolly cleared with 39 for a 78-39 win.

An early 36-0 lead for Basnett in frame three was swiftly augmented with a break of 36 and, in leading 72-0, Sim conceded as the Workington cueist went 3-0 up.

The five-time champion needed frames on the board and in the fourth he did just that. Taking his chances, Sim built up a nice advantage which he eventually closed out for a 66-24 victory.

A break of 37 in frame five ensured Basnett reapplied the pressure and winning the quickest frame of the match 56-19 he took it to 4-1.

The final frame of the match started in a cagey fashion with both players giving little away.

Nevertheless, a tricky red into the middle pocket was confidently negotiated by Basnett and, in constructing a break of 60, he closed out the match to take the title with a 74-6 victory.

In the semi-finals, Barrow’s Matty Hill proved to be a tough test for Sim in a high quality contest that saw multiple former champion run out a 4-2 winner.

With a of number breaks over 30, the match was finely balanced at 2-2 but it was Sim who moved up a gear to go 3-2 up and eventually wind up the match with a superb contribution of 76.

Basnett’s semi-final win over Carlisle’s Finegan was a more tactical affair as the Workington cueist ground out a 4-1.

Again, a number of breaks in the 30s was enough for Basnett to take a 3-1 lead and with a further contribution of 50 in frame five it was enough to take Basnett in the final.