Robert Hitchen and Gary Ellis, both former winners, claimed the first two places in the final of the Clifford Crawshaw Memorial Classic after coming through the third and fourth rounds at Hill Crest on Saturday.
Hitchen's first game was against Chris Brown and, after a tentative opening, he went ahead by 14-8, a lead he held to win by 31-23.
His second opponent was another former winner, Andy Spragg, who led by 9-6 before Hitchen edged ahead at 11-10. Sp
ragg nosed back in front at 18-15 but Hitchen responded to lead 21-19 and remained in front to win 31-26.
Ellis made a slow start to his opening game against Gerwyn Davies, trailing 8-12 before producing two seven breaks to move ahead by 25-16. Davies briefly threatened a recovery but Ellis went on to win by 31-25.
Against Andrew Wightman, Ellis led 10-5 before Wightman edged in front by 11-10. Ellis seemed to have the game under control after taking the lead at 21-12 and 23-15 but Wightman fought back with a break of 11 to lead by 26-23. His challenge ended there as Ellis won back the jack and ran out to win by 31-26.
Next week's field sees two more former champions, Graeme Wilson and Andy Ferris, seeking a place in the final eight on July 18.
Full draw: Paul Sigsworth (Huddersfield) v Ernie Wearing (Sheffield), Darren Plenderleith (Tamworth) v Graeme Wilson (Oldham), Ashley Daykin (Huddersfield) v Andy Ferris (Congleton), Chris Mordue (Bradford) v James Wilcox (Leeds).
