Darryl Hill made it five out of five as he won the 2026 Mann Crane Hire Grand Prix snooker event last weekend.

A field of eight players qualified for the straight knockout via this season’s rankings and culminated in a repeat of last year’s final, Hill once again up against Michael Curphey in a best-of-15 frames contest.

Last year Hill won 8-1 to take the title, but this time around it proved to be a much closer affair.

Frame one started with Hill straight in with 32, before Curphey replied in good style with 64 but broke down on the penultimate red which thankfully for him ended 18 inches along a side cushion with everything else being on. Hill missed this red using the long rest and Curphey cleared with 33.

In frame two Hill was straight in off Curphey’s break with 24. It proved to be a frame of missed half-chances until Hill hit another 27 to make it 1-1.

Frame three went on for more than 50 minutes which you wouldn’t expect with these two players. A proper battle from the last red onwards and a lot of work for referee Dave Kelly replacing balls.

Hill surprisingly missed frame ball blue with the rest but it didn’t matter as he later accepted a chance on the pink.

Curphey started the scoring in frame four with 35, halted with a bad split of the pack, then Hill replied with 69 - the highest break of the final - to lead 3-1 at the interval.

Frame five was fairly scrappy until Hill hit a 36 break at 16-16 down to the final red and, as his opponent failed to find a snooker, it was soon 4-1 to Hill.

In frame six Curphey was on 31 but with hardly any angle on the blue to go in and out of baulk. Somehow, he generated enough pace and spin but was unlucky to cannon the yellow into a middle pocket.

He was soon back in the balls though after a misjudged safety from Hill for a 50 break, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

Frame seven, the last of the first session, was another 30-minute affair which could have gone either way, Hill taking it with brown, blue and pink to go 5-2 up and needing only three of a possible eight frames in the final session.

Curphey needed a fast start in the evening but a missed black off the spot let his opponent in for a 29 and he eventually made it 6-2.

He was just about in the last chance saloon but fired in breaks of 30 and 31 in frame nine where he had some luck with the latter break which started via a snooker escape.

Curphey then pulled another frame back. A 49 break from Hill in the 10th gave him control but Curphey hung in and, when his opponent surprisingly missed the frame ball brown, again with the rest, he nicked it with a 22 clearance for 6-4.

Frame 11 and Curphey with a 33 led 41-8, but it turned into a fight on the colours, with Hill taking the frame after a long green with brown and blue added, making it 7-4 and putting him only one frame from victory.

After a mid-session interval, frame 12 was a similar affair as Curphey hit 31 to build up a handy lead of 43-17 with one red left. Hill had a chance to steal with pink and black for the match but left the tough pink on and his opponent made no mistake.

In frame 13, Hill broke and left Curphey a long red but he was able to make 34. Soon in again the confidence was showing as he made 66, the frame over in a shade over 10 minutes to make the score now only 7-6 to Hill.

The 14th frame stood at 24-23 to Hill and it looked very nervy as both players missed simple reds. Hill then pulled out a break of 24, which included a double. It wasn’t over though as Curphey looked to have played a decent enough safety off the final red, leaving the white close to the yellow pocket.

But Hill then pulled out a fantastic pot, diagonally the length of the table, and cleared down to the black for the frame and to seal the match.

Congratulations go to Hill who remains unbeaten in this tournament, in its fifth year, but this may have been the closest he’s been taken in any island scratch competition for a good while.

Well done goes to Curphey who actually outscored Hill over the 14 frames and showed a lot of resolve to get so close. Both finalists will probably say it wasn’t their best snooker, but it made for a good match and still had plenty of breaks.

Frame scores (Hill first): 33-97, 75-5, 67-47, 83-35, 56-16, 5-81, 56-31, 68-28, 1-78, 59-63, 63-41, 38-54, 0-104 and 75-23.

Hill wins £150, while Curphey picks up £75, while losing semi-finalists Jonny Hogg and Paul Smyth receive £40 each. Hill also picks up £50 for the highest break, his 104 in the very first frame of the competition against Nialls Wilson in the quarter-finals.

Thanks go to tournament referee Dave Kelly, the Cue Zone and of course sponsor Mann Crane Hire.

Replays of all matches throughout the event are available on the Isle of Man Billiards and Snooker Association Facebook page.

Graham Ashton and Ollie Byrne fought out the final of this year’s Doug Kinrade Handicap snooker knockout.

In the semi-finals, played simultaneously at Finch Hill, Ashton defeated Marc Bolton 2-0 with frame scores of 68-55 and 77-38.

Byrne was taken to a decider by Jason Campbell in the other with scores of 70-59, 15-67 and 66-51, both very entertaining matches.

The best of five final took place last Thursday at Finch Hill - a full report will follow.

MIKE CROOK