Former Pro Tour winner Alan Tabern brought to an end a three-year trophy drought in the Unicorn Challenge Tour with victory in the final event of the season today.
The 50-year-old, who reached the semi-finals of the 2006 UK Open, as well as three other major quarter-finals, won three Challenge Tour titles back in 2014.
Those triumphs had helped the St Helens thrower to finish second on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit that year and win back his tour card, but he was back at Qualifying School trying to win his tour card back in January this year.
The left-hander overcame Chris Jackson, Radoslaw Szaganski, Michael Dawson and Adam Huckvale to reach the quarter-finals, where he was a 5-3 winner against Barry Lynn.
Tabern then picked up a fifth successive 5-3 triumph as he saw off Brazil World Cup star Diogo Portela in the semi-finals, before repeating the scoreline in the final against Adam Smith-Neale.
Warwickshire’s Smith-Neale, a winner on the Unicorn Development Tour five years ago, enjoyed his best run on the Challenge Tour to reach the final.
The 23-year-old claimed wins over Steve McNally, David Copley, Peter Mitchell, Curtis Hammond, Warrick Scheffer and Luke Humphries as he secured his spot in the decider.
Unicorn Challenge Tour
Event 20
Quarter-Finals
Alan Tabern 5-3 Barry Lynn
Diogo Portela 5-4 Kevin Edwards
Luke Humphries 5-1 Martin Lukeman
Adam Smith-Neale 5-3 Warrick Scheffer
Semi-Finals
Alan Tabern 5-3 Diogo Portela
Adam Smith-Neale 5-3 Luke Humphries
Final
Alan Tabern 5-3 Adam Smith-Neale
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