Imperial power of pool champion Hill

he 37-year-old former England international defeated fellow veteran Phil Harrison 11-6 to win the title for a fourth time and pocket a £6,000 first prize at the Imperial Hotal.

Hill, from Dudley, was rarely troubled by the 2009 winner. “I just felt I was playing without pressure,” he said. “Me and Phil have been friends for 20 years. We stayed in a twin room at the hotel until his family arrived. He is a great bloke.

“Who knows how many more I can win? I am just happy to set a target for some of the younger blokes.”

Window cleaner Harrison, 43, said: “I was under pressure from the break because I wasn’t getting a ball down. Mick was getting one every time. You have got to hurt him and I wasn’t hurting him.”

The ladies’ singles’ final was an all-Nottingham affair between top seed Amy Beauchamp and first-time finalist Kerry Griffiths.

Beauchamp, last year’s runner-up and winner in 2015, turned on to the style to win 8-1 and add the trophy to her World Masters success earlier in the week.

“It’s not nice playing someone you know so well,” said delighted Beauchamp. “But the women’s pool scene in general is quite small, so it’s bound to happen quite a lot.

“It’s probably the best I’ve played in a final. To win the Masters and do the double is fantastic. That was the aim before I came here.”

England regained the men’s team title, defeating Ireland 8-4 to emulate the success of their ladies, who beat Northern Ireland 13-6.