Sharkey lands Crucible Pool Championship

Danny Sharkey beat defending champion Neil Winkworth 5-2 to land the 2022 Crucible Pool Championship.

Sharkey’s route to the final began with a comfortable 4-1 win over Sarah Middleton before he thumped Kieran Sprules 5-1 to reach the semi-finals.

Reigning champion Winkworth meanwhile booked his spot in the semi-finals by beating Ollie Ludewig 4-1 and then Ali Daley 5-2.

Winkworth then coasted to the final thanks to an emphatic 5-0 win over Chris Smith while Sharkey was taken to a deciding frame by Noel O’Reilly.

Sharkey won the decider to win the match 5-4 and book his place in the final following a double on the black.

Into the final and Winkworth had a couple of good chances to go ahead but some uncharacteristic misses were pounced on by Sharkey, who raced into a two frame lead.

Winkworth won the third frame to reduce the arrears to 2-1 but in the fourth frame Sharkey hit his stride, winning to move to score to 3-1 before an impressive break and dish in the next made it 4-1.

Winkworth battled back to keep himself in the contest, winning the next frame to make it 4-2.

Sharkey made no mistake in the seventh frame, however, and produced another great clearance to secure the title with a 5-2 win.