Marshall is the Seniors Master in Manchester

Robert Marshall beat Ian Martin 4-3 in the final of the second English Seniors Tour event of the season at Club 200 in Manchester.

• Results

The 61-year-old was competing in his first ever competition on the English Seniors Tour and he came through a strong field of 61 players to take home the title.

Marshall, a former ranking event semi-finalist who held professional status between 1987 and 1996, began the weekend in impressive fashion with a trio of whitewash victories over Daniel Coleman, Mal Billaney and Jason Lawrence to secure his place in the final day.

Former World Seniors Snooker (WSS) world number one Stuart Watson was Marshall’s quarter-final opponent.

A break of 91 from Watson in frame four wasn’t enough to deny the 61-year-old, who ran out a 4-1 victor to set up a semi-final meeting with fellow former professional and recent Q Tour Europe event winner Peter Lines.

Lines raced into a 2-0 lead in the race to four, but a contribution of 62 from Marshall in frame four restored parity. The eventual champion then pulled away to make it four frames in a row and complete a 4-2 win.

Marshall’s English Seniors Tour final debut came against 43-year-old Martin, who had overcome former professionals Simon Bedford and Craig Steadman on the Sunday to reach the title match.

The best-of-seven frame final was a closely fought contest with Martin moving ahead on three separate occasions with help from breaks of 52 and 55 to put him one away from glory.

Marshall forced a decider with a visit of 68 and, despite his opponent scoring his third half-century of the match in the decider, he was able to hold his nerve and get over the line to win a maiden English Seniors Tour title.

The English Seniors Tour continues with event three at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds on 15-16 November. Enter now.