KEIGHLEY potter Chris Melling and his team-mate Tom Ford have just a few days to wait until they try and claim the Ultimate Pool Pairs Cup together.

The duo won their initial group at the last-64 stage back in July and then became the first confirmed finalists a few weeks ago, when they came top of the first group of four in the round-of-16 on October 7.

Melling and Ford saw off the pairs of Michael Gibney and Craig Waddingham, Rikki Jones and Jordan Shepherd and Andy Blurton and Neil Raybone on the first Monday of October to reach Finals Night on November 4.

But they have had to wait to find out their opponents, as the other last-16 groups were played out over three consecutive Mondays.

Father and son duo Paul and Cohen Bradford qualified for Finals Night on October 14, with a draw in the last game of the night against Danny Balshaw and David McNamara backing up their two earlier wins to squeeze them through at the expense of Josh Kane and Callum Singleton.

However, young Cohen Bradford has been selected for England’s U15s at the World Championships in Malta, which begin this Saturday.

That rules he and his dad out of competing at Finals Night of the Pairs Cup, meaning Kane and Singleton move into the last-four instead.

The following Monday saw Shaun Chipperfield and Karl Sutton romp through to Finals Night in the same manner as Melling and Ford, by winning all three of their last-16 matches.

Shaun Chipperfield and Karl Sutton are into Finals Night, and they have a formidable record in this competition.Shaun Chipperfield and Karl Sutton are into Finals Night, and they have a formidable record in this competition. (Image: Ultimate Pool.)

That left one spot remaining in next Monday’s showpiece, with that claimed by Tom Cousins and Shane Thompson, as they beat Ian Ali and Jonjo Sharkey in their final game to ensure they came top ahead of Teejay Bateman and Brandon Flinton.

The format is a simple one for Finals Night, with Melling and Ford taking on Kane and Singleton in the first semi at 6:30pm, given those two were the first pairs to qualify for the showpiece.

That will be followed by the second semi-final, which will see Chipperfield and Sutton go up against Cousins and Thompson at 7:30pm.

Those two matches will be played with a first to four frames format, as will the final, which takes place at 8:30pm that night.

All four pairs are already guaranteed £1,000 for reaching the semi-finals, while the runners-up will earn £3,000.

Whichever duo comes out on top next Monday will pocket a cool £8,000 as a result of their triumph.

Chipperfield and Sutton go into the night as favourites to lift the title, and with good reason.

They won the inaugural Pairs Cup title in January 2022, while they have reached the final on all three occasions that the tournament has been held.

Conor Treacy and Jon McAllister are the current Pairs Cup holders, after they beat Chipperfield and Sutton in last year’s final, while ‘Dream Team’ Mark Selby and Gareth Potts claimed the second edition in December 2022.

Selby and Potts acquired that moniker due to the fact that both are four-time world champions, the former in snooker and the latter in British eight-ball pool.