BRADFORD No 1 have become the first team to win the Yorkshire Inter-District Snooker three times in a row for 43 years.

They emulated the achievements of Barnsley in 1970-72 by crushing Castleford No 2 6-0 at Undercliffe Cricket Club.

Wayne Cooper was as solid as ever in beating Richard Bresnan 78-12, 84-16, while Kevin Firth made a 59 break during his 87-37, 76-20 haul against Pete Raby.

Mark Slater then notched a 34 break in his opener against Phil Newman to win 64-13 and finished the home fixtures for the season with a 37 break in a 68-33 success.

Bradford's final match is on Sunday when they travel to Leeds No 1, who need a good result for a chance of coming second.

* Both semi-finals of the Bradford Snooker Championships were held at Great Horton Conservative Club and eight-times Bradford champion Cooper made it through to the decider with a 4-1 defeat of Howard Mawson.

Mawson, who won the title in 2004, took the first frame but did not perform as well as he would have liked, with Cooper's best break of 61 being the highlight of the match.

Bradford team-mates Firth and Slater squared off against each other and it was Firth who started the better, making breaks of 68 and 70 for a quick 2-0 lead.

Slater had hardly been at the table but then had breaks of 36 and 38 to level the match at 2-2.

The fifth frame was hard fought and Firth took it on the pink before the match was levelled again, Slater rattling in breaks of 30 and 37 to take it to a decider.

Firth crept away in that but Slater held his nerve well and clinched the match 4-3 with a brilliant 31 clearance.

The final will be at Great Horton Conservative Club on Saturday, May 16.

* The Bradford Billiards Championship final takes place at Great Horton Conservative Club on Monday (7.30pm) as six-time champion Mark Hirst takes on Steve Wilman, making his first appearance in the showpiece contest.

The match will be played over two hours, with a break after an hour, and spectators are welcome to offer their support.

* The Yorkshire Snooker Pairs takes place at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds on Sunday.

Registration is from 9.30-10am, with a £15 entry fee per pair. Matches will be the best-of-five frames throughout.