ARFAN Dad came agonisingly close to making it to Finals Weekend in the Ultimate Pool Players Championship.

The Keighley native was in Group 9 action at the weekend, going up against Gareth Potts, Jimmy Croxton, Kris Hampson, Matt Brierley and Tom Jones.

It was a bleak start for Dad, who was hammered 6-0 by Potts in his first game.

And though he hit back with a fine 6-1 win over Brierley, Hampson thumped him 6-2 to force him on to the back foot.

Knowing he only needed to finish in the top four to make it out of the initial group, Dad guaranteed himself a spot in the next stage by hammering Jones 6-0.

That rendered his 6-2 loss to Croxton irrelevant, as he finished fourth, behind Potts, Croxton and Hampson.

Dad lost 5-2 to Potts in the final-four group, before drawing 4-4 with Hampson.

That set him up for a decider against Croxton to see who would make it through to the group final alongside Potts, with Dad winning that emphatically 6-0.

But it was Potts who went through to Finals Weekend, beating Dad for a third time over the weekend, 6-2 6-4 over two sets.

Dad's fellow Keighley native Chris Melling is in Group 1 action next month, and is currently competing at Matchroom's European Open this week.