Group favourites Craig Waddingham & Arfan Dad lived up to expectations as they progressed to the last 16 of the Eative Ultimate Pool Pairs Cup last night.

Fresh from his main event triumph at the World Rules Pool Tour last weekend, Dad teamed up with former World Masters winner and recent Apply Mortgages Ultimate Pool Masters quarter-finalist Waddingham to great effect. The duo produced several break clearances and won all three of their matches to put in arguably the performance of the competition so far.

They began with victory over Chris Patient and three-time Mosconi Cup winner Mark Gray, who was making his debut on the Ultimate Pool stage.

In the second session of the night at the Players Pool & Snooker Lounge in Newcastle-under-Lyme, they faced a crucial match against Rob Wharne & Guvy Gill, who also got off to an ideal start following a 2-1 victory in the opening match of the evening against Sam Boome & Jamie Stokes. The eventual group winners were clinical as they produced three break clearances – one of them as a scotch doubles duo in the first frame and two by Waddingham in singles frames – during a 3-2 success.

With Boome & Stokes and Patient & Gray drawing 2-2 earlier on, it meant that only Wharne & Gill could trouble the leaders’ qualification hopes. However, with destiny out of their hands anyway, Wharne & Gill’s chances were wiped out for good when the effervescent 9-ball combination of Patient & Gill recorded a 3-2 win.

With top spot already assured, Dad & Waddingham kept up their 100% record with a 3-2 victory over Boome & Stokes in the final fixture. At one point in that tie, the pair were on an incredible six-frame break clearance streak spanning all three matches.

Serious contenders for this title, Dad & Waddingham will return for phase two of the £32,800 event and are set to be in the same group as Andy Appleton & Michael Tomlinson (Group 5 winners), Scott Crawley & Tony Blount (Group 6 winners) and next week’s Group 8 winners.