Peter Ebdon thanked Britain's recordbreaking Olympian Steve Redgrave for inspiring him to victory in the British Open at Plymouth.
Ebdon had been moved to tears when veteran rower Redgrave won a fifth successive gold at the Sydney Olympics.
After beating Jimmy White 9-6 to win the £62,000 first prize Ebdon said: "Like many others I cried when Steve won his fifth gold at the Olympics."