CHINA-bound Kishan Hirani stepped up his preparations for the IBSF World Under-21 Championship with victory in the sixth and final leg of the Cuestars South of EnglandChampionship Tour.

The Welsh Under-21 champion (left) defeated his compatriot and travelling companion Jordan Shepherd (Bridgend) in a one-frame shoot-out final at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

Competing in his first Cuestars tournament for a couple of years, Hirani booked a play-off spot and a chance of taking on special guest Stephen Lee at the Cuestars finals day in Swindon on Sunday, June 3.

The 19-year-old, beaten 2-1 by Shepherd in the group stages, accounted for second-placed Martin Wallace 2-0 in the last-eight and fellow Welsh international Callum Lloyd (Rileys, Newport) 3-1 in the semi-finals.

“In the group stages, I played quite decent to get through,” he said.

“It was a long day. After I beat Callum it was 7.30pm and we had a couple of hours to get home. So me and Sheppy decided to split the pot and do a one-frame shoot out for the points.”

Hirani is hoping it will be third time lucky when he jets out to China in July for the world junior championship.

“I’ve played great every year but lost both times to the eventual champion,” he explained.

“Those two experiences will hold me in good stead for China. The cream of the crop from around the world will be there so hopefully the form comes in.

“I’m looking forward to it very much.”

Meanwhile, a semi-final appearance was more than enough for Jon Charlton to claim top spot in the rankings.

Charlton, who is based at Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis, but lives in Camelsdale, Haslemere, Surrey, ended the season with a 20-point advantage over Wallace.

In his five outings this season, the consistent Charlton has won one, lost in the last-four three times and gone out at the quarter-final stage once.

Top-16 qualifiers: Jon Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis), Martin Wallace (Colours, Reading), Billy Castle (Cue T’s Snooker Lounge, Marchwood), Alex Dunkley (Cue T’s Snooker Lounge, Marchwood), Dominic Holmes (Sovereign SC, Farnborough), Ryan Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough), Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh), Oliver Douglas (The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury), Mike Finn (Churchills, Eastleigh), Kishan Hirani (Rileys, Cardiff), Kane Grigg (Landywood SC, Staffs), Callum Lloyd (Rileys, Newport), Vince Elphick (Hassocks Mens Club, West Sussex), Neil Clayton (Woking SC), Shane Castle (Cue T’s Snooker Lounge, Marchwood), Alex O’Donoghue (Jesters, Swindon).

BREAKS

Jordan Shepherd: 102.

Martin Wallace: 77, 67.

Callum Lloyd: 72.

Jonathan Charlton: 68, 62, 58, 50.

Ben Tanner: 57, 52.

Paul Rose: 37.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS

GROUP A: 1st, Dominic Holmes (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 2nd, Ben Fortey (SWSA, Gloucester); 3rd, Lewis Miles (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

GROUP B: 1st, Martin Wallace (Colours, Reading); 2nd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Ed Topham (Rileys, Cardiff); 4th, James Facey (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 5th, James Ray (Sovereign SC, Farnborough).

GROUP C: 1st, Jordan Shepherd (Bridgend, South Wales); 2nd, Kishan Hirani (Rileys, Cardiff); 3rd, Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Mike Lloyd (Bristol); 5th, Paul Rose (Jesters, Swindon).

GROUP D: 1st, Jon Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis); 2nd, Callum Lloyd (Rileys, Newport, South Wales); 3rd, Matthew Johns (West End Labour Club, Barry); 4th, Jessie Stevens (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 5th, Alan Childs (Salisbury SC).

KNOCKOUT RESULTS

QUARTER-FINALS (£5, 8 points): C Lloyd beat Holmes 2-1, Hirani beat Wallace 2-0, Shepherd beat Tanner 2-0, Charlton beat Fortey 2-0.        

SEMI-FINALS (£20, 12 points): Hirani beat C Lloyd 3-1, Shepherd beat Charlton 3-2.

FINAL (£90/£40, 25/18 points): Hirani beat Shepherd 1-0.

About Cuestars

Founded 18 years ago by director John Hunter, Cuestars runs grass-root snooker tournaments across the South of England and South Wales.

Competitions take place on Sundays between October and June, and cater for players aged eight to 80 – and in some cases even older!

All Cuestars tournaments are played off scratch. There are no handicaps. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.

Competitions for 2011/12 include: South of England Championship Tour; Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours; Weekend Junior Section Rankings and Seniors Tour (40+).

 Website: cuestars.uk.com. E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.uk.com

DANNY Tallentire admitted he “did it the hard way” as he clinched the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour at Salisbury Snooker Club.

In a reversal of his results in Bournemouth last month, Tallentire (Player’s Westbury) beat rankings leader Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh) in the group stages AND in the final.

Speaking after he “managed to nick” the fifth-frame decider following an awful slice of bad luck by his 19-year-old opponent, Tallentire said: “I knew with the form Ben had been in so far this season that the only way I was going to beat him was to try to keep it tight and play the way that suits me.

“I knew he would score better than me so I knew I had to try to stick in there and grind out a result. But I made it a lot harder than it should’ve been.”

Tallentire levelled the match at 1-1 with a 46 break. Tanner regained his advantage after Tallentire missed frame-ball pink in the third.

“I was very disappointed because I had done exactly the same in the last tournament in the final to go 2-1 up so I was thinking history could be repeating itself,” said the 19-year-old.

However, a 30 clearance to the black forced a decider.

Tanner, leading by four points with 18 on in the fifth, double kissed the cue-ball into the middle pocket and Tallentire pounced on blue and pink which were near the middle pockets for a 3-2 victory.

“I managed to nick the decider,” conceded second-placed Tallentire, who closed the gap at the top to ten points. “It was a relief to win but I definitely did it the hard way.

“I was glad to have made a good start to the year but was disappointed that I wasn’t scoring when I was in. I’m going to need to work hard on my break-building if I want to win more titles.”

Tanner said: “I couldn’t believe I got to the final. I didn’t really play well all day. My best frame was against Lee Bell, which was my first one.”

Earlier, Tallentire topped his group despite a 2-1 defeat by Tanner’s clubmate Bell. He accounted for Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford SC) 3-0 in the last-four.

Tanner dispatched Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead) by the same score in the second semi.

The fifth of the eight legs is at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club on Sunday, February 12. 

BREAKS

Ben Tanner: 69, 51.

GOLD RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead); 4th, Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh); 6th, Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon).

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Tallentire beat Impett 3-0, Tanner beat Matthews 3-0.

 FINAL (25/18 points): Tallentire beat Tanner 3-2.

Hat-trick for Silver favourite 

SWINDON star Troy Bodman already has one hand on the Cuestars South ofEngland Under-21 Silver Tour ranking title – and it’s only halfway through the season.

A remarkable third successive tournament win has taken the red-hot favourite from Jesters Snooker Hall a massive 32 points clear of second-placed Joshua Lee.

Bodman defeated Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-0 in the fourth-leg final at Salisbury Snooker Club.

Virtually unbeatable this season, Bodman has lost only two of his 24 matches in four tournaments.

Pitched together in the same round-robin group, the finalists drew their two-frame match. And that frame proved priceless as three players picked up two wins apiece. Lloyd (six frames) qualified for the knockout ahead of Sam Storey and Callum Brown (five frames each).

Bodman dropped just two frames out of 15 all day. He beat clubmate Joshua Lee 2-1 in the semi-finals.

Lloyd saw off Group A winner Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) 2-0 in his last-four match to climb to fifth place. It was the youngster’s best ever performance on the Silver Tour since his debut in October, 2010.

The fifth of the eight legs is at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club on Sunday, February 12.

BREAKS

Sonnie O’Sullivan: 37.

Mark Lloyd: 33.

Sam Storey: 32.

Troy Bodman: 31.

SILVER RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol); 2nd, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 4th, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 5th, Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester); 6th, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Mark Lloyd (StokeSC, Gosport); 3rd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC); 5th, Daniel Knox (Woking SC); 6th, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club High Wycombe).

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Lloyd beat Lancastle 2-0, Bodman beat Lee 2-1 

FINAL (25/18 points): Bodman beat Lloyd 2-0.

Farmer has Bellinger in his sights 

A SECOND tournament win of the season has seen Gosport teenager Nathan Farmer home in on Matthew Bellinger at the top of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour rankings.

Farmer is now just two points adrift of Bellinger after claiming victory in the fourth leg at Salisbury Snooker Club.

A 2-1 win from 1-0 down against Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC) in the final gave the Stoke Snooker Club youngster maximum points.

Farmer, who also won in Swindon in November, finished second in Group A after a defeat by Trigg’s clubmate Olly Clark.

He saw off the phenomenal 12-year-old Woking schoolgirl Jasmine Bolsover 2-0 in the quarter-finals and his Stoke clubmate Karl Eggar by the same score in the last-four.

Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon) was knocked out 2-0 in the quarter-finals by Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC).

Petty didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after losing in the semi-finals for the fourth successive Cuestars event.

The 13-year-old, who was beaten 2-0 in the last-four by Trigg, said: “I played OK until I got to the semi-final.”

Trigg’s appearance in the final was the furthest the 15-year-old has ever been in a Cuestars tournament. He reached the quarter-finals twice in his debut season in 2010/11 but had not qualified for the knockout in this campaign.

He had progressed as runner-up in Group D, courtesy of a three-way play-off, and beaten Group A winner Clark, 12, 2-1 in the last-eight.

Group C winner Spike Hull, the fourth Chandler’s Ford SC player (see picture) to make the quarter-finals, lost 2-1 to Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport) after taking the first frame on the pink.

The fifth of the eight legs is at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club on Sunday, February 12.

BREAKS

Austen Petty: 27.

Michael Trigg: 25.

Matthew Bellinger: 20.

BRONZE RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Olly Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Thomas Holton (Woking SC); 5th, Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Matthew Boudier (Stoke SC, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Mickey Joyce (Crucible, Newbury); 4th, Arnie Petty (Greenbaize,Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 2nd, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Corey Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Trigg beat Clark 2-1, Austen Petty beat Bellinger 2-0, Eggar beat Hull 2-1, Farmer beat Bolsover 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Farmer beat Eggar 2-0, Trigg beat Austen Petty 2-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Farmer beat Trigg 2-1.

Ball bounces back 

STEWART Ball, who won the first 2011/12 Bronze Tour event in Salisbury in October, told cuestars.uk.com in December: “There are so many good players in Bronze.”

Ball, who is based at Greenbaize Snooker Club in Bournemouth, realised early in this campaign that the Bronze Tour would be extremely close.

Such is the tough competition that he failed to progress from the round-robin group stages in the last two events.

But Ball hasn’t lost his talent. He defeated Silver Tour player Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) 1-0 in the Plate final at Salisbury Snooker Club and is now ranked fifth.

PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)

LAST-16: Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Matthew Boudier (Stoke SC, Gosport), Lee Bell (Academy, Eastleigh) beat Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon), Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), beat Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex), Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) beat Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Daniel Knox (Woking SC).

QUARTER-FINALS: Holt beat Bell, Ball beat O’Sullivan, Browne beat Church, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester).

SEMI-FINALS: Ball beat Holt, Browne beat Cowdroy.

FINAL: Ball beat Browne. 

Picture by Kevin Legg: Chandler’s Ford SC foursome, from left: Olly Clark, Spike Hull, Mike Trigg, Austen Petty.

About Cuestars

Founded 18 years ago by director John Hunter, Cuestars runs grass-root snooker tournaments across the South of England and South Wales.

Competitions take place on Sundays between October and June, and cater for players aged eight to 80 – and in some cases even older!

All Cuestars tournaments, apart from the Team Championship, are played off scratch. There are no handicaps. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.

Competitions for 2011/12 include: South of England Championship Tour; Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours; Weekend Junior Section Rankings and Masters Tour (40+).

Website: cuestars.uk.com. E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.uk.com

OLLIE Douglas has won his first Cuestars tournament for more than 11 years.

 The 29-year-old emerged triumphant from a massive 36-strong field to claim victory in the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Championship Tour at his home club, The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury.

 Douglas – who won the Newbury Open at Newbury Snooker Club on April 30, 2000 – cruised through the knockout stage without dropping a frame and accounted for Alex O’Donoghue (Jesters,Swindon) 3-0 in the final.

 He moved straight into second place in the rankings.

 His 2-0 victory over Billy Castle in the round-robin group stages banished the event-one winner to the Plate competition.

 The competition for the £400 prize money was cut-throat with only the group winners progressing to the knockout. 

 Douglas, who did not play in the first leg, dispatched Adam Nash (Churchills, Eastleigh) 3-0 in the last-eight. Nash had cruised through Group C without dropping a frame, one of only two players to achieve this feat.

 The other was Neil Clayton (Woking Snooker Centre) in Group B, who was also knocked out in the quarter-finals – 3-2 by Group D winner Jonathan Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis).

 In the semis, Charlton lost 3-1 to O’Donoghue, who had seen off Group H winner Andy Vernon (Sunninghill Comrades Club, Ascot) 3-2 in the previous round.

 Sam Thomas (Penarth Road SC, Cardiff) qualified from a tight Group G by virtue of just one frame, beat Group E winner David Beakhouse (Colours, Reading) 3-0 but fell 3-0 to the eventual champion.

 Castle maintained top spot in the rankings with victory in the Plate competition.

 The 19-year-old, who is based at Cue T’s Snooker Lounge, Marchwood, fired in the day’s only century in the final.

 Welsh under-19 international Ed Topham (Rileys, Cardiff) was restricted to just two shots asEngland under-19 international Castle constructed a 101.

 Derek Castle, Billy’s dad, said: “Ed went for the only red on and missed it and Billy had 101 from it.

 “As the day went on, he got a lot more confident. The more he played, the better he was getting.

 And he added: “It was a very nice club.”

 Thatcham Snooker Club-based Sam Storey was “glad” he made his Championship Tour debut in Newbury

 The Silver Tour youngster said: “It was good fun and I wasn’t far from taking frames against some really good players.”

 Ten players from the host club took part and seven made the trip from Wales.

 Cuestars director John Hunter paid tribute to the “great” venue and vowed to bring more tournaments to Newbury.

 “It was a fantastic competition,” he said. “The venue was great and the tables were quality.

 “The feedback from the players was very positive. I would like to thank the club proprietor Andy Bolter and his staff.

 “The players appreciated all the tables being brushed and ironed for the start of the event. I’m looking forward to holding more competitions at Newbury’s Crucible Sports & Social Club.”

 The third leg of the six Cuestars Championship Tour events is on Sunday, January 27, at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

 BREAKS:

 Billy Castle: 101, 65, 53, 50, 50.

Alex O’Donoghue: 87.

Ollie Douglas: 79, 77.

Neil Clayton: 65.

Sam Thomas: 63.

Jonathan Charlton: 62.

David Beakhouse: 51.

 ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS

 GROUP A: 1st, Ollie Douglas (Crucible, Newbury); 2nd, Billy Castle (Cue T’s, Marchwood); joint 3rd, Neil Rampton (Crucible, Newbury) & Neil Winkworth (Crucible, Newbury); 5th, James Facey (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

 GROUP B: 1st, Neil Clayton (Woking SC); 2nd, Andy Bolter (Crucible, Newbury); 3rd, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 4th, Matthew Johns (West End Labour Club, Barry, Wales); 5th, Lewis Griffiths (Penarth Road SC, Cardiff).

 GROUP C: 1st, Adam Nash (Churchills, Eastleigh); 2nd, Paul Broome (Crucible, Newbury); 3rd, Aaron Watts (Crucible, Newbury); joint 4th, Neil Carroll (Salisbury SC) & Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead).

 GROUP D: 1st, Jonathan Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis); 2nd, Dominic Holmes (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 3rd, Jimmy Higgins (Crucible, Newbury); 4th, Alan Grainger (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 5th, Ollie Kendrick (Whitmore Reans Conservative Club, Wolverhampton).

 GROUP E: 1st, David Beakhouse (Colours, Reading); 2nd, Lewis Miles (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Edward Topham (Rileys, Cardiff); 4th, Robbie Self (Crucible, Newbury).

 GROUP F: 1st, Alex O’Donoghue (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Kennedy Brown (Swindon SC); 3rd, Vince Elphick (Hassocks Mens Club, West Sussex); 4th, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC).

 GROUP G: 1st, Sam Thomas (Penarth Road SC, Cardiff); 2nd, Craig Marsh (Crucible, Newbury); 3rd, Luke Reynolds (Ambassador, Poole); 4th, Kevin Ward (Hassocks Mens Club, West Sussex).

 GROUP H: 1st, Andy Vernon (Sunninghill Comrades Club, Ascot); 2nd, Chris Rice (Crucible, Newbury); 3rd, Martin Wallace (Colours, Reading); 4th, Dominic Johns (West End Labour Club, Barry, Wales).

 KNOCKOUT RESULTS

 QUARTER-FINALS (8 points, £20): Douglas beat Nash 3-0, Thomas beat Beakhouse 3-0, Charlton beat Clayton 3-2, O’Donoghue beat Vernon 3-2.

 SEMI-FINALS (12 points, £35): Douglas beat Thomas 3-0, O’Donoghue beat Charlton 3-1.

 FINAL (25/18 points, £150/£75): Douglas beat O’Donoghue 3-0.

 PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME SHOOT-OUT)

 LAST-32: Castle beat Reynolds, D Johns beat Matthews.

 LAST-16: Castle beat D Johns, Bolter beat Facey, Higgins beat Winkworth, Marsh beat M Johns, Rice beat Self, Rampton beat Griffiths, Wallace beat Watts, Topham beat Richards.

 QUARTER-FINALS: Castle beat Bolter, Higgins beat Marsh, Rice beat Rampton, Topham beat Wallace.

 SEMI-FINALS: Castle beat Higgins, Topham beat Rice.

FINAL (£25): Castle beat Topham.

THE latest club to join Cuestars dominated the second leg of the South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.

Jonjo Sharkey, who is based at The Crucible Sports & Social Club in Newbury, edged his clubmate Aaron Watts 3-2 in the final at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

Remarkably, both talented youngsters were making their Cuestars debuts and, remarkably, they both finished second in their round-robin groups.

In fact, Sharkey qualified for the semi-finals by virtue of just one frame from Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury) after 2-1 defeats by Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury) and Daniel Langford (Crucible, Newbury).

Meanwhile, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh), has shot to the top of the Gold Tour rankings.

The 19-year-old compiled breaks of 89, 72, 61 and 56 to win his four-man group, which included finalist Watts, without dropping a frame but was beaten 3-0 by tournament winner Sharkey in the last-four.

Watts accounted for fourth-placed Tallentire 3-1 in the second semi.

The Crucible will host its first Cuestars tournament, the second leg of the Championship Tour, on Sunday, November 27.

The third of the eight legs on the Gold Tour is at the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, December 11.

BREAKS

Ben Tanner: 89, 72, 61, 56.

GOLD RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Jonjo Sharkey (Crucible, Newbury); 3rd, Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Daniel Langford (Crucible, Newbury).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 2nd, Aaron Watts (Crucible, Newbury); 3rd, Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead); 4th, Ollie Kendrick (Whitmore Reans Cons, Wolverhampton).

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Watts beat Tallentire 3-1, Sharkey beat Tanner 3-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Sharkey beat Watts 3-2.

Bodman leads Silver Tour

SWINDON’S Troy Bodman surged to the top of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour rankings after dropping just one frame out of 11 in the second leg at his home club, Jesters Snooker Hall.

Bodman, last season’s Bronze champion, defeated Thomas Lancastle (Eastville Snooker Club, Bristol) 2-0 in the final.

The only frame he lost all day was in a 2-1 quarter-final victory over Anthony Church (Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth).

And the Group B winner, who lost in the first-leg final at Salisbury last month, accounted for last season’s Bronze ranking winner Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) 2-0 in the semi-finals.

Group D winner Lancastle, formerly at World Championship finalist Judd Trump’s old club in Keynsham, beat Group B runner-up Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 2-0 in the quarter-finals and event-one winner Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) 2-1 in the last-four.

It was a second successive quarter-final exit for Holt in his debut season on the Silver Tour. Another new boy, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC), qualified for the knockout for the first time but went out 2-0 to Browne.

In the other quarter-final tie, Lee beat Group C winner Jodie Symes (Jesters, Swindon) 2-0.

Three of the four semi-finalists from the first leg in Salisbury made it to the last-four in Swindon. Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) failed to qualify from the group stages and was replaced by Browne. These five occupy the top five places in the rankings.

Bodman, on 43 points, leads Lee by six. Lancastle is seven points further back in third. Browne and Ives are tied in fourth on 17.

The third of the eight legs is at the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, December 11.

BREAKS

Callum Browne: 39.

SILVER RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); joint 3rd, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) & Robbie Self (Crucible, Newbury).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Jodie Symes (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol); 2nd, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC); 3rd, Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Browne beat Storey 2-0, Bodman beat Church 2-1, Lee beat Symes 2-0, Lancastle beat Holt 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Bodman beat Browne 2-0, Lancastle beat Lee 2-1.

FINAL (25/18 points): Bodman beat Lancastle 2-0.

Farmer reaps first tournament win

IT WAS certainly not a stroll in the park for Gosport’s Nathan Farmer as he won his first ever tournament on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.

The Stoke Snooker Club youngster survived a three-way play-off to qualify as runner-up in his round-robin group in the second leg at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

And all three of his knockout matches went to a third and deciding frame.

Farmer beat Spike Hull and Austen Petty (both Chandler’s Ford SC) 2-1 and triumphed by the same score in the final against the home club’s Matthew Bellinger.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Farmer, who finished bottom of his group and winless in event-one last month in Salisbury.

Farmer climbed to third in the rankings, one point behind Bellinger. Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) remains in top spot with a three-point cushion.

Bellinger, a semi-finalist at Salisbury, saw off Group B winner Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) and Group A winner John Jason Smith (Crucible, Newbury) both 2-1.

Smith, on his Cuestars debut, had beaten Woking’s Jasmine Bolsover 2-1 in the quarter-finals.

It was quite an eventful day for rising star Austen Petty.

The 13-year-old and his mum got lost on the way to Swindon.

He then recorded his highest break while defeating the event-one champion to reach the semi-finals for the second tournament running.

Petty, in his second season on the tour, qualified from his five-man round-robin group and compiled a personal best 32 break in a 2-1 quarter-final victory over Ball, who won at Salisbury.

After his defeat by Farmer, Petty said: “As soon as I got through (the group stage), I thought I could win the whole tournament. But he played very well and I didn’t play that well.”

The third of the eight legs is at the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, December 11.

BREAKS

Bradley Cowdroy: 34.
Austen Petty: 32, 23.

BRONZE RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, John Jason Smith (Crucible, Newbury); 2nd, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Oliver Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 5th, Corey Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Thomas Holton (Woking SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Mitchell Snook (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Mickey Joyce (Crucible, Newbury); 5th, Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 3rd, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Joseph Richardson (Crucible, Newbury); 5th, Bradley Lane (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Smith beat Bolsover 2-1, Bellinger beat K Petty 2-1, Farmer beat Hull 2-1, Austen Petty beat Ball 2-1.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Bellinger beat Smith 2-1, Farmer beat Austen Petty 2-1.

FINAL (25/18 points): Farmer beat Bellinger 2-1.

Consolation for Winfield

DANIEL Winfield (Player’s, Westbury), who missed out on qualifying for the Gold Tour knockout by just one frame, eased the pain by sweeping to victory in the Plate competition.

The 17-year-old overcame the highly-rated nine-year-old Bradley Cowdroy, who is based at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, 2-1 in the final.

Event-one Plate winner Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) lost to Cowdroy in the quarter-finals.

PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)

LAST-32: Bradley Lane (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon), Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).

LAST-16: Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon) beat Mickey Joyce (Crucible, Newbury), Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury) beat Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester), Oliver Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe), Eggar beat Lane, Daniel Langford (Crucible, Newbury) beat Robbie Self (Crucible, Newbury), Joseph Richardson (Crucible, Newbury) beat Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead), Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Corrie Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury).

QUARTER-FINALS: Winfield beat Hall, Eggar beat Clark, Langford beat Richardson, Cowdroy beat Lloyd.

SEMI-FINALS: Winfield beat Eggar, Cowdroy beat Langford.

FINAL: Winfield beat Cowdroy 2-1.

TWO days after playing Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Players Tour Championship (PTC), Jordan Winbourne rocketed to the top of the 2011/12 Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour rankings.

Although the 15-year-old lost 4-0 to the three-time world champion in a match streamed live on the internet, reports suggested he was unlucky not to take a couple of frames.

Winbourne landed his dream tie against O’Sullivan after winning two amateur rounds in PTC 7, the Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy, at the South West Snooker Academy (SWSA), Gloucester.

Like all the players and officials, the youngster wore a pink polo shirt to raise awareness of breast cancer which claimed the life of SWSA owner Paul Mount’s sister, after whom the trophy was named.

For proud dad Chris, one of more than a hundred people watching in the main arena, it was time for a “reality check”.

“It was incredible,” he said. “You look up and see Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jordan Winbourne on the screen and you’ve got to do a bit of a reality check.

“To play Ronnie in an exhibition game is one thing, but to play him in a proper tournament when it really matters…well, there’s not many people that get to do that, is there?

“Jordan’s proved, if it needed proving, that his technique and temperament can stand up to anything.”

While admitting to being a bit nervous in the first frame, Winbourne said: “I didn’t really mind who I played.”

And when the players shook hands after the match?

“I said ‘good luck in the next round’ and he said ‘thanks’.”

Less than 48 hours later, the teenager from Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club was in action on the Gold Tour at Salisbury Snooker Club.

And he edged his friend, clubmate and south-coast rival Shane Castle, 13, 3-2 in the semi-finals. Leading 1-0 and 2-1, Winbourne took the decider with a couple of 30-plus breaks.

“It was a bit of a scrappy match, really,” he admitted. “And it was a bit of a struggle.”

Winbourne, who dropped just four frames out of 21 all day, accounted for last season’s Silver champion Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead) 3-0 in his round-robin group.

The final was a one-sided affair as the England international dispatched Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh) 2-0.

The second of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, November 13.

BREAKS

Shane Castle: 66, 59, 55, 52.
Ben Tanner: 55, 54.
Jordan Winbourne: 53.

GOLD RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Shane Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead); 4th, Lee Roling (The Academy, Eastleigh).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Stuart Scott (Romford SC); 4th, James Bolton (Salisbury SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Ollie Kendrick (Whitmore Reans Cons, Wolverhampton); 2nd, Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Castle beat Tallentire 3-0, Winbourne beat Bell 3-1, Chappell beat Impett 3-1, Tanner beat Kendrick 3-1.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Winbourne beat Castle 3-2, Tanner beat Chappell 3-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Winbourne beat Tanner 2-0.

Revenge is sweet

SWINDON’S Joshua Lee exacted sweet revenge over his friend and clubmate Troy Bodman to claim the first leg of the 2011/12 Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour at Salisbury Snooker Club.

Lee had lost 2-1 to last season’s Bronze champion Bodman in the group stages but the tables were turned when the Jesters Snooker Hall-based potters met in the final.

As well as chalking up a 2-0 victory to take an early lead in the rankings, Lee also compiled an impressive 56 break – the highest of the day on the Silver Tour.

Newbury’s Sam Storey (Thatcham SC), who made his Silver Tour debut at Salisbury, proved he can compete at this higher standard after picking up a couple of frames against decent opposition.

Another former Bronze player, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club High Wycombe), who came third in the rankings and made a quarter-final exit in the championship, won Group C but was knocked out 2-1 in the last-eight by his clubmate Paul Ives.

And the 2010/11 Bronze rankings winner Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) may consider himself unlucky to be drawn in a tough Group A with the two finalists.

The second of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, November 13.

BREAKS

Joshua Lee: 56.

SILVER RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham SC); 2nd, Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club High Wycombe); 2nd, Connor Probets (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Jamie Perry (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Connor McLean (Eastbourne); 3rd, Josh Brooker (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Bodman beat McLean 2-1, Lancastle beat Probets 2-0, Ives beat Holt 2-1, Lee beat Perry 2-1.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Bodman beat Lancastle 2-1, Lee beat Ives 2-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Lee beat Bodman 2-0.

Stewart on the Ball

YOUNG potters from Bournemouth dominated the first leg of the 2011/12 Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.

Stewart Ball defeated his nine-year-old Greenbaize clubmate Bradley Cowdroy 2-1 in the final at Salisbury Snooker Club.

Ball, who finished 15th last season, qualified in second place from his round-robin group after a defeat by Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon).

But wins over the phenomenal 11-year-old Woking schoolgirl Jasmine Bolsover and Chandler’s Ford’s in-form Austen Petty booked Ball a place in the final.

It was Petty’s first ever semi-final appearance in a Cuestars competition and it came a week after he compiled his first 30 break. The 13-year-old saw off clubmate and practice-partner Spike Hull in the quarter-finals.

After ending Oliver Clark’s run to the last-eight, Bellinger came unstuck against Cowdroy, who was joint 12th in 2010/11. Cowdroy had knocked out Group A winner Corey Tallentire.

The second of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, November 13.

And now in the first of an exciting new series, guest columnist Oliver Clark takes a look at life on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.

CLARK’S CORNER

TWO nervous youngsters made their Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour debut on Sunday, October 8.

The Bronze event received a good turnout of 17 people across a range of ages.

Mathew Boudier is an 11-year-old from Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport. I spoke to him before the draw and he seemed very excited but rather nervous. Matt started well with a good win over Jasmine Bolsover, Woking, but suffered a close defeat to Oliver Clark, Chandlers Ford.

Another close defeat to Kaine Petty, Bournemouth, put Matt in a potential three way tie but a safety that caught the jaws left Jasmine to beat Oliver on the pink, knocking Matt out.

Mitchell Snook is a 13-year-old player from Chandlers Ford Snooker Club and has only been playing snooker for a mere nine months. Before the event Mitchell was very nervous as this was his first major tournament.

Mitchell faced a tough draw including club-mate Spike Hull and Corey Tallentire, Westbury.

Though he was disappointed with his overall performance, Mitchell told me: “Today I realised that safety is very important at this level of snooker.”

Though both players failed to qualify at this event, both have shown enough potential to be looked out for in future Cuestars events.

Finally, a well done to Stewart Ball, from Bournemouth’s Greenbaize Snooker Club, who defeated club-mate Bradley Cowdroy 2-1 in the final.

BRONZE RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Corey Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Thomas Holton (Woking SC); 5th, Mitchell Snook (Chandler’s Ford SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 2nd, Oliver Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Matthew Boudier (Stoke SC, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Austen Petty beat Hull 1-0, Ball beat Bolsover 1-0, Bellinger beat Clark 1-0, Cowdroy beat Tallentire 1-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Ball beat Petty 1-0, Cowdroy beat Bellinger 1-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Ball beat Cowdroy 2-1.

Lloyd: one to watch

SILVER Tour player Mark Lloyd accounted for the Gold Tour’s Oliver Parsons to claim victory in the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Plate competition.

Lloyd, based at Stoke SC, Gosport, failed to qualify from a tough group containing both finalists but triumphed in the consolation competition.

A Silver Championship finalist in 2010/11, Lloyd’s rapid progress in recent years could see him become one of the youngest players to qualify for the elite Gold Tour.

PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)

LAST-32: Josh Brooker (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Matthew Boudier (Stoke SC, Gosport), Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

LAST-16: Farmer beat Brooker, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

QUARTER-FINALS: Lloyd beat Farmer, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) beat Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon) beat Mitchell Snook (Chandler’s Ford SC),

SEMI-FINALS: Lloyd beat Flanagan, Parsons beat Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

FINAL: Lloyd beat Parsons.

Rogers completes remarkable recovery

A WELSH snooker amateur has been crowned Cuestars South of England Champion ten weeks after a third operation to reconstruct his left knee.

Andy Rogers, who is based at Rileys in Newport, South Wales, completed his phenomenal recovery with a resounding victory at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

Speaking after the final, Rogers described the last ten weeks as a “dream”.

He said: “It’s like a stepping stone, to see how I was doing between having the operations, coming back, just playing for fun and then all of a sudden now it’s progressing.

“It’s unbelievable; it’s mad.”

The 28-year-old pocketed £100 and the Cuestars title after breaks of 45, 51 and 42 helped him beat Jonathan Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis) 3-0 in the final.

The former Challenge Tour player suffered a horrific football injury less than two years ago. Three operations in 18 months have left his left leg half an inch shorter.

But he insisted: “I’ve been playing better now than I was before.

“I had 18 months when I couldn’t practise for more than 20 minutes. I just thought that was it, really, with snooker.

“I was then told by a surgeon that if I’d left my knee as it was for another three or four months, I could have been in a wheelchair. So he reconstructed my leg and here we are now.

“It’s been one battle towards something I enjoy. And now I’m enjoying it again and everything is happening.”

Rogers thanked his close friend, coach and driver, Ray Dando, who was in his corner in Swindon.

“We do everything together,” explained Rogers, who will now target World Snooker’s Players Tour Championship. “It’s a good relationship because we have a laugh.”

Dando said: “He’s a good lad; he listens. Andrew probably wasn’t ready before; now he’s ready.”

Rogers, who reached the final of a Pro-Am in Brighton a couple of weeks ago, only competed in one leg of the Cuestars Championship Tour.

But the 25 points he picked up for victory in the seventh event saw him creep into the play-off spots in joint 13th place. 

Rankings winner Ryan Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) was knocked out in the quarter-finals 3-1 by 15-year-old England international Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC).

BREAKS

Alex Dunkley: 61.
Andy Rogers: 51.

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

LAST-16: Ryan Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) beat Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff) 3-1, Andy Rogers (Rileys, Newport, Wales) beat Billy Castle (Marchwood Cue T’s) 3-2, Mike Finn (Woolston Cons, Southampton) beat Will Meharg (Chandler’s Ford SC) 3-0, Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh) beat Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh) 3-1, Jonathan Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis) beat David Beakhouse (Colours SC, Reading) 3-0, Alex Dunkley (Marchwood Cue T’s) beat Adam Nash (Woolston Cons, Southampton) 3-0. Byes: Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC), Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading).

QUARTER-FINALS (£10): Winbourne beat Mears 3-1, Rogers beat Wallace 3-0, Finn beat McLean 3-1, Charlton beat Dunkley 3-2.

SEMI-FINALS (£25): Charlton beat Finn 3-0, Rogers beat Winbourne 3-1.

FINAL (£100/£50): Rogers beat Charlton 3-0.

Richards strikes Gold

CARDIFF’S Chris Richards struck gold at the Cuestars South of England finals days at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

The 21-year-old declared his victory in the Under-21 Gold Championship final as “my best result of the season”.

Richards, who is based at Roath Labour Club, shaded the highly-rated Billy Castle 3-1 to secure the title.

“He was the favourite,” insisted the Welshman. “I had to give it all I’ve got. I took the first frame on the pink so that gave me a bit of confidence for the rest of the game.”

Castle, from Cue T’s in Marchwood, near Southampton, countered with a 44 break. Then, trailing 2-1, the 18-year-old England international missed a tricky pink to level.

He said: “I was a bit close to the cushion and digging down on the cue-ball. I don’t like those shots and I rattled it. He potted a good long pink and the black.”

A delighted Richards, who finished runner-up in the rankings, said: “It’s got to be my best result of the season.

“I didn’t expect to get to the final. I knew I had the potential to get there. Whether I got there or not was a different story, but I did. I came up against the best player in the tournament and I got a good victory. It’s the best I’ve played for a while.

Castle added: “I’m a bit disappointed but I’ll get over it. That’s the problem sometimes, you go in as favourite and then you lose. But he deserved it; he played better than me. He potted more balls than me.”

As well as his Championship trophy, Richards collected a John Parris cue and case voucher.

BREAKS:

Billy Castle: 70.
Jordan Winbourne: 54, 50.

UNDER-21 GOLD RESULTS

LAST-16: Billy Castle (Cue T’s, Marchwood) beat Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury) 3-0, Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) 3-2, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh) beat Liam Burnet (The Academy, Eastleigh) 3-1, Lee Carlton (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh) 3-0, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff) beat Lee Warner (Stoke SC, Gosport) 3-0. Byes: Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC), James Facey (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff), Bouwe Bosma (Chandler’s Ford SC).

QUARTER-FINALS: Castle beat Woods 3-2, Winbourne beat Tanner 3-0, Facey beat Carlton 3-2, Richards beat Bosma 3-1.

SEMI-FINALS: Richards beat Facey 3-0, Castle beat Winbourne 3-1.

FINAL: Richards beat Castle 3-1.

Matthews edges Lloyd in Silver thriller

READING’S Dean Matthews pounced on the one chance he needed to become Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Champion at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

At 1-0 down in the final to Mark Lloyd and facing a pink-ball battle in the second, the 17-year-old thought he was out.

But his young opponent from Stoke SC, Gosport, attempted a long shot and left the frame ball hanging over the pocket.

Matthews, who did not drop a frame up to the final, snapped up the gift and compiled a 34 break in the decider.

Before the second frame, Matthews told himself to “step up” his game and “stop going for all the long pots and start playing safe”.

Speaking after the final, he said: “I cued quite well today.

“You just want one chance and I took it. It was close until I knocked in the 34 break in the last frame and that killed the game off. I’m just happy to win.”

Matthews, who is coached by ex-pro Dylan Leary, is based at the Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead. 

He competed in five legs of this season’s Silver Tour and finished runner-up twice and losing semi-finalist twice.

Rankings winner Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury) went out in the quarter-finals 2-1 to Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon).

BREAKS:

Oliver Parsons: 38.
Dean Matthews: 34.
James Inglis: 25.

UNDER-21 SILVER RESULTS

LAST-16: Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) beat Jamie Perry (Jesters, Swindon) 2-1, Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead) beat Robert Henley (The Academy, Eastleigh) 2-0, Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham SC) beat Jodie Symes (Jesters, Swindon) 2-0, James Inglis (Rileys, Worcester) beat Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 2-0. Byes: Daniel Winfield (Westbury), Oliver Parsons (Swindon), Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport), Gary Wilkins (Player’s, Westbury).

QUARTER-FINALS: Lee beat Winfield 2-1, Matthews beat Wilkins 2-0, Lancastle beat Parsons 2-0, Lloyd beat Inglis 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS: Matthews beat Lee 2-0, Lloyd beat Parsons 2-0.

FINAL: Matthews beat Lloyd 2-1.

Bronze champion Bodman edges ranking winner Browne

SWINDON teenager Troy Bodman edged past rankings winner Callum Browne to clinch the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Championship at his home club, Jesters Snooker Hall.

After the 2-0 victory, the 15-year-old paid tribute to his opponent from Player’s, Westbury.

He said: “He’s a great potter. I had to keep it tight.”

In the second frame, Bodman potted the brown to leave Browne chasing snookers. And when Browne went ‘in off’ the blue the contest was over.

Bodman dropped just one frame all day, in the semi-finals to Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester).

Victory in the final leg of the eight-event Bronze Tour, also at Jesters, meant Bodman qualified as seventh seed for the play-off. 

He described his coach Paul Rose as “alright”.

BREAKS:

Joshua Hughes: 27.

UNDER-21 BRONZE RESULTS

LAST-16: Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) beat Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-0, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Sam Storey (Thatcham SC) 2-0, Robert Harding (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) beat Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC) 2-0, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club High Wycombe) beat Derrick Volante (Jesters, Swindon) 2-0, Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester) beat Oliver Clark (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-0, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon) beat Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-0, Connor Probets (Jesters, Swindon) beat Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) 2-1. Bye: Andrew Dyer (Player’s, Westbury).

QUARTER-FINALS: Browne beat Dyer 2-0, Harding beat Cowdroy 2-1, Hughes beat Holt 2-0, Bodman beat Probets 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS: Browne beat Harding 2-1, Bodman beat Hughes 2-1.

FINAL: Bodman beat Browne 2-0.

Norton clinches Seniors championship with a £3.57p cue

PORTSMOUTH snooker star Colin Norton has claimed a major seniors title with a cue he bought for £3.57p.

The 45-year-old ground out a 3-1 victory over Nick Birney to clinch the Cuestars South of England Seniors (40+) Championship title at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

“It wasn’t pretty snooker but at the end of the day it’s all about winning,” insisted Norton, who also claimed top spot in the rankings after a four-leg tour.
 
Window cleaner Norton, based at Fareham Snooker Club, took the first frame in the final by cutting a tricky pink in with the cue-ball close to the side cushion.

Trailing by 30 points with three reds left in the second, Norton fashioned a 38 break. He later sunk the pink to double his advantage.

Birney, from the Liberal Club, High Wycombe, pulled one back after leaving his opponent chasing snookers on the last red.

And Birney led again in the fourth frame, this time by 16. But an attempted ‘cocked hat’ shot saw red and cue-ball disappear into opposite middle pockets.

After a catalogue of snookers, ‘in offs’ and safety shots, Norton cleared the last three colours to win on the black.

“It wasn’t the quickest of matches,” admitted Norton. “I know Nick’s a very good potter and I thought the best way to get the better of him would be to close him out. He’s a very good player; he had 120 break during the day.”

And he added: “I do love snooker; I always have done. I don’t think I could ever give it up.”

According to Norton’s travelling companion Danny O’Driscoll, Norton ground Birney down “with good matchplay and good safety play”.

And O’Driscoll said Birney performed a passable impression of world number one Mark Williams at one point when he swiped the air with his cue after missing an easy pot.

Last month, a broken cue in a working men’s club in Prestatyn, North Wales, took Norton’s fancy. He offered the owner all the change he had in his pocket as a donation. The £3.57p bid was accepted. And Norton repaired it himself.

Earlier, Ray Mears conceded more points in fouls in his third frame against Birney than he actually scored in the whole match.

Mears, based at the Sovereign Snooker Club, Farnborough, chalked up seven points in the first frame, none in the second – as Birney missed the final pink on a magnificent 120 – and 11 in the third. But he gave away 20.

“I didn’t play that bad,” he said.

BREAKS:

Nick Birney: 120, 89.
Colin Norton: 78, 64.
Steve Ashton: 46.

SENIORS RESULTS

LAST-16: Colin Norton (Fareham SC) beat Alan Thomas (Jesters, Swindon) 3-0, Gary Hart (Salisbury SC) beat Ron Ellis (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey) 3-0, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club) beat Danny O’Driscoll (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) 3-1, Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC) beat Fred Pearce (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey) 3-0, Nick Birney (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) 3-0, Paul Rose (Jesters, Swindon) beat Neil Carroll (Salisbury SC) 3-0, Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading) beat Alan Grainger (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 3-1. Bye: David Volante (Jesters, Swindon).

QUARTER-FINALS (£10): Norton beat Hart 3-0, Ashton beat Thorn 3-2, Birney beat Volante 3-0, Wallace beat Rose 3-2.

SEMI-FINALS (£25): Norton beat Ashton 3-1, Birney beat Wallace 3-2.

FINAL (£85/£45): Norton beat Birney 3-1.

Eagle-eyed Grainger lands Super-60s

EXCELLENT long potting helped Alan Grainger overcome his 82-year-old opponent in the Cuestars Super Sixties final at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

The 66-year-old from the Liberal Club, High Wycombe, who also claimed last year’s Masters (50+) title, prevailed 2-0 against Ron Ellis.

He said: “I was quite amazed to do it again. Ron started off well.”

Indeed, Ellis, from Burgh Heath Comrades & Social Club, Tadworth, Surrey, flew into the lead but ran out of steam as eagle-eyed Grainger sunk long pot after long pot.

Ellis said: “I was 20-odd in front and then I started missed them. I had a good run but he played very well.

“I did well to get to the final. I just enjoy coming down. That’s what it’s all about.”

SUPER 60s RESULTS

PRELIM: Alan Grainger beat Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS: Ron Ellis (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey) beat Fred Pearce (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey) 2-0, Grainger beat Alan Thomas (Jesters, Swindon) 2-0.

FINAL: Grainger beat Ellis 2-0.

Wood you believe it?

FOR the second year running, a team from Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club collected the Cuestars South of England Family Doubles trophy.

Gold Tour rankings champion Daniel Woods, aided and abetted by his dad Steve, defeated Bradley Chappell and his dad Colin in the final.

Daniel, 20, did most of the damage with a 32 break.

Bradley Chappell’s dad Colin was appearing in his first ever snooker final.

Last year, Jordan Winbourne and dad Chris emerged victorious from the 18-team line-up. This year, the field increased to 20 pairs.

FAMILY DOUBLES RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)

PRELIMS: Jamie & Keith Perry (Jesters, Swindon) beat Connor & Derrick Probets (Jesters, Swindon), Ray & Ryan Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) beat Troy & John Bodman (Jesters, Swindon), Bradley Chappell & dad Colin (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Jason & Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester), Jim & Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Terry & Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh).  

LAST-16: Ray & Ryan Mears beat Jamie & Keith Perry, Bradley Chappell & dad Colin beat Jim & Bradley Cowdroy, Scott & Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Duncan & Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Colin & Robert Henley (The Academy, Eastleigh) beat Lee & Mick Carlton (Liberal Club, High Wycombe), Daniel & Steve Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Kyle & Mason Hollow (The Academy, Basingstoke), Malcolm Scuse & Danny Tallentire (Player’s Westbury) beat Kevin & Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh), David & Derrick Volante (Jesters, Swindon) beat Nathan & Alan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport), Josh Lee & Pete Davies (Jesters, Swindon) beat Nick & Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury).

QUARTER-FINALS: Scott & Daniel Compton beat Colin & Robert Henley, Daniel & Steve Woods beat Malcolm Scuse & Danny Tallentire, Josh Lee & Pete Davies beat David & Derrick Volante, Bradley Chappell & dad Colin beat Ray & Ryan Mears.

SEMI-FINALS: Daniel & Steve Woods beat Josh Lee & Pete Davies, Bradley Chappell & dad Colin beat Scott & Daniel Compton.

FINAL: Daniel & Steve Woods beat Bradley Chappell & dad Colin.

“Gutted” Tallentire claims Six-Reds title

CUESTARS Six-Reds champion Danny Tallentire ran the whole gamut of emotions during Finals Day at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

The 18-year-old from Player’s, Westbury, said he had “never been so gutted in my life” after letting guest professional Ryan Day off the hook by miscuing the final black with the rest.

Tallentire’s misery began with a 3-0 last-16 defeat by Billy Castle (Cue T’s, Marchwood) in the Gold Championship.

But it finished with a 2-1 victory over Lee Warner (Stoke SC, Gosport) in the final of the Cuestars South of England Six-Reds Challenge.

Tallentire said: “It was a nice finish to the snooker season. But I can’t say I enjoyed miscuing on a black-ball game against world number 28 Ryan Day.

“I’ve never been so gutted in my life. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never cued across the ball so far in my life – and at the worst time possible.”

No miscues were reported in the Six-Reds final.

BREAKS:

Lee Bell: 36.

SIX-REDS CHALLENGE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME UP TO THE FINAL)

LAST-32: Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury) beat Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe), Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Rob Henley (The Academy, Eastleigh), Will Meharg (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham SC), Liam Burnet (The Academy, Eastleigh) beat Oliver Clark (Stoke SC, Gosport), Lee Warner (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport), Derrick Volante (Jesters, Swindon) beat Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh), Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat David Volante (Jesters, Swindon), Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh) beat Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough), Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Jodie Symes (Jesters, Swindon), Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Ashley Smith (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury) beat Ryan Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Lee Carlton (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Andy Dyer (Player’s, Westbury), Adam Nash (Woolston Conservative Club, Southampton) beat Mick Carlton (Liberal Club, High Wycombe). Byes: Gary Wilkins (Player’s, Westbury), Danny O’Driscoll (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

LAST-16: Tallentire beat Carlton, O’Driscoll beat Holt, Chappell beat Winfield, Meharg beat Burnet, Warner beat Derrick Volante, Bell beat Eggar, Ball beat D Compton, Wilkins beat Nash.

QUARTER-FINALS: Chappell beat Meharg, O’Driscoll beat Wilkins, Tallentire beat Ball, Warner beat Bell.

SEMI-FINALS: Warner beat Chappell, Tallentire beat O’Driscoll.

FINAL: Tallentire beat Warner 2-1.

Ryan’s Day

GUEST-of-honour Ryan Day hot-footed it across from Gloucester to fulfill his pledge to play exhibition frames against Cuestars champions and present the trophies.

That morning, the world number 28 has been competing in the Pink Ribbon Tournament at the South West Snooker Academy.

He lost 4-0 to Michael Holt in the last-16 and reached Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, soon after dinner.

Welsh professional Day explained: “I went for everything and got beaten in about 20 minutes and rushed to get here on time.”
 
Day played 17 exhibition frames and was only beaten by Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury). The 16-year-old triumphed 53-50.

Gold Tour rankings champion Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC) compiled a 43 break against the world number 28 – but lost on the pink. Alex Dunkley (Cue T’s, Marchwood) also took Day to the last two balls.

Day, 31, notched up three centuries: 109 against Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh), 122 against James Inglis (Rileys, Worcester) and 100 against Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).

“I played OK, actually,” he said. “Considering I haven’t played a lot of snooker after the World Championship.

“It’s nice to see a full club with lots of enthusiastic players all competing in different events. There’s certainly some good players in amongst the ones I played.

“It’s encouraging, also, to see the youngsters all dressed up very smartly and keen as mustard to play and get better.”

Day said he arrived at Jesters to find the club was “absolutely choc-a-block”.

After hearing about all the different competitions taking place, he said: “It sounds as though it’s pretty much a logistical nightmare for whoever is running it.”

And he added: “It was obvious (Cuestars) has been quite successful for a number of years.” 

Weekend Section champions who received awards from Day were: Kyle Hollow (The Academy, Basingstoke), Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh), Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Jodie Symes (Jesters, Swindon) and Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury).

Thanks…

CUESTARS would like to thank:

Tournament director Paul Rose (Jesters, Swindon).

Referees and organisers Roy Danyluk (Liberal Club, High Wycombe), Colin Henley (The Academy, Eastleigh) and Alan Thomas (Jesters, Swindon).

Ryan Day for providing moments of magic that the youngsters will be able to tell their grandchildren about.

Jesters Snooker Hall for handing over their entire club to Cuestars for the day and serving up mountains of sausage, egg, beans and chips and an endless stream of coffee and tea.

Kevin Smithers (top snooker photographer from thesnookerforum.com) for the presentation pictures.

And John Hunter (Cuestars founder and director) who managed to squeeze 17 exhibition frames with Ryan Day and eight separate competitions into seven-and-a-half hours. OK, the Seniors over-ran. But we’ll forgive him that. Take the summer off, John.

COLIN Norton recorded a whopping 140 total clearance at the final leg of the Cuestars South of England Seniors (40+) Tour but it was title-rival Martin Wallace who again took the honours.

Wallace, based at Colours Snooker Club, Reading, edged out rankings winner Norton 2-1 in a high-scoring final at the Ambassador Snooker Club, Poole.
 
Wallace opened with a 61 break. Norton responded with an 81.

Drawn together in the same round-robin group, Norton (Fareham Snooker Club) accounted for Wallace 2-0 and did not drop a frame in four matches.

The pair, who have each won two of the four tournaments, have met five times this season.

Norton overcame Wallace 2-0 in the group stages at Chandler’s Ford SC, last November, and by the same score in the quarter-finals at Salisbury, in January

However, Wallace dispatched Norton 2-0 in the semi-finals of the third leg in Swindon, in March.

Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club) romped through Group B winning all eight frames. But he was denied a first final appearance by Wallace in the last-four.

In the second semi, 82-year-old Ron Ellis, runner-up in Group B, was beaten by Norton.

Meanwhile, Neil Carroll didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

For the third tournament running, the 46-year-old was drawn in the same round-robin group as the eventually finalists.

And he was on the receiving end of Norton’s monster break in the last Group A match.

“Our first frame was pretty scrappy,” said Carroll. “I had several chances but didn’t take them.

“In the second frame, I broke off and Colin knocked in a 140 break. It was an excellent break, certainly the highest I’ve witnessed.

“Colin said ‘blimey, where did that come from?’ I replied ‘I don’t know, but don’t do it again’.”

Carroll, one of seven players from Salisbury Snooker Club to qualify for the Play-Off, finished third in his five-man group and seventh in the rankings.

Ray Mears pointed out: “Neil didn’t get an easier group this time!”

Needing a victory to qualify for the knockout, Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) lost 2-1 on the pink to Alan Childs (Salisbury SC).

The top-16 ranked players who qualify for the Championship Play-Off at Jesters, Swindon, on Sunday, June 5, in front of guest-of-honour Ryan Day are:

Colin Norton (Fareham SC), Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading), John Hunter (Salisbury SC), Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC), Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club), Nick Birney (Liberal Club, High Wycombe), Neil Carroll (Salisbury SC), Paul Burt (Salisbury SC), Ron Ellis (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey), Gary Hart (Salisbury SC), David Brabiner (First Tower, Jersey), Paul Rose (Jesters, Swindon), Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough), Danny O’Driscoll (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Richard Arnold (Salisbury SC), Alan Childs (Salisbury SC).

BREAKS

Colin Norton: 140, 81, 80.
Martin Wallace: 61.

RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Colin Norton (Fareham SC); 2nd, Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading); 3rd, Neil Carroll (Salisbury SC); 4th, Alan Grainger (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 5th, Danny O’Driscoll (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club); 2nd, Ron Ellis (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey); 3rd, Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 4th, Alan Childs (Salisbury SC); 5th, Fred Pearce (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey).

SEMI-FINALS (£10, 12 points): Norton beat Ellis 2-0, Wallace beat Thorn 2-0.

FINAL (£40/£20, 25/18 points): Wallace beat Norton 2-1.

BILLY Castle insists he’s “relaxed and confident” ahead of the Cuestars South of England Championship play-off after shading Alex Dunkley in the final of the last leg.

The 18-year-old from Marchwood, who had lost in the quarter-finals in all four previous events he’d played in this season, will be seeded fifth on Finals Day in Swindon, on June 5.

Cue T’s clubmates, and practice partners, Castle and Dunkley met in the final of the eighth event at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club.

Playing with a brand new tip, Castle constructed a break of 83 to lead 2-0. Dunkley, 23, forced a decider, needed a snooker on the colours but went ‘in off’ the final black.

Castle said: “My game is coming back now and I’m more relaxed and confident.

“I’ve got a great chance of winning the Championship Tour in Swindon if I carry my form through.”

Earlier, Castle, who pocketed £60, recorded breaks of 69, 62, 51 and 50.

In the knockout stage, he accounted for Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading) 3-0 and Jonathan Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis) 3-1.

Dunkley, who collected £30 and finished runner-up in the rankings, made breaks of 75 and 60 in defeating 15-year-old Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC) 3-0 in the quarter-finals. He beat Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh) 3-1 to reach the final.

Dunkley has reached three finals this season – and lost them all.

McLean, whose break of 92 was the highest of 20 half-centuries scored throughout the tournament, finished second to Castle in his round-robin group and accounted for David Beakhouse (Colours SC, Reading) 3-1 in the last-eight.

At the same stage, Charlton prevailed 3-0 against Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh).

Cuestars director John Hunter will invite both Adam Nash and Chris Richards, who finished joint 16th, to the Championship Play-Off at Jesters, Swindon, on Sunday, June 5, in front of guest-of-honour Ryan Day.

Qualifiers: Ryan Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough), Alex Dunkley (Marchwood Cue T’s), Mike Finn (Woolston Cons, Southampton), Neil Craycraft (147 SC, Swindon), Billy Castle (Marchwood Cue T’s), Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading), Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh), Jonathan Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis), Shane Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC), Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC), David Beakhouse (Colours SC, Reading), Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh), Ben Harrison (Player’s, Westbury), Andy Rogers (Rileys, Newport, Wales), Gavin Rogers (Ambassador SC, Poole), Adam Nash (Woolston Cons, Southampton), Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

BREAKS:

Mark McLean: 92.
Billy Castle: 83, 69, 62, 51, 50.
Alex Dunkley: 75, 74, 60, 55.
Mike Finn: 69, 66, 56.
Jordan Winbourne: 65, 63, 51.
Ben Tanner: 62, 51.
Bouwe Bosma: 50, 50.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS:

GROUP A: 1st, Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Will Meharg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Cons).

GROUP B: 1st, David Beakhouse (Colours SC, Reading); 2nd, Martin Wallace (Colours, Reading); 3rd, Dan Bentley (The Academy, Eastleigh); 4th, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

GROUP C: 1st, Billy Castle (Cue T’s, Marchwood); 2nd, Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh); 3rd, Mike Finn (Woolston Cons, Southampton); 4th, Lee Roling (The Academy, Eastleigh).

GROUP D: 1st, Jonathan Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis); 2nd, Alex Dunkley (Cue T’s, Marchwood); 3rd, Bouwe Bosma (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh); 5th, Gary Bennett (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

KNOCKOUT:

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Dunkley beat Winbourne 3-0, McLean beat Beakhouse 3-1, Castle beat Wallace 3-0, Charlton beat Tanner 3-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Dunkley beat McLean 3-1, Castle beat Charlton 3-1.

FINAL (25/18 points, £60/£30): Castle beat Dunkley 3-2.

Bosma aiming for Silver/Gold double

BOUWE Bosma ground out a 3-2 victory over Chris Richards in the final of the last leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.

Promoted this season after winning the 2010 Silver championship, the 15-year-old from Chandler’s Ford SC heads into next month’s play-off in joint seventh place.

Bosma shaded rankings winner and clubmate Daniel Woods 3-2 in a tactical semi-final clash at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

And he accounted for 21-year-old Richards (Cardiff) by the same scoreline from 2-1 down in the final.

Bosma, a beaten finalist last time out at Basingstoke in April, said: “At 2-1 down I was thinking ‘just slow him down and grind the game out’ because he was playing quite pacey.

“When it went 2-2, I knew I was going to win the next frame.”

Despite losing 3-2 to Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh) in the group stages, Bosma qualified in first place thanks to a superior frames tally. He accounted for Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh) 3-0 to advance to the last-four.

Group A winner Richards, who finished the season as runner-up in the rankings, dispatched Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford SC) 3-1 in the last-eight and Tanner by the same score in the semis.

Also in the quarter-finals, Group C runner-up Tanner, 18, edged past Group B winner Lee Carlton (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 3-2 and Woods, who topped Group D, defeated Group A runner-up Stuart Scott (Romford SC) 3-1.

The top-16 ranked players qualify for the Championship Play-Off at Jesters, Swindon, on Sunday, June 5, in front of guest-of-honour Ryan Day.

The lucky 16 are: Daniel Woods (C/Ford), Chris Richards (Cardiff), Lee Bell (Eastleigh), Ben Tanner (Eastleigh), Jordan Winbourne (C/Ford), Shane Castle (C/Ford), Billy Castle (Marchwood), Bouwe Bosma (C/Ford), Danny Tallentire (Westbury), Kevin Impett (C/Ford), James Facey (Cardiff), Bradley Chappell (Bournemouth), Liam Burnet (Eastleigh), Lee Carlton (High Wycombe), Lee Warner (Gosport), Sam Thomas (Cardiff).

GOLD RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 2nd, Stuart Scott (Romford SC); 3rd, Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Lee Carlton (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Liam Burnet (The Academy, Eastleigh).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Bouwe Bosma (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Sam Thomas (Penarth Road SC, Cardiff).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, James Facey (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Richards beat Impett 3-1, Tanner beat Carlton 3-2, Bosma beat Bell 3-0, Woods beat Scott 3-1.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Richards beat Tanner 3-1, Bosma beat Woods 3-2.

FINAL (25/18 points): Bosma beat Richards 3-2.

Winfield canters to Silver championship

TROWBRIDGE teenager Daniel Winfield has completed a remarkable season top of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour rankings.

A 2-0 victory over second-placed James Inglis in the final of the last leg at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, means Winfield has claimed the number one position by a margin of 30 points.

And he’s a staggering 67 points clear of Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon) in third place.

The 16-year-old, whose practice base is Player’s in Westbury, has won three of the eight tournaments and has only failed to make the last-four on one occasion.

Of his 11 group stage frames, Winfield dropped just one, to Jamie Perry (Jesters, Swindon). And he cruised past Bradley Hatch (The Academy, Eastleigh) and Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham SC), again without conceding a frame, to reach the final.

Meanwhile, Midlands raider Inglis, also a three-event winner, won four of his five round-robin matches but still only qualified for the knockout in third place.

The 17-year-old, based at Rileys, Worcester, accounted for Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club) 2-0 and Parsons 2-1.

In the quarter-finals, Thomas Lancastle, from World Championship finalist Judd Trump’s former club in Keynsham, defeated Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) 2-1 and Parsons beat Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-1.

The top-16 ranked players qualify for the Championship Play-Off at Jesters, Swindon, on Sunday, June 5, in front of guest-of-honour Ryan Day.

The lucky 16 are: Daniel Winfield (Westbury), James Inglis (Worcester), Oliver Parsons (Swindon), Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club), Ryan Gavin (High Wycombe), Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham), Bradley Hatch (Eastleigh), Joshua Lee (Swindon), Jamie Perry (Swindon), Mark Lloyd (Gosport), Jodie Symes (Swindon), Gary Wilkins (Westbury), Carl Sidey (Basingstoke), Robert Henley (Eastleigh), Cameron Gillon (Gosport), Paul Ives (High Wycombe).

BREAKS

Oliver Parsons: 35.
Mark Lloyd: 33.

SILVER RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Jamie Perry (Jesters, Swindon); 6th, Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club); 2nd, Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham SC); 3rd, James Inglis (Rileys, Worcester); 4th, Bradley Hatch (The Academy, Eastleigh); 5th, Gary Wilkins (Player’s, Westbury); 6th, Jodie Symes (Jesters, Swindon).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Winfield beat Hatch 2-0, Lancastle beat Lee 2-1, Parsons beat Lloyd 2-1, Inglis beat Matthews 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Winfield beat Lancastle 2-0, Inglis beat Parsons 2-1.

FINAL (25/18 points): Winfield beat Inglis 2-0.

Troy weighs in with first victory

SWINDON youngster Troy Bodman took advantage of home tables at Jesters Snooker Hall to claim victory in the final leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.

Bodman climbed to seventh place despite having made only three appearances this season.

A runner-up in Salisbury last October, a semi-finalist in Swindon in November and now a winner, Bodman heads into next month’s play-off as one of the championship favourites.

He won eight matches without dropping a single frame, a feat which rankings winner and top seed Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) will have surely noticed.

Not surprisingly, Bodman finished first in Group B. He then defeated Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester) and Browne, both 2-0, before seeing off his clubmate Derrick Volante by the same score in the final.

Volante, runner-up to Browne in Group A, booked his final spot by beating Group D winner Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC) and Group B runner-up Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) both 2-0.

Rankings runner-up Connor Probets (Jesters, Swindon) – 24 points adrift of top spot but a massive 43 in front of third-placed Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) – was knocked out 2-0 by Browne in the quarter-finals.

O’Sullivan’s semi-final exit left him an agonising two points shy of the play-off. He beat Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC) 2-0 in the last-eight.

Oliver Clark (Stoke SC, Gosport) compiled his highest competitive break of 25 in the group stages. The 12-year-old, who finished 11th in the rankings, knocked in five reds and four blues.

The top-16 ranked players qualify for the Championship Play-Off at Jesters, Swindon, on Sunday, June 5, in front of guest-of-honour Ryan Day.

The lucky 16 are: Callum Browne (Westbury), Connor Probets (Swindon), Cameron Holt (High Wycombe), Robert Harding (Farnborough), Sam Storey (Thatcham), Joshua Hughes (Worcester), Troy Bodman (Swindon), Andrew Dyer (Westbury), Jasmine Bolsover (Woking), Nathan Farmer (Gosport), Oliver Clark (Gosport), Bradley Cowdroy (Bournemouth), Michael Trigg (Chandler’s Ford), Derrick Volante (Swindon), Stewart Ball (Bournemouth), Karl Eggar (Gosport).

BREAKS

Oliver Clark: 25.
Joseph Richardson: 24.
Sonnie O’Sullivan: 21.

BRONZE RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Derrick Volante (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Jack Dady (The Academy, Basingstoke); 5th, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 6th, Ben Hatch (The Academy, Eastleigh).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Corey Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 5th, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 6th, Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 2nd, Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester); 3rd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Oliver Clark (Stoke SC, Gosport); 5th, Liam Church (The Academy, Basingstoke); 6th, Joseph Richardson (The Academy, Basingstoke).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Connor Probets (Jester’s, Swindon); 3rd Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Robert Harding (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 5th, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC); 6th, Michael Joyce (The Academy, Basingstoke).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Browne beat Probets 2-0, Bodman beat Hughes 2-0, O’Sullivan beat Bolsover 2-0, Volante beat Trigg 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Bodman beat Browne 2-0, Volante beat O’Sullivan 2-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Bodman beat Volante 2-0.

Danny Boy secures Plate title

DANNY Tallentire picked up the consolation prize of the Plate trophy in the final leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury), who finished ninth on the Gold Tour, triumphed in the competition for those missing out on a knockout place.

He defeated Bronze Tour 12-year-old Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC) 2-1 in the final.

It was nearly an all-Tallentire final. Danny’s younger brother Corey, lost to Petty in the last-four.

PLATE RESULTS

LAST-32: Liam Burnet beat Bradley Cowdroy 1-0, Cameron Holt beat Liam Church 1-0, Jack Dady beat James Facey 1-0, Danny Tallentire beat Karl Eggar 1-0, Spike Hull beat Michael Joyce 1-0, Gary Wilkins beat Daniel Hall 1-0, Oliver Clark beat Jamie Perry 1-0.

LAST-16: Burnet beat Holt 1-0, D Tallentire beat Dady 1-0, Jodie Symes beat Hull 1-0, Joseph Richardson beat Wilkins 1-0, Corey Tallentire beat Robert Harding 1-0, Austen Petty beat Stewart Ball 1-0, Ben Hatch beat Sam Thomas 1-0. Clark received a walkover.

QUARTER-FINALS: D Tallentire beat Burnet 1-0, Symes beat Richardson 1-0, C Tallentire beat Clark 1-0, Petty beat Hatch 1-0.

SEMI-FINALS: D Tallentire beat Symes 1-0, Petty beat C Tallentire 1-0.

FINAL: D Tallentire beat Petty 2-1.

FORMER Pontin’s International Open Series player Andy Rogers opened his Cuestars account with a convincing win in the seventh leg of the South of England Championship Tour.

Welshman Rogers, based at Rileys, Newport, dropped just three frames out of 19 as he coasted to victory at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.

Undefeated in the six group stage matches, Rogers accounted for Jonathan Charlton, from Bognor Regis, 3-0 in the last-four and Alex Dunkley 3-1 in the final.

He goes straight into joint ninth spot and has a great chance of making the play-off.

Meharg: bring on Ryan Day

Meanwhile, losing semi-finalist Will Meharg reckons he can beat anyone over one or two frames.

And that includes world number 24 Ryan Day.

Come June 5 in Swindon, that may well be put to the test.

Meharg potted his way to a first ever semi-final appearance on the Championship Tour.

A handful of points from the final leg at his home club, Chandler’s Ford SC, next month will lift the 24-year-old from joint 18th into the top-16 and a play-off spot.

The champion then takes on guest-of-honour Day.

Meharg kicked off six unbeaten group-stage matches with a 1-1 against eventual tournament winner Rogers. And in his penultimate match, he won the second frame on the final black against Shane Castle to end the 13-year-old’s chance of qualifying for the knockout.

He booked a semi-final spot by seeing off Chris Richards (Cardiff) 2-0.

Meharg, who marries Lisa on July 30, said: “It was quite tough getting out of the group.

“I played really well. I didn’t feel that I was going to lose. I played the right shots – for once. I was all right with the two frames and I just kept holding my own against these players.”

Unfortunately, at least for Meharg, the last-four was best-of-five. He lost 3-1 to Dunkley (Cue T’s, Marchwood), who he described as “different class”.

Fourth-placed Dunkley, 22, who won five and drew one (against Charlton) in his group, pocketed £30.

In the previous two tournaments, Meharg had finished fourth and fifth in his group.

He traced his rise in form back to scoring his highest match break of 81 against Nigel Spiers in the Chandler’s Ford SC Roll-Up in February.

“I knew that I could do it and I’ve been getting bigger breaks,” he said.

“I’ve gone up to the next stage and I’m feeling a bit more confident about my game. I want to qualify (for the play-off) now.”

And what about Ryan Day, who was softened up by fellow Welsh professional Mark Williams in the first round of the Befred.com World Championships at the Crucible last week?

“If it’s one frame, I’ll have him,” Meharg smiled. “I’m a one-frame or two-frame player.”

Rankings leader Ryan Mears was away in Leeds competing in the EASB Combined Cue Sports Championship, a mixture of snooker and billiards. The Aldershot Hotshot lost 352-332 in the quarter-finals to EASB Competitions Director John Hartley.

The eighth and final leg is at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club on Sunday, May 15.

BREAKS:

Andy Rogers: 98, 89, 71, 55, 55.
Jonathan Charlton: 70, 69.
Sam Thomas: 59.
Neil Herd: 57, 61.
Alex Dunkley: 53, 50.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS:

GROUP A: 1st, Alex Dunkley (Cue T’s, Marchwood); 2nd, Jonathan Charlton (Aldwick RBL, Bognor Regis);  3rd, Sam Thomas (Penarth Road SC, Cardiff); 4th, Martin Wallace (Colours, Reading); 5th, Marc Harman (The Royal Surrey Poker & Snooker Club); 6th, Paul Rose (Jesters, Swindon); 7th, Derrick Volante (Jesters, Swindon).

GROUP B: 1st, Andy Rogers (Rileys, Newport); 2nd, Will Meharg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Shane Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Lewis Miles (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 6th, Neil Herd (Player’s, Westbury); 7th, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Cons).

KNOCKOUT:

SEMI-FINALS (12 points, £15): Dunkley beat Meharg 3-1, Rogers beat Charlton 3-0.

FINAL (25/18 points, £70/£30): Rogers beat Dunkley 3-1.

THAT’S two appearances this season and two tournament wins for the remarkably talented youngster Shane Castle.

The 13-year-old’s victory in the seventh leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour was all the more remarkable considering where he was the previous day.

Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC) dispatched club-mate Bouwe Bosma by three close frames to nil in the final at The Academy, Basingstoke.

On the Saturday, Castle was competing in the last-16 stage of the English Under-19 Championship at the Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds.

The only player in the country this season to reach the last-eight of three national championships at three different age groups went out in the quarter-finals.

He cruised past the 2009 English Under-14 champion Oliver Lines, the 15-year-old son of Leeds-based professional Peter Lines. Following the 4-1 victory, he lost 4-3 to 17-year-old Tom Maxfield (Staffs), the 2006 national under-13 champion.

And there was to no morning-after hangover.

Castle, who also triumphed at Copnor SC in December, won all four group-stage matches in Basingstoke – including a 3-2 win from 2-0 down to Danny Tallentire.

He then edged Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh) 3-2 in a semi-final match of the highest quality.

Castle explained: “He had an 80 to go 2-1 and I had 85 to go 2-2. It was a pretty good match.”

Castle climbed to fifth place, one point in front of 18-year-old Tanner, who also recorded breaks of 65, 52, 45 and 40 through the day.

Despite losing to Cuestars new boy Stuart Scott, from Romford, Bosma won Group B and overcame Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury) in five frames in the last-four. 

If rankings leader Daniel Woods turns up at the eighth and final event in Swindon next month, he will secure top spot and top seeding into the June play-offs.

The eighth and final leg of the series is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, May 8. The last-16 play-offs will be at Jesters on Sunday, June 5.

BREAKS

Shane Castle: 85.
Ben Tanner: 80, 65, 52, 45, 40.
Lee Carlton: 60, 42, 40.
Stewart Scott: 58.
Bouwe Bosma: 45.

GOLD RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Shane Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, James Facey (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 5th, Sachin Plaha (Egham United Services Club).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bouwe Bosma (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Lee Carlton (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, Stuart Scott (Romford SC); 5th, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Castle beat Tanner 3-2, Bosma beat Tallentire 3-2.

FINAL (25/18 points): Castle beat Bosma 3-0.

Midlands raider strikes again

MIDLANDS raider James Inglis is now virtually certain of second seeding in June’s play-offs after claiming his third tournament win of the season on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.

Inglis, still in his Cuestars debut season, defeated Keynsham’s Thomas Lancastle 2-0 in the seventh-leg final at The Academy, Basingstoke.

And the 17-year-old, based at Rileys, Worcester exacted revenge over rankings leader Daniel Winfield for a 2-0 defeat in last month’s final in Salisbury.

The pair met in the last-four. Inglis, who has played in two fewer events than his 16-year-old rival from Player’s, Westbury, prevailed 2-1.

Sixth-placed Lancastle, who actually beat Inglis 2-1 en route to winning Group A, accounted for Winfield’s club-mate Gary Wilkins by the same score in the second semi.

Winfield won a tight Group B despite losing 2-1 to Wilkins.

The eighth and final leg of the series is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, May 8. The last-16 play-offs will be at Jesters on Sunday, June 5.

BREAKS

James Inglis: 42.
Thomas Lancastle: 41.
Mark Lloyd: 32.

SILVER RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham SC); 2nd, James Inglis (Rileys, Worcester) 3rd, Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Gary Wilkins (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Jamie Perry (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport).
 
SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Lancastle beat Wilkins 2-1, Inglis beat Winfield 2-1.

FINAL (25/18 points): Inglis beat Lancastle 2-0.

Champion Browne survives play-off

CALLUM Browne survived a play-off in the group stages at The Academy, Basingstoke, to notch up a third tournament win of the season on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.

And his 2-1 victory in the final over Jack Dady stretched his lead over Connor Probets (Jesters, Swindon) to 20 points with one leg to play.

Browne (Player’s, Westbury) was one of three players in Group D to finish with one win out of three. He beat Michael Joyce (The Academy, Basingstoke) and Sam Storey (Thatcham SC) to a knockout place.

Like a true champion, Browne took advantage of his good fortune to account for Group A winner Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) and Group C runner-up Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) to book his clash with Dady.

Home player Dady, making his first start of the season, was undefeated in Group C. He saw off Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) in the last-eight and did Browne a huge favour by knocking out Probets in the semis.

Robert Harding (Sovereign SC, Farnborough), who won Group D with three straight wins, went out to Group A runner-up Probets in the quarter-finals.

Cowdroy defeated Group B winner Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport) in the last eight.

The eighth and final leg of the series is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, May 8. The last-16 play-offs will be at Jesters on Sunday, June 5.

BREAKS

Jack Dady: 29, 35.
Sonnie O’Sullivan: 28, 20.
Robert Harding: 24.

BRONZE RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Connor Probets (Jester’s, Swindon); 3rd, Joshua Hughes (Rileys, Worcester); 4th, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, David Edwards (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Corey Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Jack Dady (The Academy, Basingstoke); 2nd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, Oliver Clark (Stoke SC, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Robert Harding (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 2nd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd Sam Storey (Thatcham SC); 4th, Michael Joyce (The Academy, Basingstoke).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Browne beat Ball 1-0, Cowdroy beat Eggar 1-0, Dady beat O’Sullivan 1-0, Probets beat Harding 1-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Browne beat Cowdroy 1-0, Dady beat Probets 1-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Browne beat Dady 2-1.

Debutant Scott cleans up in the Plate

ROMFORD Snooker Club’s Stuart Scott capped his Cuestars debut with a winner’s trophy.

Scott missed out on a semi-final place in the Gold competition despite beating finalist Bouwe Bosma 3-2 and Cardiff’s Chris Richards 3-1.

Scott accounted for Gosport’s Mark Lloyd 2-0 in the Plate final.

PLATE RESULTS

LAST-16: Joshua Hughes beat Joshua Lee, Oliver Clark beat Jamie Perry, David Edwards beat Sonnie O’Sullivan, Mark Lloyd beat Lee Carlton, Paul Ives beat Corey Tallentire.

QUARTER-FINALS: Clark beat Hughes, Lloyd beat Edwards, Ives beat Nathan Farmer, Stuart Scott beat Spike Hull.

SEMI-FINALS: Lloyd beat Clark, Scott beat Ives.

FINAL: Scott beat Lloyd 2-0.

READING’S Martin Wallace has given himself a mathematical chance of winning the Cuestars South of England Seniors (40+) Tour.

Wallace, based at Colours Snooker Club, defeated Salisbury’s Steve Ashton 2-1 in the final of the third leg at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon

But it was a must-win semi-final victory over rankings leader Colin Norton (Castle Snooker Club, Fareham) that kept alive Wallace’s hopes of overhauling the title favourite.

The 2-0 defeat was only the second match Norton had lost out of 19 on the Seniors Tour this season.

If Wallace wins the fourth and final event at the Ambassador Snooker Club, Poole, on Sunday, May 22 – and Norton fails to show – the pair will finish with equal points.

Wallace, who is also fourth on the Championship Tour, climbed to second. Ashton is eight points further back in fourth.

Wallace also beat Ashton 2-1 in the round-robin stages but finished runner-up in Group B after a 2-0 defeat by Gary Hart (Salisbury).

Norton recorded the top breaks of 73 and 66. Paul Rose, from the host club, weighed in with a cheeky 39.

In the quarter-finals, Group A winner Rose went out 2-0 to the eventual tournament winner. Rose’s club-mate David Volante, runner-up in Group A, was knocked out by the same score by Ashton. Paul Burt, who topped Group D, defeated Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club) 2-0 and Norton accounted for Richard Hewer (Swindon) 2-0.

Ashton’s 2-0 semi-final win ended Burt’s hopes of a first appearance in a final.

BREAKS

Colin Norton: 73, 66.
Paul Rose: 39.

RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Paul Rose (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, David Volante (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Ron Ellis (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey); 4th, Fred Pearce (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey)

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading); 3rd, Gary Hart (Salisbury SC); 4th, Neil Carroll (Salisbury SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Colin Norton (Castle Snooker Club, Fareham); 2nd, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club); 3rd, Richard Arnold (Salisbury SC); 4th, Alan Thomas (Jesters, Swindon).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Paul Burt (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Richard Hewer (Swindon); 3rd, Danny O’Driscoll (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Alan Childs (Salisbury SC); 5th, Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough).

QUARTER-FINALS (£10, 8 points): Wallace beat Rose 2-0, Norton beat Hewer 2-0, Ashton beat Volante 2-0, Burt beat Thorn 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS (£20, 12 points): Wallace beat Norton 2-0, Ashton beat Burt 2-0.

FINAL (£60/£30, 25/18 points): Wallace beat Ashton 2-1.

NINE more points from the last two tournaments will guarantee Aldershot’s Ryan Mears top seeding in the Cuestars South of England Championship on June 5.

The 22-year-old, who is based at the Sovereign SC, Farnborough, claimed his second tournament win of the season in the sixth leg of the Championship Tour at Copnor Snooker Club, Portsmouth.

He defeated England international Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC) 3-1 in the final.

Realistically, the only way he can be denied first place in the rankings is if either Mike Finn or Neil Craycraft win both the remaining events – and Mears, who this season has never failed to make the quarter-finals, has a couple of absolute shockers.

Mears actually finished second in a tough Group A after a 2-1 defeat by Billy Castle (Cue T’s, Marchwood). Indeed, second-placed Craycraft (147 Snooker Club, Swindon) finished bottom of the four.

Elsewhere, 15-year-old Winbourne compiled a century and defeated Castle and Finn.

Southampton’s Town Champion Finn, who shares second spot with Craycraft, said: “He played very well and thoroughly deserved to beat me. I don’t give praise lightly but he was very impressive.”

And Castle added: “It was the first time I’d played Jordan for a long time. He played absolutely brilliant.”

Winbourne, who competes in the last-16 stage of the English Under-16 Championships in Leeds on Sunday, made a 105 break in a 3-1 win over Castle, 18, in the quarter-finals.

And he then added a 67 in a 3-1 defeat of Finn.

Group B winner Finn (Woolston Cons, Southampton) contributed a 102 in the third frame.

The 25-year-old, who also chalked up breaks of 85, 71 and 50 during the day’s play, edged past Martin Wallace (Reading) 3-2 in the last-eight.

Mears accounted for Group D winner Adam Nash, Finn’s club-mate, 3-1 in the last-eight and John Charlton by the same score in the semi-finals.

Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh), who topped Group C, went out 3-2 to Charlton in the quarter-finals.

The seventh of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, April 17.

BREAKS:

Jordan Winbourne: 105, 67, 62, 54.
Mike Finn: 102, 85, 71, 50.
Ryan Mears: 90, 72, 64, 55.
Mark McLean: 79.
Alex Dunkley: 70, 59, 56.
Billy Castle: 60, 58.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS:

GROUP A: 1st, Billy Castle (Cue T’s, Marchwood); 2nd, Ryan Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough);  3rd, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 4th, Neil Craycraft (147 SC, Swindon).

GROUP B: 1st, Mike Finn (Woolston Cons, Southampton); 2nd, John Charlton; 3rd, Alex Dunkley (Cue T’s, Marchwood); 4th, Shane Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC).

GROUP C: 1st, Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh); 2nd, Martin Wallace (Colours, Reading); 3rd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 4th, Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough).

GROUP D: 1st, Adam Nash (Woolston Cons, Southampton); 2nd, Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Ollie Kendrick (Whitmore Reans Cons, Wolverhampton); 4th, James Facey (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

KNOCKOUT:

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Winbourne beat Billy Castle 3-1, Finn beat Wallace 3-2, Charlton beat McLean 3-2, Ryan Mears beat Nash 3-1.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points, £19): Winbourne beat Finn 3-1, Mears beat Charlton 3-1.

FINAL (25/18 points, £80/£40): Mears beat Winbourne 3-1.

TOP professional Ryan Day has been booked as special guest for the Cuestars play-off and finals day at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on June 5th

Ryan Day