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ONLY he and his maker know where that inner strength came from.
A 13-year-old from Staffordshire put himself and his family through the full gamut of emotions during a dramatic two days in Leeds.
The bottom line is that Riley Parsons will face Lewis Gillen in the final of the English Under-16 Snooker Championship in June.
Parsons, who remarkably had qualified for the last-16 of both junior national competitions, suffered a 4-1 defeat by Hamim Hussain (Birmingham) in the semi-finals of the under-14s at the Northern Snooker Centre the previous day.
The Cannock teenager had flown through his first two matches but was undone by an unfamiliar Star table, great safety play and clever use of the dreaded ‘miss’ rule.
After an early night, he returned to the club the following day for the under-16 event with renewed focus and a clear mind.
Again, he won his first two matches to reach the last-four. Again, he was drawn on the same Star table. Again, he struggled.
With two first-round matches having taken more than four hours to complete, Parsons, who a week earlier had won his first tournament on the Midlands section of the EASB (English Association of Snooker & Billiards) Regional Junior Tour, was forced to hang around for nearly three hours before crossing cues with Premier Junior Tour player Luke Smith (Sedgley, West Mids).
Smith set off like a train. At 2-0 down, Parsons felt defeated and had resigned himself to a whitewash and a long and uncomfortable journey home.
However, this may well have been the moment when the youngster came of age as a snooker player.
With his eight-year-old brother Ronnie - spending another long weekend away from home - watching every shot from the sidelines, Parsons showed character far beyond his tender years by running off five frames on the bounce.
After taking the third, he squared the match with a 51 break. Following the mid-session interval and with the table no longer fazing him, the tide turned and he ran out a 5-2 winner.
Meanwhile, Gillen continued his staggering run of success in his first EASB season.
The 16-year-old from Leeds has already won four legs of the Regional Junior Tour North and is virtually certain of promotion to the Premier Junior Tour next season.
Now he’s in a first national final.
Although appearing to progress comfortably through his three matches, Gillen said: “It was long, stressful day.”
But he added: “I really enjoyed playing good players and I thought that it was well organised.”
The best-of-11 frame final will be at the Northern Snooker Centre during the EASB finals weekend on June 7-8.
Tim Dunkley
EASB Media Officer South and World Snooker coach
The English Association of Snooker & Billiards is the national governing body for the amateur game in this country. For more information about competitions, rankings lists and results, see www.easb.co.uk.
A 13-year-old from Staffordshire put himself and his family through the full gamut of emotions during a dramatic two days in Leeds.
The bottom line is that Riley Parsons will face Lewis Gillen in the final of the English Under-16 Snooker Championship in June.
Parsons, who remarkably had qualified for the last-16 of both junior national competitions, suffered a 4-1 defeat by Hamim Hussain (Birmingham) in the semi-finals of the under-14s at the Northern Snooker Centre the previous day.
The Cannock teenager had flown through his first two matches but was undone by an unfamiliar Star table, great safety play and clever use of the dreaded ‘miss’ rule.
After an early night, he returned to the club the following day for the under-16 event with renewed focus and a clear mind.
Again, he won his first two matches to reach the last-four. Again, he was drawn on the same Star table. Again, he struggled.
With two first-round matches having taken more than four hours to complete, Parsons, who a week earlier had won his first tournament on the Midlands section of the EASB (English Association of Snooker & Billiards) Regional Junior Tour, was forced to hang around for nearly three hours before crossing cues with Premier Junior Tour player Luke Smith (Sedgley, West Mids).
Smith set off like a train. At 2-0 down, Parsons felt defeated and had resigned himself to a whitewash and a long and uncomfortable journey home.
However, this may well have been the moment when the youngster came of age as a snooker player.
With his eight-year-old brother Ronnie - spending another long weekend away from home - watching every shot from the sidelines, Parsons showed character far beyond his tender years by running off five frames on the bounce.
After taking the third, he squared the match with a 51 break. Following the mid-session interval and with the table no longer fazing him, the tide turned and he ran out a 5-2 winner.
Meanwhile, Gillen continued his staggering run of success in his first EASB season.
The 16-year-old from Leeds has already won four legs of the Regional Junior Tour North and is virtually certain of promotion to the Premier Junior Tour next season.
Now he’s in a first national final.
Although appearing to progress comfortably through his three matches, Gillen said: “It was long, stressful day.”
But he added: “I really enjoyed playing good players and I thought that it was well organised.”
The best-of-11 frame final will be at the Northern Snooker Centre during the EASB finals weekend on June 7-8.
Tim Dunkley
EASB Media Officer South and World Snooker coach
The English Association of Snooker & Billiards is the national governing body for the amateur game in this country. For more information about competitions, rankings lists and results, see www.easb.co.uk.