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A HAMPSHIRE teenager has proved the strength of snooker in the south by winning the English Under-16 Championship.
Mark Lloyd tasted national glory for the first time after beating Walsall lad Jack Harris 6-5 in the final in Stoke.
The 15-year-old potter from Gosport was forced to dig deep from 4-2 and 5-4 down.
“It was a great match and I’m just so happy to be national champion,” he said.
“I appreciate what everyone has done for me. It’s not just my work that has done it for me, the people who have been there for me have also played a part.”
Lloyd had earned his place via a qualifying event in London and the last-16 knockout in Leeds.
He went 1-0 down at the Longton Snooker Club, levelled at 2-2 but then fell two frames behind after the mid-session interval.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I couldn’t cue a ball normally, missing a fair amount by fair margins. Then some determination kicked in and I started to play much better.”
Trailing 5-4 and needing to clear from green to pink to force a decider, he played a fantastic pot under pressure on the brown to move the pink from a safe position while still retaining perfect position on the blue.
Harris needed five snookers in the 11th frame and extracted penalty points from three of them before his opponent secured victory.
Lloyd, who is based at Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, will soon be sporting a three-lions waistcoat as he has earned a call-up to the England under-16 team for the Home Internationals.
Less than three weeks after his eighth birthday, he made his debut on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 circuit and was crowned Under-12 champion in the 2008/09 season at the age of nine.
He won the Silver Tour rankings title in 2012/13 and was joint Gold Tour rankings winner last season. The national final denied him the chance of claiming the Gold title this year as it clashed with the final leg in Salisbury.
Promoted at the end of his first year on the EASB Regional Junior Tour, Lloyd is now ranked 26th in his debut season on the EASB Premier Junior Tour, which is restricted to the top-49 under-21s in the country.
Cuestars director John Hunter, who made the trip to Stoke, said: “It was very exciting. Mark not only handled the pressure brilliantly but was also able to think outside the box whilst under it.
“Hopefully, Mark’s achievement will inspire more Cuestars players to compete and succeed nationally.”
Another Cuestars member, Shane Castle, from Marchwood, won the English Under-16 title in 2012.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
Mark Lloyd tasted national glory for the first time after beating Walsall lad Jack Harris 6-5 in the final in Stoke.
The 15-year-old potter from Gosport was forced to dig deep from 4-2 and 5-4 down.
“It was a great match and I’m just so happy to be national champion,” he said.
“I appreciate what everyone has done for me. It’s not just my work that has done it for me, the people who have been there for me have also played a part.”
Lloyd had earned his place via a qualifying event in London and the last-16 knockout in Leeds.
He went 1-0 down at the Longton Snooker Club, levelled at 2-2 but then fell two frames behind after the mid-session interval.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I couldn’t cue a ball normally, missing a fair amount by fair margins. Then some determination kicked in and I started to play much better.”
Trailing 5-4 and needing to clear from green to pink to force a decider, he played a fantastic pot under pressure on the brown to move the pink from a safe position while still retaining perfect position on the blue.
Harris needed five snookers in the 11th frame and extracted penalty points from three of them before his opponent secured victory.
Lloyd, who is based at Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, will soon be sporting a three-lions waistcoat as he has earned a call-up to the England under-16 team for the Home Internationals.
Less than three weeks after his eighth birthday, he made his debut on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 circuit and was crowned Under-12 champion in the 2008/09 season at the age of nine.
He won the Silver Tour rankings title in 2012/13 and was joint Gold Tour rankings winner last season. The national final denied him the chance of claiming the Gold title this year as it clashed with the final leg in Salisbury.
Promoted at the end of his first year on the EASB Regional Junior Tour, Lloyd is now ranked 26th in his debut season on the EASB Premier Junior Tour, which is restricted to the top-49 under-21s in the country.
Cuestars director John Hunter, who made the trip to Stoke, said: “It was very exciting. Mark not only handled the pressure brilliantly but was also able to think outside the box whilst under it.
“Hopefully, Mark’s achievement will inspire more Cuestars players to compete and succeed nationally.”
Another Cuestars member, Shane Castle, from Marchwood, won the English Under-16 title in 2012.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)