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Brabiner flies in for Cuestars debut
IT’S unlikely that anyone has ever flown to a Cuestars tournament before.
Until now, that is.
David Brabiner hopped on a plane from his home in the Channel Islands to make his debut in the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Seniors Tour at Salisbury Snooker Club.
“It wasn’t really that far to come,” he explained. “Forty minutes on a plane to Southampton, then an hour on the train to Salisbury.”
Brabiner, who hails from St Lawrence on Jersey, pocketed £20 after a 2-0 defeat by John Hunter (Andover) in the semi-finals.
He said: “I was unable to capitalise on the chances I was left with and played too many bad shots in the match, which John rightly punished for a reasonably comfortable win.”
Earlier, the 43-year-old, who is based at the First Tower Institute Billiards & Snooker Club in St Helier, finished second in his five-man round-robin group.
He beat Danny O’Driscoll (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) 2-0, Ron Ellis (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey) 2-0, Fred Pearce (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey) 2-0 and lost 2-1 to Nick Birney (High Wycombe Liberal Club).
In the quarter-finals, he accounted for Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC) 2-0.
European Championships
Brabiner has represented Jersey in the Masters events at the European Championships for the past two years.
He reached the semi-finals in Belgium in 2009 and the last-16 in Romania last year.
And he’s hoping that playing in the Cuestars events will sharpen up his game ready for this year’s event in Malta at the end of March.
“I used to take my snooker very seriously 20 years ago,” said Brabiner. “And enjoyed playing in events around England. But various things changed and I stopped playing the game about 1996.
“When I turned 40, three years ago, a Jersey official asked me if I was interested in playing for Jersey in some over-40 events.
“I started practising again and although I wasn’t as good as I used to be, I did savour the challenge.
“I have found it difficult to adapt to playing in a different place on different tables and also found it hard to keep my concentration.
“I have been working on some of my weaknesses and playing in the Cuestars events will help me know if I am going in the right direction.”
Brabiner added he was pleased with his performance in Salisbury and he is planning another trip to the mainland in March.
“Overall, I think I the weekend went OK for me,” he said. “I played in six matches and whilst I didn’t play the best I’ve ever played, it was steady and quite consistent.
“The tables were slower than I normally play on but the pockets seemed quite big, so it was a good test to see if I could adapt.
“I have still got to improve in order to compete at the sharp end of the tournament.
“I have quite a few matches coming up in Jersey in March, but I hope to play in the next event in Swindon.”
Norton steps up a gear
COLIN Norton emerged from a 19-strong field to claim his second straight success on the Cuestars South of England Seniors (40+) Tour.
And like at Chandler’s Ford in November, the 44-year-old finished second in his round-robin group and went on to beat Cuestars director John Hunter in the final.
The second leg at Salisbury Snooker Club pitched Norton and Hunter in the same group. Hunter won 2-0 but could not repeat the feat in the final. Norton extended his rankings lead with a 2-1 victory.
The 44-year-old veteran of the national Masters circuit edged out Southampton’s Neil Carroll on the colours in the deciding frame to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Carroll, who lost to Norton in the semi-finals at Chandler’s Ford, said: “I was in the group of death so it was always going to be tough. I was pleased to give Colin a run for his money.”
Norton, who is based at the Castle Club in Fareham, defeated Group A winner Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading) 2-0 in the last-eight and Group B winner Nick Birney (High Wycombe Liberal Club) 2-0 to book a date with Hunter.
Hunter did not drop a frame until the final. After winning all three group matches 2-0, the 44-year-old, playing on home tables, beat club-mate Gary Hart and Jersey international David Brabiner in the knockout.
Both Group C qualifiers made last-eight exits. Group winner Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC) lost 2-0 to Brabiner while runner-up Paul Burt (also from Salisbury SC) was knocked out 2-1 by Birney.
Portsmouth’s Danny O’Driscoll said he had a “great day” after finishing third in his group on his Cuestars debut.
Meanwhile, Alan Grainger (Salisbury SC) defeated Alan Thomas (Jesters, Swindon) in the final of the Super 60s, a one-frame shootout for the wiser men who believe 40-year-old whippersnappers should be seen but not heard.
Cuestars director John Hunter will be compiling a ranking list for the Super 60s and he is considering adding more dates to the Seniors Tour in the future.
The tour heads to Jesters, Swindon, on March 27, and the Ambassador SC, Poole, in May.
BREAKS
Nick Birney: 74, 57, 49, 48, 42.
John Hunter: 70, 42.
Steve Ashton: 46.
RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Martin Wallace (Colours SC, Reading); 2nd, Gary Hart (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Alan Grainger (High Wycombe Liberal Club); 4th, Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 5th, Alan Childs (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Nick Birney (High Wycombe Liberal Club); 2nd, David Brabiner (First Tower, Jersey); 3rd, Danny O’Driscoll (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Ron Ellis (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey); 5th, Fred Pearce (Burgh Heath Club, Surrey).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Paul Burt (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Paul Rose (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Richard Arnold (Salisbury SC); 5th, Alan Thomas (Jesters, Swindon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, John Hunter (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Colin Norton (Fareham Castle Snooker Club); 3rd, Neil Carroll (Salisbury SC); 4th, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club).
QUARTER-FINALS (£10, 8 points): Norton beat Wallace 2-0, Birney beat Burt 2-1, Brabiner beat Ashton 2-0, Hunter beat Hart 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (£20, 12 points): Norton beat Birney 2-0, Hunter beat Brabiner 2-0.
FINAL (£80/£40, 25/18 points): Norton beat Hunter 2-1.
SUPER 60s RESULTS
QUARTER-FINALS: Alan Thomas beat Ron Ellis 1-0, Fred Pearce beat Ray Mears 1-0.
SEMI-FINALS: Thomas beat Pearce 1-0, Alan Grainger beat Alan Childs 1-0.
FINAL: Grainger beat Thomas 1-0.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)