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LONDON cueman Stuart Scott has bowed out of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour in style.
Scott, who will be too old next season, picked up his first winner’s trophy on the junior circuit in his last event.
He accounted for Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 3-2 to claim the eighth and final leg of the season at Salisbury Snooker Club.
Based at Romford Snooker Club, the 20-year-old had finished runner-up three times in his ten previous outings since making his Cuestars debut in April, 2011.
“I am pleased I won it as it was my last under-21 (ranking) tournament so it’s a nice feeling going out on a high,” said Scott.
“I didn’t have a very good start to the season but felt more confident as my potting was going well on the day.”
Paying tribute to first-time finalist O’Sullivan, he added: “I had a challenging opponent in Sonnie and I’m sure he will win next season.”
Rankings winner Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) was knocked out 3-2 by O’Sullivan in the last-four.
BREAKS
Thomas Lancastle: 41.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Stuart Scott (Romford SC); 2nd, Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol); 3rd, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 6th, Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Scott beat Bodman 3-1, O’Sullivan beat Lancastle 3-2.
FINAL (25/18 points): Scott beat O’Sullivan 3-2.
Carr claims third win at expense of rankings winner Lloyd
HAILSHAM hotshot Dan Carr reckons he had a “slight edge” over the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour rankings winner Mark Lloyd in the final of the last leg.
Carr fought back from 1-0 down to triumph 2-1 and claim his third tournament win of the season in the eighth event at Salisbury Snooker Club.
Earlier, the 17-year-old, who is based at the Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex, compiled a 49 clearance against Cameron Holt and added a 47 in his match with Austen Petty.
But he admitted that facing the champion in the final was always going to be tough.
“I knew I was cueing well and had a chance of winning,” said Carr. “Playing Mark in the final was always going to be a difficult match because he’s a good match player but I felt like I had the slight edge over the three frames.
“I practised really hard over the last month because this was the last ranking event of the year and I really wanted to win it and make it three wins for the season.”
Lloyd, who plays out of Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, said: “It could have gone either way but he played well enough to beat me. It was a good final to end the season.”
Needing to qualify for the knockout to guarantee the title, he dropped just one frame in seven to cruise through and end the hopes of second-placed Dan Knox (Woking SC).
“I’ve enjoyed this season as I’ve played well enough to win the title and I’ll try to clinch the play-off trophy,” said Lloyd.
Indeed. At the grand old age of 13, Lloyd, who was crowned Cuestars Under-12 Champion at the age of nine, heads into the Championship play-off in Swindon next month as top seed.
Remarkably, Carr and Lloyd have between them won six of the eight Silver Tour finals in 2012/13. Oliver Clark and Knox claimed the other two.
BREAKS
Connor McLean: 72.
Dan Carr: 49, 47.
Mark Lloyd: 44, 34, 31.
Bradley Cowdroy: 33.
Cameron Holt: 31.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 3rd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 4th, Aaron Cook (Gloucester); 5th, Lewis Parnham (SWSA, Gloucester).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Dan Knox (Woking SC); 2nd, Dan Carr (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 3rd, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 5th, Cameron Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 2nd, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Olly Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Grant Black (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Holt beat Budd 2-0, Carr beat Ball 2-0, Knox beat Trigg 2-1, Lloyd beat McLean 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Carr beat Holt 2-0, Lloyd beat Knox 2-0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Carr beat Lloyd 2-1.
Gillon targets gold as Flanagan clinches Bronze ranking title
SIBLING snooker rivalry will next season spur on the winner of the Salisbury leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
After clinching the eighth and last event of this season, Gosport teenager Matt Gillon revealed he has three ambitions for the 2013/14 campaign.
Gillon, who collected his second winner’s trophy this year, will automatically be promoted to the Silver Tour as his high break is now 41.
But the 15-year-old is keen to top that and gain a place on the Gold Tour in 2014/15.
He said: “My ambition would be to finish above my (18-year-old) brother Cameron in the rankings, to beat my highest break and hopefully get to the top six and head to Gold.”
Gillon survived a three-way play-off with second-placed Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC) and rankings leader Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) in the group stages at Salisbury Snooker Club.
Following words of encouragement from his brother, Flanagan, Thomas Holton and Grant Black, Gillon progressed to a “pressure” final where he edged his Stoke SC clubmate and first-time finalist Joe Kitchen 2-1 from 1-0 down.
“The final went pretty well,” he said, and added: “Joe played amazing. It was the best I’ve ever seen him play.”
His 13-year-old opponent said: “It was close match.”
Kitchen topped a strong round-robin group containing Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC), Ben Hatch (Eastleigh) and Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon).
After accounting for Holton (Woking SC) 2-0 in the quarter-finals, he compiled his highest competitive break of 21 in an excellent 2-1 victory over Joyce.
Nine-year-old Joyce, who actually beat Gillon in the group stages, had needed to win the final to snatch top spot in the rankings.
It ended an anxious wait for Flanagan, who lost the group play-off and so failed to reach the last-eight for the first time this season.
But after being confirmed as the rankings winner, Flanagan said he “can’t wait” to compete on the Silver Tour in October and he insisted the “best players got what they deserved” during 2012/13.
“I was unlucky to have not got through the groups as I felt my potting was quite good,” he said. “I was playing exceptionally well, in my opinion - obviously not good enough to get through to the quarter-finals and beyond.
“Overall, I think it’s been a cracking season and I think the best players have got what they deserved.
“I’m so happy about it. I’m really looking forward to playing next season in Silver.
“I’m also really happy Matt won in the final too, as I’d consider him one of my good friends in Cuestars.”
Flanagan added that Kitchen’s win pleased him in more ways than one.
He said: “I was really happy that Joe won, not only because it meant Mickey was out but because of the fact that was Joe’s first final of this season and I would like to add how much he’s come on as a player. His game has improved so much.”
Meanwhile, in his fourth quarter-final defeat this season, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC) was knocked out 2-1 by Gillon.
BREAKS
Conor Flanagan: 28, 21.
Jamie Wilson: 24, 20.
Ben Hatch: 24.
Joe Kitchen: 21.
Mickey Joyce: 21.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Matt Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 5th, Callum Scott (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Edward James (Woking SC); 2nd, Thomas Holton (Woking SC); joint 4th, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC), Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC), Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon); 4th, Ben Hatch (Eastleigh); 5th, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Karan Chadda (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Charlie Conio (Salisbury SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Gillon beat K Petty 2-1, James beat Beebe 2-0, Kitchen beat Holton 2-0, Joyce beat Chadda 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Gillon beat James 2-0, Kitchen beat Joyce 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Gillon beat Kitchen 2-1.
A tale of two breaks
ONE sizeable break ended Bradley Cowdroy’s hopes of progressing to the Silver Tour knockout but another clinched the Plate trophy for the 11-year-old from the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth.
After not qualifying for the Silver Tour knockout, partly due to having to pick balls out of the pockets during a fantastic personal best 72 break by Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex) in the deciding frame of their group match, Cowdroy did well to overcome a strong Bronze challenge in the Plate.
He needed a snooker with three balls remaining against Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) in the last-four and he produced a 33 clearance to edge Bronze Tour rankings winner Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) in the final.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIM: Lewis Parnham (SWSA, Gloucester) beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
LAST-16: Ben Hatch (Eastleigh) beat Parnham, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) beat Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC), Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon) beat Charlie Conio (Salisbury SC), Grant Black (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC), Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon) beat Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon), Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC), Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth) beat Cameron Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport), Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Aaron Cook (Gloucester).
QUARTER-FINALS: Flanagan beat Hatch, Black beat Benning, Wilson beat Lee, Cowdroy beat Petty.
SEMI-FINALS: Flanagan beat Black, Cowdroy beat Wilson.
FINAL: Cowdroy beat Flanagan.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
Scott, who will be too old next season, picked up his first winner’s trophy on the junior circuit in his last event.
He accounted for Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 3-2 to claim the eighth and final leg of the season at Salisbury Snooker Club.
Based at Romford Snooker Club, the 20-year-old had finished runner-up three times in his ten previous outings since making his Cuestars debut in April, 2011.
“I am pleased I won it as it was my last under-21 (ranking) tournament so it’s a nice feeling going out on a high,” said Scott.
“I didn’t have a very good start to the season but felt more confident as my potting was going well on the day.”
Paying tribute to first-time finalist O’Sullivan, he added: “I had a challenging opponent in Sonnie and I’m sure he will win next season.”
Rankings winner Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) was knocked out 3-2 by O’Sullivan in the last-four.
BREAKS
Thomas Lancastle: 41.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Stuart Scott (Romford SC); 2nd, Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol); 3rd, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 6th, Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Scott beat Bodman 3-1, O’Sullivan beat Lancastle 3-2.
FINAL (25/18 points): Scott beat O’Sullivan 3-2.
Carr claims third win at expense of rankings winner Lloyd
HAILSHAM hotshot Dan Carr reckons he had a “slight edge” over the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour rankings winner Mark Lloyd in the final of the last leg.
Carr fought back from 1-0 down to triumph 2-1 and claim his third tournament win of the season in the eighth event at Salisbury Snooker Club.
Earlier, the 17-year-old, who is based at the Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex, compiled a 49 clearance against Cameron Holt and added a 47 in his match with Austen Petty.
But he admitted that facing the champion in the final was always going to be tough.
“I knew I was cueing well and had a chance of winning,” said Carr. “Playing Mark in the final was always going to be a difficult match because he’s a good match player but I felt like I had the slight edge over the three frames.
“I practised really hard over the last month because this was the last ranking event of the year and I really wanted to win it and make it three wins for the season.”
Lloyd, who plays out of Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, said: “It could have gone either way but he played well enough to beat me. It was a good final to end the season.”
Needing to qualify for the knockout to guarantee the title, he dropped just one frame in seven to cruise through and end the hopes of second-placed Dan Knox (Woking SC).
“I’ve enjoyed this season as I’ve played well enough to win the title and I’ll try to clinch the play-off trophy,” said Lloyd.
Indeed. At the grand old age of 13, Lloyd, who was crowned Cuestars Under-12 Champion at the age of nine, heads into the Championship play-off in Swindon next month as top seed.
Remarkably, Carr and Lloyd have between them won six of the eight Silver Tour finals in 2012/13. Oliver Clark and Knox claimed the other two.
BREAKS
Connor McLean: 72.
Dan Carr: 49, 47.
Mark Lloyd: 44, 34, 31.
Bradley Cowdroy: 33.
Cameron Holt: 31.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 3rd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 4th, Aaron Cook (Gloucester); 5th, Lewis Parnham (SWSA, Gloucester).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Dan Knox (Woking SC); 2nd, Dan Carr (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 3rd, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 5th, Cameron Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 2nd, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Olly Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Grant Black (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Holt beat Budd 2-0, Carr beat Ball 2-0, Knox beat Trigg 2-1, Lloyd beat McLean 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Carr beat Holt 2-0, Lloyd beat Knox 2-0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Carr beat Lloyd 2-1.
Gillon targets gold as Flanagan clinches Bronze ranking title
SIBLING snooker rivalry will next season spur on the winner of the Salisbury leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
After clinching the eighth and last event of this season, Gosport teenager Matt Gillon revealed he has three ambitions for the 2013/14 campaign.
Gillon, who collected his second winner’s trophy this year, will automatically be promoted to the Silver Tour as his high break is now 41.
But the 15-year-old is keen to top that and gain a place on the Gold Tour in 2014/15.
He said: “My ambition would be to finish above my (18-year-old) brother Cameron in the rankings, to beat my highest break and hopefully get to the top six and head to Gold.”
Gillon survived a three-way play-off with second-placed Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC) and rankings leader Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) in the group stages at Salisbury Snooker Club.
Following words of encouragement from his brother, Flanagan, Thomas Holton and Grant Black, Gillon progressed to a “pressure” final where he edged his Stoke SC clubmate and first-time finalist Joe Kitchen 2-1 from 1-0 down.
“The final went pretty well,” he said, and added: “Joe played amazing. It was the best I’ve ever seen him play.”
His 13-year-old opponent said: “It was close match.”
Kitchen topped a strong round-robin group containing Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC), Ben Hatch (Eastleigh) and Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon).
After accounting for Holton (Woking SC) 2-0 in the quarter-finals, he compiled his highest competitive break of 21 in an excellent 2-1 victory over Joyce.
Nine-year-old Joyce, who actually beat Gillon in the group stages, had needed to win the final to snatch top spot in the rankings.
It ended an anxious wait for Flanagan, who lost the group play-off and so failed to reach the last-eight for the first time this season.
But after being confirmed as the rankings winner, Flanagan said he “can’t wait” to compete on the Silver Tour in October and he insisted the “best players got what they deserved” during 2012/13.
“I was unlucky to have not got through the groups as I felt my potting was quite good,” he said. “I was playing exceptionally well, in my opinion - obviously not good enough to get through to the quarter-finals and beyond.
“Overall, I think it’s been a cracking season and I think the best players have got what they deserved.
“I’m so happy about it. I’m really looking forward to playing next season in Silver.
“I’m also really happy Matt won in the final too, as I’d consider him one of my good friends in Cuestars.”
Flanagan added that Kitchen’s win pleased him in more ways than one.
He said: “I was really happy that Joe won, not only because it meant Mickey was out but because of the fact that was Joe’s first final of this season and I would like to add how much he’s come on as a player. His game has improved so much.”
Meanwhile, in his fourth quarter-final defeat this season, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC) was knocked out 2-1 by Gillon.
BREAKS
Conor Flanagan: 28, 21.
Jamie Wilson: 24, 20.
Ben Hatch: 24.
Joe Kitchen: 21.
Mickey Joyce: 21.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Matt Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 5th, Callum Scott (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Edward James (Woking SC); 2nd, Thomas Holton (Woking SC); joint 4th, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC), Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC), Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon); 4th, Ben Hatch (Eastleigh); 5th, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Karan Chadda (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Charlie Conio (Salisbury SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Gillon beat K Petty 2-1, James beat Beebe 2-0, Kitchen beat Holton 2-0, Joyce beat Chadda 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Gillon beat James 2-0, Kitchen beat Joyce 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Gillon beat Kitchen 2-1.
A tale of two breaks
ONE sizeable break ended Bradley Cowdroy’s hopes of progressing to the Silver Tour knockout but another clinched the Plate trophy for the 11-year-old from the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth.
After not qualifying for the Silver Tour knockout, partly due to having to pick balls out of the pockets during a fantastic personal best 72 break by Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex) in the deciding frame of their group match, Cowdroy did well to overcome a strong Bronze challenge in the Plate.
He needed a snooker with three balls remaining against Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) in the last-four and he produced a 33 clearance to edge Bronze Tour rankings winner Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) in the final.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIM: Lewis Parnham (SWSA, Gloucester) beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
LAST-16: Ben Hatch (Eastleigh) beat Parnham, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) beat Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC), Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon) beat Charlie Conio (Salisbury SC), Grant Black (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC), Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon) beat Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon), Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC), Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth) beat Cameron Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport), Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Aaron Cook (Gloucester).
QUARTER-FINALS: Flanagan beat Hatch, Black beat Benning, Wilson beat Lee, Cowdroy beat Petty.
SEMI-FINALS: Flanagan beat Black, Cowdroy beat Wilson.
FINAL: Cowdroy beat Flanagan.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)