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ASCOT teenager Dan Knox insisted his break building is not up to scratch after claiming the winner’s trophy on his first Cuestars snooker outing this season.
The 18-year-old sunk the ninth shot of a black-ball tussle in the deciding frame of the final against Mark Lloyd to pocket the £50 prize money at Woking Snooker Centre.
Knox reckons solid matchplay saw him through the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
“It’s a good level of competition at the top,” he said. “There’s five or six players who are pretty much the same level.
“I’m solid but my break building isn’t quite at their level. When it goes close and tense, I can beat them.”
The 2013 Silver Tour play-off champion finished third in his five-man group following defeats by Lloyd and James Budd but he qualified for the knockout as one of the two best third-placed players from the three groups.
He turned the tables on the pair from Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, in the knockout - beating Budd 2-1 in the last-four and Lloyd by the same score in the final.
Originally based at Woking SC, Knox, who is studying for his A-levels at Reading Blue Coat School, is now a man with no club as he practises on his own table at home.
He just missed out on promotion to the EASB Premier Junior Tour last season and is lying third in the Regional Junior Tour South after two events this season
Last season’s Silver Tour rankings winner Mickey Joyce, who lives in Basingstoke but is based at Chandler’s Ford SC, finished bottom of his five-man Gold group… Oh, but the 11-year-old from Basingstoke did manage a personal best 73 break, the highest of the day, in his final match against Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC).
Lloyd and Brad Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) shared the rankings title last season and again have identical points at the halfway point of the current campaign. Lloyd, 15, defeated 20-year-old Chappell 2-0 in the semi-finals to draw level.
The fifth leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, February 1.
BREAKS
Mickey Joyce: 73.
James Budd: 67, 42.
Mark Lloyd: 59, 46, 44, 42,
Brad Chappell: 54, 46, 38, 35.
Anthony Rice: 46, 36.
Jamie Wilson: 41.
Bradley Cowdroy: 37.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 5th, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC); 5th, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Dan Knox (Ascot); 4th, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Budd beat Rice 2-1, Knox beat Cowdroy 2-0, Lloyd beat Petty 2-1, Chappell beat Sykes 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Knox beat Budd 2-1, Lloyd beat Chappell 2-0.
FINAL (£50/£25 25/18 points): Knox beat Lloyd 2-1.
Sweet smell of success for Jasmine
THE only girl on a regional snooker tour now leads the rankings after collecting her second winner’s trophy of the season.
Surrey teenager Jasmine Bolsover, competing on home tables at Woking Snooker Centre, emerged victorious from the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
A 2-1 win against Matt Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport) in the final took the 15-year-old one point clear of Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC), whom she knocked out in the quarter-finals.
“I played good in the first frame and really, really good in the last one,” she said. “So I was pleased with that.”
The 15-year-old was undefeated in three group-stage matches and accounted for Drew Hampshire (147 SC, Swindon) 2-1 in the last-four.
Appearing in his first semi-final, Hampshire compiled a 47 break, the highest of the day.
Bolsover, who also won the first leg in Salisbury last October, is not fazed about the thought of promotion to the Gold Tour at the end of the season
“It’ll be a good learning curve to go into Gold,” she said. “If I’m playing well enough, then I can do well - no matter who I’m playing.
A Year 10 pupil at St John the Baptist School, Bolsover also competes on the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association circuit and has ambitions to be a full-time snooker player.
Taking time out to congratulate Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), who competes on the Cuestars Bronze Tour, she said: “It’s really good to see more girls coming in to play. She seems to be doing quite well. I think she’s quite a good player.”
The fifth leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, February 1.
BREAKS
Drew Hampshire: 47.
Thomas Holton: 31.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Matt Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Drew Hampshire (147 SC, Swindon); 3rd, Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Thomas Holton (Woking SC); 5th, Abhay Chopra (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Edward James (Woking SC); 2nd, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC); 4th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 5th, Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 2nd, Canberk Benning (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Reece King (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Gillon beat Benning 2-1, Kitchen beat James 2-0, Bolsover beat McDonald 2-0, Hampshire beat Petty 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Gillon beat Kitchen 2-1, Bolsover beat Hampshire 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Bolsover beat Gillon 2-1.
Hughes ends run of three final defeats
WELL, that’s one new year’s resolution ticked off.
It was perhaps not unsurprising that Steven Hughes was fired up for the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
After losing in the final of the three previous events, the 13-year-old admitted he was “really, really determined” to end the run.
But at was at last able to wrap his hands around a winner’s trophy at Woking Snooker Centre.
The teenager, based at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club, defeated first-time finalist David Rice (Salisbury SC) 2-0.
“It feels amazing to finally win something,” he said. “It was great.
“I was really, really determined to win on the fourth attempt after coming runner-up three times. I wanted to win the fourth.”
And he added: “Credit to David, he gave me a fight in the second frame.”
Indeed. Hughes, who now leads the rankings, dominated the first frame with two breaks of 24 but saw his 20-point lead eroded in the next before sinking the match-ball black.
Earlier, he qualified from his six-man group in second place after losing to event-one winner David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), edged Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) over three black-ball games in the quarter-finals and knocked out Aidan Murphy (Bristol Conservative Club) 2-0 in the last-four.
Murphy had beaten Hughes in the previous two finals in Swindon and Bournemouth.
Rice, 20, had come through a three-way play-off for the second qualification spot in his round-robin group.
The 25 entries were split into three groups of six and one of seven with the top two from each progressing to the knockout.
The fifth leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, February 1.
BREAKS
Steven Hughes: 24, 24.
Aidan Murphy: 23.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Adam Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Oli Line (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Charlie Pringle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Ryan Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 6th, Ben Mulvihill (Woking SC); 7th, Dan Parks (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, David Rice (Fordingbridge); joint 3rd, Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) & Harry Jones (Coulsdon, Surrey); 5th, Harry Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 6th, Aidan Hickman (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Steven Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Harry Cook (Woking SC); 4th, Ben Crump (Stoke SC, Gosport); 5th, Luke McCormick (Mayfair, Gosport); 6th, Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Aidan Murphy (Bristol Conservative Club); 3rd, Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Ozzy Rea (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 5th, Ross Paul (Woking SC); 6th, Lewis Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Cowdroy beat Benzey 2-1, Murphy beat Reed 2-0, Hughes beat Chloe White 2-1, Rice beat O’Callaghan 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Hughes beat Murphy 2-0, Rice beat Cowdroy 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Hughes beat Rice 2-0.
Crump collects trophy on his debut
CUESTARS newcomer Ben Crump has collected a trophy at his first attempt.
The 14-year-old from Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, won the Plate competition at Woking Snooker Centre.
Crump defeated home player Dan Parks in the one-frame final of the consolation tournament for players not qualifying for the knockout at the fourth legs of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIMS: Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC) beat Sam Storey (Thatcham SC), Charlie Pringle (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Oli Line (Chandler’s Ford SC), Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Reece King (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Thomas Holton (Woking SC) beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Dan Parks (Woking SC) beat Ross Paul (Woking SC), Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
FIRST ROUND: Mutch beat Pringle, Holton beat Sykes, Parks beat Farmer, Luke McCormick (Mayfair, Gosport) Ben Mulvihill (Woking SC), Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC) beat Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Aidan Hickman (Woking SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: Mutch beat Holton, Parks beat McCormick, Crump beat White. Pollard bye.
SEMI-FINALS: Parks beat Mutch, Crump beat Pollard.
FINAL: Crump beat Parks.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
About Cuestars
Founded 25 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 May, and cater for players of all ages.
All Cuestars tournaments are played off scratch. There are no handicaps, except in the Under-21 Plate and the Under-21 team event. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
Competitions for 2014/15 include: South of England Championship Tour; Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours; Under-21 team event; Weekend Junior Section Rankings and Seniors (40+) Tour.
Website: cuestars.co.uk E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.co.uk.
The 18-year-old sunk the ninth shot of a black-ball tussle in the deciding frame of the final against Mark Lloyd to pocket the £50 prize money at Woking Snooker Centre.
Knox reckons solid matchplay saw him through the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
“It’s a good level of competition at the top,” he said. “There’s five or six players who are pretty much the same level.
“I’m solid but my break building isn’t quite at their level. When it goes close and tense, I can beat them.”
The 2013 Silver Tour play-off champion finished third in his five-man group following defeats by Lloyd and James Budd but he qualified for the knockout as one of the two best third-placed players from the three groups.
He turned the tables on the pair from Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, in the knockout - beating Budd 2-1 in the last-four and Lloyd by the same score in the final.
Originally based at Woking SC, Knox, who is studying for his A-levels at Reading Blue Coat School, is now a man with no club as he practises on his own table at home.
He just missed out on promotion to the EASB Premier Junior Tour last season and is lying third in the Regional Junior Tour South after two events this season
Last season’s Silver Tour rankings winner Mickey Joyce, who lives in Basingstoke but is based at Chandler’s Ford SC, finished bottom of his five-man Gold group… Oh, but the 11-year-old from Basingstoke did manage a personal best 73 break, the highest of the day, in his final match against Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC).
Lloyd and Brad Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) shared the rankings title last season and again have identical points at the halfway point of the current campaign. Lloyd, 15, defeated 20-year-old Chappell 2-0 in the semi-finals to draw level.
The fifth leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, February 1.
BREAKS
Mickey Joyce: 73.
James Budd: 67, 42.
Mark Lloyd: 59, 46, 44, 42,
Brad Chappell: 54, 46, 38, 35.
Anthony Rice: 46, 36.
Jamie Wilson: 41.
Bradley Cowdroy: 37.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 5th, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC); 5th, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Dan Knox (Ascot); 4th, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Budd beat Rice 2-1, Knox beat Cowdroy 2-0, Lloyd beat Petty 2-1, Chappell beat Sykes 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Knox beat Budd 2-1, Lloyd beat Chappell 2-0.
FINAL (£50/£25 25/18 points): Knox beat Lloyd 2-1.
Sweet smell of success for Jasmine
THE only girl on a regional snooker tour now leads the rankings after collecting her second winner’s trophy of the season.
Surrey teenager Jasmine Bolsover, competing on home tables at Woking Snooker Centre, emerged victorious from the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
A 2-1 win against Matt Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport) in the final took the 15-year-old one point clear of Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC), whom she knocked out in the quarter-finals.
“I played good in the first frame and really, really good in the last one,” she said. “So I was pleased with that.”
The 15-year-old was undefeated in three group-stage matches and accounted for Drew Hampshire (147 SC, Swindon) 2-1 in the last-four.
Appearing in his first semi-final, Hampshire compiled a 47 break, the highest of the day.
Bolsover, who also won the first leg in Salisbury last October, is not fazed about the thought of promotion to the Gold Tour at the end of the season
“It’ll be a good learning curve to go into Gold,” she said. “If I’m playing well enough, then I can do well - no matter who I’m playing.
A Year 10 pupil at St John the Baptist School, Bolsover also competes on the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association circuit and has ambitions to be a full-time snooker player.
Taking time out to congratulate Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), who competes on the Cuestars Bronze Tour, she said: “It’s really good to see more girls coming in to play. She seems to be doing quite well. I think she’s quite a good player.”
The fifth leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, February 1.
BREAKS
Drew Hampshire: 47.
Thomas Holton: 31.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Matt Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Drew Hampshire (147 SC, Swindon); 3rd, Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Thomas Holton (Woking SC); 5th, Abhay Chopra (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Edward James (Woking SC); 2nd, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC); 4th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 5th, Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 2nd, Canberk Benning (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Reece King (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Gillon beat Benning 2-1, Kitchen beat James 2-0, Bolsover beat McDonald 2-0, Hampshire beat Petty 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Gillon beat Kitchen 2-1, Bolsover beat Hampshire 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Bolsover beat Gillon 2-1.
Hughes ends run of three final defeats
WELL, that’s one new year’s resolution ticked off.
It was perhaps not unsurprising that Steven Hughes was fired up for the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
After losing in the final of the three previous events, the 13-year-old admitted he was “really, really determined” to end the run.
But at was at last able to wrap his hands around a winner’s trophy at Woking Snooker Centre.
The teenager, based at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club, defeated first-time finalist David Rice (Salisbury SC) 2-0.
“It feels amazing to finally win something,” he said. “It was great.
“I was really, really determined to win on the fourth attempt after coming runner-up three times. I wanted to win the fourth.”
And he added: “Credit to David, he gave me a fight in the second frame.”
Indeed. Hughes, who now leads the rankings, dominated the first frame with two breaks of 24 but saw his 20-point lead eroded in the next before sinking the match-ball black.
Earlier, he qualified from his six-man group in second place after losing to event-one winner David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), edged Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) over three black-ball games in the quarter-finals and knocked out Aidan Murphy (Bristol Conservative Club) 2-0 in the last-four.
Murphy had beaten Hughes in the previous two finals in Swindon and Bournemouth.
Rice, 20, had come through a three-way play-off for the second qualification spot in his round-robin group.
The 25 entries were split into three groups of six and one of seven with the top two from each progressing to the knockout.
The fifth leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, February 1.
BREAKS
Steven Hughes: 24, 24.
Aidan Murphy: 23.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Adam Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Oli Line (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Charlie Pringle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Ryan Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 6th, Ben Mulvihill (Woking SC); 7th, Dan Parks (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, David Rice (Fordingbridge); joint 3rd, Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) & Harry Jones (Coulsdon, Surrey); 5th, Harry Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 6th, Aidan Hickman (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Steven Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Harry Cook (Woking SC); 4th, Ben Crump (Stoke SC, Gosport); 5th, Luke McCormick (Mayfair, Gosport); 6th, Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Aidan Murphy (Bristol Conservative Club); 3rd, Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Ozzy Rea (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 5th, Ross Paul (Woking SC); 6th, Lewis Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Cowdroy beat Benzey 2-1, Murphy beat Reed 2-0, Hughes beat Chloe White 2-1, Rice beat O’Callaghan 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Hughes beat Murphy 2-0, Rice beat Cowdroy 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Hughes beat Rice 2-0.
Crump collects trophy on his debut
CUESTARS newcomer Ben Crump has collected a trophy at his first attempt.
The 14-year-old from Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, won the Plate competition at Woking Snooker Centre.
Crump defeated home player Dan Parks in the one-frame final of the consolation tournament for players not qualifying for the knockout at the fourth legs of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIMS: Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC) beat Sam Storey (Thatcham SC), Charlie Pringle (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Oli Line (Chandler’s Ford SC), Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Reece King (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Thomas Holton (Woking SC) beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Dan Parks (Woking SC) beat Ross Paul (Woking SC), Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
FIRST ROUND: Mutch beat Pringle, Holton beat Sykes, Parks beat Farmer, Luke McCormick (Mayfair, Gosport) Ben Mulvihill (Woking SC), Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC) beat Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Aidan Hickman (Woking SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: Mutch beat Holton, Parks beat McCormick, Crump beat White. Pollard bye.
SEMI-FINALS: Parks beat Mutch, Crump beat Pollard.
FINAL: Crump beat Parks.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
About Cuestars
Founded 25 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 May, and cater for players of all ages.
All Cuestars tournaments are played off scratch. There are no handicaps, except in the Under-21 Plate and the Under-21 team event. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
Competitions for 2014/15 include: South of England Championship Tour; Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours; Under-21 team event; Weekend Junior Section Rankings and Seniors (40+) Tour.
Website: cuestars.co.uk E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.co.uk.
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