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ENGLISH Under-16 snooker champion Mark Lloyd dropped just two frames out of 19 to win the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
It was a late birthday present for the Gosport teenager who turned 16 the day before the trip to Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
Lloyd took over top spot in the rankings after accounting for Fareham’s James Budd 3-0 in the final.
Earlier, he won all four group-stage matches by 2-0 scorelines, beat Anthony Rice (Fordingbridge) 3-0 in the last-eight and missed out on a century in a 3-2 semi-final victory over Brad Chappell (Poole).
“It would’ve been nice to get the century but I was more focused on getting on with the next frame,” said Lloyd, who broke down on 80 with the six colours left.
And he added: “It was a good day. I felt that I didn’t cue too badly.”
But Lloyd’s break was not the highest of the day. Rice eclipsed that with an 81.
The third leg of eight is at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, on Sunday, December 13.
BREAKS
Anthony Rice: 81 (new Cuestars highest break).
Mark Lloyd: 80 (new Cuestars highest break), 50, 47.
Brad Chappell: 65, 48, 46.
Mickey Joyce: 49, 43.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Brad Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, James Budd (Fareham SC); 3rd, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Reece King (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC); 4th, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Chappell 3 McDonald 1, Lloyd 3 Rice 0, Budd 3 Lee 1, Wilson 3 King 1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Budd 3 Wilson 1, Lloyd 3 Chappell 2.
FINAL (£45/£20 25/18 points): Lloyd 3 Budd 0.
Ferrari reward for Murphy
BRISTOL potter Aidan Murphy was rewarded with a ride in his sponsor’s Ferrari for winning the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
The 11-year-old was reported to be “potting everything” during a 2-0 victory over first-time finalist Connor Benzey at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
Murphy is now joint top of the rankings with leg-one winner Drew Hampshire (Swindon). Benzey (Eastleigh) is one point further back in third.
Last year, Steve Hall, the owner of Elite Mobility - a Bristol-based family-run business specialising in mobility products - saw the budding star in action and offered sponsorship.
Hall took Murphy to his school prom in his Ferrari and promised last Wednesday at a pool match he would take him for another spin if he won in Swindon.
Dad Derek said: “Aidan was straight on the phone booking his ride!”
And he added: “Aidan was chuffed to bits with his win. He managed to only drop two frames (out of 16) all day.
“At the last event he didn’t do too well so he’s been practising hard all half-term week for this. He really enjoyed himself and even when things went wrong occasionally, laughed it off and stayed focused.
“That seems to be the key with Aidan. He tries really hard to stay cool, block out everything and concentrate on the table. Let’s hope his strategy wins him a few more trophies.”
Nine-year-old Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford), appearing in his first semi-final, lost 2-0 to Murphy.
The third leg of eight is at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, on Sunday, December 13.
BREAKS
Olly Gibbs: 38, 35.
Connor Benzey: 35, 31.
Aidan Murphy: 30.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Aidan Murphy (Bristol Conservative Club); 2nd, Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Olly Gibbs (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 5th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, David Rice (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Drew Hampshire (147 SC, Swindon); 4th, Harry Cook (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Steven Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 4th, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Murphy 2 Kidner 1, Sykes 2 Pollard 0, Benzey 2 Hughes 1, Gibbs 2 Rice 0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Murphy 2 Sykes 0, Benzey 2 Gibbs 1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Murphy 2 Benzey 0.
First regional win for Ryan Hughes
IT WAS a day a 13-year-old snooker player from Chandler’s Ford and his family will remember for the rest of their lives.
Self-belief helped Ryan Hughes win his first regional tournament on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
Hughes admitted he was “disappointed” not to qualify for the knockout in the first leg in Salisbury last month but he responded in the best possible way in the second event at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
He fought back from 1-0 down to beat his Chandler’s Ford SC clubmate Bowen Zhu 2-1 in his last group match to qualify for the quarter-finals in second place and then accounted for three Portsmouth players in the knockout.
At 1-0 down again, he came back to see off Rio Smith 2-1 in the last-eight, dispatched leg-one winner Ben Tillison 2-0 and in the final defeated Callum White, whom he had lost to in the group stages, 2-0.
In the last frame, he clawed back a 23-point deficit with a 20 break and slotted in a long black to claim the winner’s trophy.
“I was really, really happy,” he said. “It was good.
“After I beat Ben, I thought I could win it because I didn’t play well against Callum (in the group stages) which was one of the reasons why I lost it.”
The winner of five school holiday competitions at his home club, Hughes had only progressed to the knockout once before in his previous six Cuestars outings. And that was a quarter-final defeat at Chandler’s Ford SC in March.
World Snooker coach Tim Dunkley, who has been working with the youngster for 18 months, was “delighted” for Hughes and his dad Grahame, a delivery driver, and mum Sarah, who works at the University of Southampton.
“Ryan used to be a very tentative player but now he attacks the ball well,” he said.
“As long as he works hard in practice, he is quite capable of winning the rankings title.”
A keen footballer, Hughes, whose high break is 35, revealed he has permission to miss two matches for Tyro League side Hiltingbury Hawks this season so he can compete in all eight Cuestars legs.
White is second in the rankings, seven points behind Copnor clubmate Tillison. Hughes is one point further back in third.
National under-16 champion and England international Mark Lloyd, who won the Gold Tour final, took time out to congratulate first-time finalist White.
He said: “Well done to Callum White. Let’s hope that gives him the confidence to get to the latter stages of these tournaments more consistently.”
The third leg of eight is at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, on Sunday, December 13.
BREAKS
Chloe White: 23, 22.
Ryan Hughes: 23, 20.
Shane Kearns: 22.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Riley Ellis (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Rio Smith (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Jack Ratcliffe (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Ryan Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bowen Zhu (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ryan Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Viktor Balgariev (Jesters, Swindon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Arnie Petty (Salisbury SC); 4th, Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Callum White 2 Ellis 1, Kearns 2 Zhu 0, Tillison 2 Chloe White 0, Hughes 2 Smith 1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Hughes 2 Tillison 0, Callum White 2 Kearns 0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Hughes 2 Callum White 0.
Mutch claims Plate in Swindon
JONNY Mutch dispatched three players based at Salisbury Snooker Club to win the Plate trophy at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
Mutch, from Cambridge, had been knocked out in the group stages of the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour but rallied to clinch the consolation tournament.
The 16-year-old defeated Arnie Petty, Keegan Reed, Callum Browne (Westbury) and then Kaine Petty in the final.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIMS: Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Ryan Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC) beat Arnie Petty (Salisbury SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Sykes, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC) beat Viktor Balgariev (Jesters, Swindon), Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) beat Jack Ratcliffe (Jesters, Swindon), Mutch beat Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
SEMI-FINALS: Mutch beat Browne, K Petty beat Shaw.
FINAL: Mutch beat K Petty.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
About Cuestars
Founded more than 25 years ago by director John Hunter, Cuestars runs grass-root snooker tournaments across the South of England.
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, the Under-21 team event and the Under-21 Handicap Championship. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
Competitions for 2015/16 include: South of England Championship Tour; Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours; Weekend Junior Section Rankings and Seniors (40+) Tour.
Website: cuestars.co.uk E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.co.uk.
It was a late birthday present for the Gosport teenager who turned 16 the day before the trip to Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
Lloyd took over top spot in the rankings after accounting for Fareham’s James Budd 3-0 in the final.
Earlier, he won all four group-stage matches by 2-0 scorelines, beat Anthony Rice (Fordingbridge) 3-0 in the last-eight and missed out on a century in a 3-2 semi-final victory over Brad Chappell (Poole).
“It would’ve been nice to get the century but I was more focused on getting on with the next frame,” said Lloyd, who broke down on 80 with the six colours left.
And he added: “It was a good day. I felt that I didn’t cue too badly.”
But Lloyd’s break was not the highest of the day. Rice eclipsed that with an 81.
The third leg of eight is at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, on Sunday, December 13.
BREAKS
Anthony Rice: 81 (new Cuestars highest break).
Mark Lloyd: 80 (new Cuestars highest break), 50, 47.
Brad Chappell: 65, 48, 46.
Mickey Joyce: 49, 43.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Brad Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, James Budd (Fareham SC); 3rd, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Reece King (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC); 4th, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Chappell 3 McDonald 1, Lloyd 3 Rice 0, Budd 3 Lee 1, Wilson 3 King 1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Budd 3 Wilson 1, Lloyd 3 Chappell 2.
FINAL (£45/£20 25/18 points): Lloyd 3 Budd 0.
Ferrari reward for Murphy
BRISTOL potter Aidan Murphy was rewarded with a ride in his sponsor’s Ferrari for winning the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
The 11-year-old was reported to be “potting everything” during a 2-0 victory over first-time finalist Connor Benzey at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
Murphy is now joint top of the rankings with leg-one winner Drew Hampshire (Swindon). Benzey (Eastleigh) is one point further back in third.
Last year, Steve Hall, the owner of Elite Mobility - a Bristol-based family-run business specialising in mobility products - saw the budding star in action and offered sponsorship.
Hall took Murphy to his school prom in his Ferrari and promised last Wednesday at a pool match he would take him for another spin if he won in Swindon.
Dad Derek said: “Aidan was straight on the phone booking his ride!”
And he added: “Aidan was chuffed to bits with his win. He managed to only drop two frames (out of 16) all day.
“At the last event he didn’t do too well so he’s been practising hard all half-term week for this. He really enjoyed himself and even when things went wrong occasionally, laughed it off and stayed focused.
“That seems to be the key with Aidan. He tries really hard to stay cool, block out everything and concentrate on the table. Let’s hope his strategy wins him a few more trophies.”
Nine-year-old Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford), appearing in his first semi-final, lost 2-0 to Murphy.
The third leg of eight is at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, on Sunday, December 13.
BREAKS
Olly Gibbs: 38, 35.
Connor Benzey: 35, 31.
Aidan Murphy: 30.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Aidan Murphy (Bristol Conservative Club); 2nd, Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Olly Gibbs (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 5th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, David Rice (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Drew Hampshire (147 SC, Swindon); 4th, Harry Cook (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Steven Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 4th, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Murphy 2 Kidner 1, Sykes 2 Pollard 0, Benzey 2 Hughes 1, Gibbs 2 Rice 0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Murphy 2 Sykes 0, Benzey 2 Gibbs 1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Murphy 2 Benzey 0.
First regional win for Ryan Hughes
IT WAS a day a 13-year-old snooker player from Chandler’s Ford and his family will remember for the rest of their lives.
Self-belief helped Ryan Hughes win his first regional tournament on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
Hughes admitted he was “disappointed” not to qualify for the knockout in the first leg in Salisbury last month but he responded in the best possible way in the second event at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
He fought back from 1-0 down to beat his Chandler’s Ford SC clubmate Bowen Zhu 2-1 in his last group match to qualify for the quarter-finals in second place and then accounted for three Portsmouth players in the knockout.
At 1-0 down again, he came back to see off Rio Smith 2-1 in the last-eight, dispatched leg-one winner Ben Tillison 2-0 and in the final defeated Callum White, whom he had lost to in the group stages, 2-0.
In the last frame, he clawed back a 23-point deficit with a 20 break and slotted in a long black to claim the winner’s trophy.
“I was really, really happy,” he said. “It was good.
“After I beat Ben, I thought I could win it because I didn’t play well against Callum (in the group stages) which was one of the reasons why I lost it.”
The winner of five school holiday competitions at his home club, Hughes had only progressed to the knockout once before in his previous six Cuestars outings. And that was a quarter-final defeat at Chandler’s Ford SC in March.
World Snooker coach Tim Dunkley, who has been working with the youngster for 18 months, was “delighted” for Hughes and his dad Grahame, a delivery driver, and mum Sarah, who works at the University of Southampton.
“Ryan used to be a very tentative player but now he attacks the ball well,” he said.
“As long as he works hard in practice, he is quite capable of winning the rankings title.”
A keen footballer, Hughes, whose high break is 35, revealed he has permission to miss two matches for Tyro League side Hiltingbury Hawks this season so he can compete in all eight Cuestars legs.
White is second in the rankings, seven points behind Copnor clubmate Tillison. Hughes is one point further back in third.
National under-16 champion and England international Mark Lloyd, who won the Gold Tour final, took time out to congratulate first-time finalist White.
He said: “Well done to Callum White. Let’s hope that gives him the confidence to get to the latter stages of these tournaments more consistently.”
The third leg of eight is at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, on Sunday, December 13.
BREAKS
Chloe White: 23, 22.
Ryan Hughes: 23, 20.
Shane Kearns: 22.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Riley Ellis (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Rio Smith (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Jack Ratcliffe (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Ryan Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bowen Zhu (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ryan Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Viktor Balgariev (Jesters, Swindon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Arnie Petty (Salisbury SC); 4th, Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Callum White 2 Ellis 1, Kearns 2 Zhu 0, Tillison 2 Chloe White 0, Hughes 2 Smith 1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Hughes 2 Tillison 0, Callum White 2 Kearns 0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Hughes 2 Callum White 0.
Mutch claims Plate in Swindon
JONNY Mutch dispatched three players based at Salisbury Snooker Club to win the Plate trophy at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
Mutch, from Cambridge, had been knocked out in the group stages of the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour but rallied to clinch the consolation tournament.
The 16-year-old defeated Arnie Petty, Keegan Reed, Callum Browne (Westbury) and then Kaine Petty in the final.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIMS: Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Ryan Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC) beat Arnie Petty (Salisbury SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Sykes, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC) beat Viktor Balgariev (Jesters, Swindon), Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) beat Jack Ratcliffe (Jesters, Swindon), Mutch beat Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
SEMI-FINALS: Mutch beat Browne, K Petty beat Shaw.
FINAL: Mutch beat K Petty.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
About Cuestars
Founded more than 25 years ago by director John Hunter, Cuestars runs grass-root snooker tournaments across the South of England.
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, the Under-21 team event and the Under-21 Handicap Championship. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
Competitions for 2015/16 include: South of England Championship Tour; Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours; Weekend Junior Section Rankings and Seniors (40+) Tour.
Website: cuestars.co.uk E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.co.uk.