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A LOCKED car park in Leeds failed to scupper a Gosport teenager’s hopes of winning a snooker tournament in Woking.
Sympathetic organisers allowed Mark Lloyd to arrive an hour late for the first leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
And the 16-year-old emerged triumphant from a strong field of 17 seven hours later with the winner’s trophy and £65 prize money.
English Under-18 Championship winner Lloyd defeated fellow EASB Premier Junior Tour (PJT) player Ronnie Blake (London) 3-0 in the final.
“Ronnie played well,” he said. “I played him when I was in the regionals (EASB Regional Junior Tour South) and we had a few good games in that.”
The previous day, Lloyd was competing in the first leg of the PJT at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.
After failing to qualify for the second day, his party decided to set off at 6am for the 200 mile, three-and-a-half-hour journey, down the M1 to the Parris Cues-sponsored event at Woking Snooker Centre.
But they were forced to wait nearly two hours until staff unlocked the barrier to the club car park.
“I was planning to get here for 9.30am,” explained Lloyd. “But they decided to put the barrier down so we couldn’t get the car out. That delayed us a bit.
“You can’t really do anything about it. I was shattered before I even got here.”
Meanwhile, Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club lads Steven Hughes and Oliver Sykes made dream debuts at the higher level by reaching the semi-finals.
Hughes, last season’s Silver play-off champion, had a fine 2-1 win against Bradley Cowdroy (Bournemouth) in the quarter-finals before losing 2-1 to Lloyd. All of the 15-year-old’s entry fees to Cuestars tournaments this season are being covered by sponsor Vankru Cycling.
And ten-year-old Sykes beat English Under-14 Championship runner-up Jamie Wilson (Havant) and Londoner Adam Stacey to top his four-man round-robin group. The phenomenal left-hander then overcame Callum Browne (Trowbridge) 2-0 in the first knockout round before going out in a close 2-1 last-four match to Blake.
Mickey Joyce, who went down 2-0 to Blake in the quarter-finals, has joined the ton-up club. The 13-year-old from Basingstoke cleared the table for 102 in a practice match two days before a “tough” debut on the PJT in Leeds.
The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.
BREAKS
Mark Lloyd: 78, 48, 44.
Callum Browne: 66, 40.
Adam Stacey: 50.
Mike Trigg: 42.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC). Olly Gibbs (Chandler’s Ford SC) withdrew.
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Ronnie Blake (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 4th, Arron Smith (Selsey RBL).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Steven Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Adam Stacey (Legends, Leytonstone); 3rd, James Budd (Fareham SC); 4th, Jamie Wilson (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Lloyd 2 Stacey 0, Hughes 2 Cowdroy 1, Blake 2 Joyce 0, O Sykes 2 Browne 0.
SEMI-FINALS (£15, 15 points): Lloyd 2 Hughes 1, Blake 2 O Sykes 1.
FINAL (£65/£32.50, 25/18 points): Lloyd 3 Blake 0.
Ryan’s dream debut
RYAN Hughes twice needed a snooker to cap a dream debut on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
Last season’s Bronze Tour double winner kicked off life on the second tier with a nail-biting 2-0 victory over Charlie Pringle to clinch the first leg at Woking Snooker Centre.
That means the 14-year-old has now won six of his last nine tournaments on the junior circuit.
After taking the first frame of the final on the black against his clubmate from Chandler’s Ford SC, Hughes extracted the penalty points from the required snooker in the next before committing a foul himself.
With the cue-ball ten feet away from the pink and black, which were both close to a corner pocket, he was rightly asked to play again.
But Hughes took a calculated gamble and laid a peach of a snooker from which his 15-year-old opponent failed to escape.
Reflecting on Pringle’s decision, after mopping up the last two colours, he said: “I would have done the same. I was worried about going in-off but I already needed snookers so I could take risks.”
And he added: “I thought I was ready for (the Silver Tour) but, coming into the day, I wasn’t expecting to win it. I was hoping to get through my group but I didn’t know how far I’d get after that.”
Pringle had beaten Hughes 2-0 in the round-robin group stages of the Parris Cues-sponsored event before edging a hard-fought 2-1 last-four victory over Harry Jones (Coulsdon).
In the second semi, Hughes overcame Group A winner David O’Callaghan (Bournemouth) 2-0.
The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.
BREAKS
Charlie Pringle: 54.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Harry Jones (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 5th, Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Charlie Pringle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ryan Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 4th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Hughes 2 O’Callaghan 0, Pringle 2 Jones 1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Hughes 2 Pringle 0.
Trophy-laden day for Jesters duo
TWO teenagers from Jesters Snooker Club in Swindon dominated the first leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
Shane Kearns defeated his frequent travelling companion Riley Ellis 2-0 in the final of the Parris Cues-sponsored event at Woking Snooker Centre.
The 14-year-old, runner-up in Coulsdon last December, clawed back a sizeable deficit in the second frame to kick off his third season on the junior circuit with a first winner’s trophy.
“It feels good,” he said. “Somehow I managed to pull it back from 30 points behind.”
Talking about playing his clubmate in such an important match, Kearns added: “It makes it harder because, at the same time, you want both of you to win.”
The Year 10 pupil at The Dorcan Academy finished last season ranked fifth, one place below 12-year-old Ellis. First time finalist Ellis, who is in his second season, recently increased his high break in competition to 33. Both are sure to feature in the end-of-season title race.
Essex lad Thomas Saunders marked his Cuestars debut by winning a three-way play-off for the fourth qualifying spot from his round-robin group before taking a frame off Ellis in the last-eight.
More than four years since his last Bronze Tour outing, Ashley Smith (Portsmouth) won all five of his group-stage matches and lost 2-1 to Kearns in the quarter-finals.
And beaten semi-finalist Callum White (Havant) recorded the highest break of 27 in the group stages. The 16-year-old was knocked out 2-0 by Kearns while his sister Chloe, 15, lost 2-0 at the same stage to Ellis.
The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.
BREAKS
Callum White: 27.
Riley Ellis: 23.
Ashley Smith: 23.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Ashley Smith (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Thomas Saunders (Stepfield SC, Witham, Essex); 5th, Harry Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC); 6th, Adam Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Riley Ellis (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Rio Smith (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Arnie Petty (Salisbury SC); 4th, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Kearns 2 A Smith 1, Callum White 2 R Smith 0, Chloe White 2 Petty 0, Ellis 2 Saunders 1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Kearns 2 Callum White 0, Ellis 2 Chloe White 0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Kearns 2 Ellis 0.
Dan cleans up in Plate in Woking
GOLD Tour player Dan Sykes defeated Kaine Petty in the Plate final in Woking.
The 17-year-old from Chandler’s Ford SC knocked in a 44 break in his second match against Adam Cowdroy.
A total of 37 players entered the first legs of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours.
The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.
BREAKS
Dan Sykes: 44.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIMS: Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Adam Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC), Jamie Wilson (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC), Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Harry Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: Sykes beat Cowdroy, Beebe beat Wilson, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC) beat Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport), Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC) beat Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
SEMI-FINALS: Sykes beat Beebe, Petty beat Rice.
FINAL: Sykes beat Petty.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
Sympathetic organisers allowed Mark Lloyd to arrive an hour late for the first leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
And the 16-year-old emerged triumphant from a strong field of 17 seven hours later with the winner’s trophy and £65 prize money.
English Under-18 Championship winner Lloyd defeated fellow EASB Premier Junior Tour (PJT) player Ronnie Blake (London) 3-0 in the final.
“Ronnie played well,” he said. “I played him when I was in the regionals (EASB Regional Junior Tour South) and we had a few good games in that.”
The previous day, Lloyd was competing in the first leg of the PJT at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.
After failing to qualify for the second day, his party decided to set off at 6am for the 200 mile, three-and-a-half-hour journey, down the M1 to the Parris Cues-sponsored event at Woking Snooker Centre.
But they were forced to wait nearly two hours until staff unlocked the barrier to the club car park.
“I was planning to get here for 9.30am,” explained Lloyd. “But they decided to put the barrier down so we couldn’t get the car out. That delayed us a bit.
“You can’t really do anything about it. I was shattered before I even got here.”
Meanwhile, Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club lads Steven Hughes and Oliver Sykes made dream debuts at the higher level by reaching the semi-finals.
Hughes, last season’s Silver play-off champion, had a fine 2-1 win against Bradley Cowdroy (Bournemouth) in the quarter-finals before losing 2-1 to Lloyd. All of the 15-year-old’s entry fees to Cuestars tournaments this season are being covered by sponsor Vankru Cycling.
And ten-year-old Sykes beat English Under-14 Championship runner-up Jamie Wilson (Havant) and Londoner Adam Stacey to top his four-man round-robin group. The phenomenal left-hander then overcame Callum Browne (Trowbridge) 2-0 in the first knockout round before going out in a close 2-1 last-four match to Blake.
Mickey Joyce, who went down 2-0 to Blake in the quarter-finals, has joined the ton-up club. The 13-year-old from Basingstoke cleared the table for 102 in a practice match two days before a “tough” debut on the PJT in Leeds.
The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.
BREAKS
Mark Lloyd: 78, 48, 44.
Callum Browne: 66, 40.
Adam Stacey: 50.
Mike Trigg: 42.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC). Olly Gibbs (Chandler’s Ford SC) withdrew.
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Ronnie Blake (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 4th, Arron Smith (Selsey RBL).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Steven Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Adam Stacey (Legends, Leytonstone); 3rd, James Budd (Fareham SC); 4th, Jamie Wilson (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Lloyd 2 Stacey 0, Hughes 2 Cowdroy 1, Blake 2 Joyce 0, O Sykes 2 Browne 0.
SEMI-FINALS (£15, 15 points): Lloyd 2 Hughes 1, Blake 2 O Sykes 1.
FINAL (£65/£32.50, 25/18 points): Lloyd 3 Blake 0.
Ryan’s dream debut
RYAN Hughes twice needed a snooker to cap a dream debut on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
Last season’s Bronze Tour double winner kicked off life on the second tier with a nail-biting 2-0 victory over Charlie Pringle to clinch the first leg at Woking Snooker Centre.
That means the 14-year-old has now won six of his last nine tournaments on the junior circuit.
After taking the first frame of the final on the black against his clubmate from Chandler’s Ford SC, Hughes extracted the penalty points from the required snooker in the next before committing a foul himself.
With the cue-ball ten feet away from the pink and black, which were both close to a corner pocket, he was rightly asked to play again.
But Hughes took a calculated gamble and laid a peach of a snooker from which his 15-year-old opponent failed to escape.
Reflecting on Pringle’s decision, after mopping up the last two colours, he said: “I would have done the same. I was worried about going in-off but I already needed snookers so I could take risks.”
And he added: “I thought I was ready for (the Silver Tour) but, coming into the day, I wasn’t expecting to win it. I was hoping to get through my group but I didn’t know how far I’d get after that.”
Pringle had beaten Hughes 2-0 in the round-robin group stages of the Parris Cues-sponsored event before edging a hard-fought 2-1 last-four victory over Harry Jones (Coulsdon).
In the second semi, Hughes overcame Group A winner David O’Callaghan (Bournemouth) 2-0.
The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.
BREAKS
Charlie Pringle: 54.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Harry Jones (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 5th, Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Charlie Pringle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ryan Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 4th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Hughes 2 O’Callaghan 0, Pringle 2 Jones 1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Hughes 2 Pringle 0.
Trophy-laden day for Jesters duo
TWO teenagers from Jesters Snooker Club in Swindon dominated the first leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
Shane Kearns defeated his frequent travelling companion Riley Ellis 2-0 in the final of the Parris Cues-sponsored event at Woking Snooker Centre.
The 14-year-old, runner-up in Coulsdon last December, clawed back a sizeable deficit in the second frame to kick off his third season on the junior circuit with a first winner’s trophy.
“It feels good,” he said. “Somehow I managed to pull it back from 30 points behind.”
Talking about playing his clubmate in such an important match, Kearns added: “It makes it harder because, at the same time, you want both of you to win.”
The Year 10 pupil at The Dorcan Academy finished last season ranked fifth, one place below 12-year-old Ellis. First time finalist Ellis, who is in his second season, recently increased his high break in competition to 33. Both are sure to feature in the end-of-season title race.
Essex lad Thomas Saunders marked his Cuestars debut by winning a three-way play-off for the fourth qualifying spot from his round-robin group before taking a frame off Ellis in the last-eight.
More than four years since his last Bronze Tour outing, Ashley Smith (Portsmouth) won all five of his group-stage matches and lost 2-1 to Kearns in the quarter-finals.
And beaten semi-finalist Callum White (Havant) recorded the highest break of 27 in the group stages. The 16-year-old was knocked out 2-0 by Kearns while his sister Chloe, 15, lost 2-0 at the same stage to Ellis.
The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.
BREAKS
Callum White: 27.
Riley Ellis: 23.
Ashley Smith: 23.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Ashley Smith (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Thomas Saunders (Stepfield SC, Witham, Essex); 5th, Harry Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC); 6th, Adam Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Riley Ellis (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Rio Smith (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Arnie Petty (Salisbury SC); 4th, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Kearns 2 A Smith 1, Callum White 2 R Smith 0, Chloe White 2 Petty 0, Ellis 2 Saunders 1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Kearns 2 Callum White 0, Ellis 2 Chloe White 0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Kearns 2 Ellis 0.
Dan cleans up in Plate in Woking
GOLD Tour player Dan Sykes defeated Kaine Petty in the Plate final in Woking.
The 17-year-old from Chandler’s Ford SC knocked in a 44 break in his second match against Adam Cowdroy.
A total of 37 players entered the first legs of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours.
The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.
BREAKS
Dan Sykes: 44.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIMS: Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Adam Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC), Jamie Wilson (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC), Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Harry Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: Sykes beat Cowdroy, Beebe beat Wilson, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC) beat Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport), Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC) beat Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
SEMI-FINALS: Sykes beat Beebe, Petty beat Rice.
FINAL: Sykes beat Petty.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)