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FORDINGBRIDGE cue man Anthony Rice was in a philosophical mood after claiming his third winner’s trophy on a regional junior snooker circuit.
The 20-year-old insisted being in a “relaxed” state of mind helped him clinch a tight final on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
Rice pocketed £70 prize money after edging Steven Hughes 2-1 on the pink in the Attic Life-sponsored second leg at Salisbury Snooker Club.
“It was nice to get a result,” he said. “But Steven put me under pressure.
“If you’ve got your head in a good place and you’re relaxed in life in general, the game’s much easier. I’m happy. I’m in a good place.
“If you’re not happy in life and you’ve got other things on your mind, snooker’s one of the worst sports you can play.
“I didn’t play brilliantly but I was calm and never really lost my head.”
And he added: “The standard on the Gold Tour is good. Anyone can beat anyone. There’s no easy games.”
Rice, who now jointly leads the rankings with Bournemouth’s Bradley Cowdroy, is in his fourth and final season on the Cuestars circuit.
Earlier this year, he qualified for the EASB Premier Junior Tour for the country’s top-32 players aged under 21.
Chandler’s Ford-based Hughes, sponsored by Quickdraw Supplies, had knocked out leg-one winner Cowdroy 2-0 in the last-four.
Rice recorded the day’s highest break of 56 in a 2-0 semi-final victory over third-placed Aidan Murphy (Bristol), who had made a 55 in the group stages. Hughes is fourth.
The third leg of ten is at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, October 29.
For more information about loft conversion specialists Attic Life, which also sponsored professional Billy Castle in last week's European Masters in Belgium, visit www.atticlife.co.uk.
BREAKS
Anthony Rice: 56.
Aidan Murphy: 55.
Jamie Wilson: 43.
Bradley Cowdroy: 40.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Adam Stacey (Legends, Leytonstone); 2nd, Ryan Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Mickey Joyce (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Charlie Pringle (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Dan Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Jamie Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Aidan Murphy (Fishponds Cons Club, Bristol); 4th, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 5th, Evan Plummer (Frames, Coulsdon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Steven Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Connor Benzey (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Oliver Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Murphy 2-1 Stacey, Rice 2-0 Joyce, Cowdroy 2-1 Wilson, S Hughes 2-1 R Hughes.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): S Hughes 2-0 Cowdroy, Rice 2-0 Murphy.
FINAL (£80/£40, 25/18 points): Rice 2-1 S Hughes.
Wallace enjoys another fruitful trip to Salisbury
GOSPORT teenager Brett Wallace returned from his happy hunting ground with a second winner’s trophy on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
It was at Salisbury Snooker Club in April that the 16-year-old won his first tournament on the regional circuit.
And his second visit there yielded more silverware.
Wallace defeated rankings leader David O’Callaghan (Bournemouth) 2-1 in the final of the second leg.
Earlier, he dropped only two frames in four best-of-three group-stage matches and edged a tight semi-final 2-1 against Ally Pollard.
Explaining why he does so well in Salisbury, Wallace said: “I like the tables. They’re good.”
Wallace climbed to second place in the rankings behind leg-one winner O’Callaghan, who chalked up breaks of 49, 40, 40 and 37 during the Attic Life-sponsored event.
And he identified his main rivals for the title as “Riley (Ellis), Ally and David”.
Wallace is based at Fareham Snooker Club and is studying business at Fareham College.
Last season’s Bronze Tour championship play-off winner Callum White made the Silver semi-finals for the first time.
The 17-year-old from Havant finished second in his five-man group and was knocked out 2-0 by O’Callaghan.
Pollard (Alderholt) made the last-four for the second time in four tournaments. The 20-year-old recorded a 31 break in that match and a 33 in the group stages.
The third leg of ten is at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, October 29.
For more information about loft conversion specialists Attic Life, which also sponsored rookie professional Billy Castle in last week's European Masters in Belgium, visit www.atticlife.co.uk.
BREAKS
David O’Callaghan: 49, 40, 40, 37.
Brett Wallace: 35.
Chloe White: 34.
Shane Kearns: 34, 32.
Ally Pollard: 33, 31.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Brett Wallace (Fareham SC); 2nd, Callum White (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Riley Ellis (147 SC, Swindon); 5th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 4th, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 5th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Wallace 2-1 Pollard, O’Callaghan 2-0 Callum White.
FINAL (25/18 points): Wallace 2-1 O’Callaghan.
Early birthday present for Riccardo
THERE was an early birthday present for an 11-year-old from Chandler’s Ford.
Riccardo Drayton, who turns 12 on Monday, proudly held aloft his first regional winner’s trophy outside Salisbury Snooker Club.
The young potter survived a dramatic day of twists and turns on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
“I feel really proud of myself and I’m really happy that I’ve won my first Bronze tournament,” he said.
Drayton, who lost to Ronnie Sullivan in the final of the first leg in Waterlooville, turned the tables with a 2-0 victory in the final of the second leg sponsored by Attic Life.
In the second frame, Sullivan (Coulsdon) potted a re-spotted black and the cue-ball travelled the full length of the table to stop, momentarily, on the lip of a top-corner pocket before dropping in.
“It was unlucky for Ronnie to go in-off,” admitted Drayton. “I thought it was going to stop and then it fell in.”
And he revealed that he learnt lessons about safety shots and about taking on risky pots from last month’s defeat.
He said: “When I lost, I just thought I’d take what I did wrong and – if I got into a final again – I’d try to correct them.”
The finalists are now joint top of the rankings.
Drayton travelled a rocky road to the final. He lost his first group-stage match to Zak Truscott, won his other two, finished third in a three-way play-off and qualified for the knockout as one of the two best third-place finishers.
After beating Rio Smith (Portsmouth) 2-1 in the last eight, he edged Samuel Laxton (Portsmouth) by the same score in the semi-finals.
Drayton, a Year 7 pupil at Thornden School, trailed Laxton by 14 points on the colours in the deciding frame and won on the black.
The blue may leave a deep scar in Laxton’s memory for some considerable time, though. A wild shot by Drayton double-kissed it over a middle pocket only for the cue-ball to come back around the table and nudge it in.
Earlier, Sullivan chalked up his highest competitive break of 40 against Harry Wilson (Havant) in his first group stage match, beat first-time quarter-finalist Truscott (Waterlooville) 2-0 and then O’Shay Scott by the same score in the last-four.
Meanwhile, Dean Russell (Portsmouth) recorded a personal best 22 in his 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Waterlooville Sports Bar clubmate Laxton.
And eight-year-old Scott (Eastleigh) qualified for the knockout via a three-way play-off in the group stages and defeated Oliver Cooper (Banstead) 2-1 to make his first semi-final appearance.
The third leg of ten is at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, October 29.
For more information about loft conversion specialists Attic Life, which also sponsored rookie professional Billy Castle in last week's European Masters in Belgium, visit www.atticlife.co.uk.
BREAKS
Ronnie Sullivan: 40, 34, 21.
Riccardo Drayton: 32.
Will Forster: 25.
Rio Smith: 25.
Lewis Wilson: 24.
Dean Russell: 22.
Samuel Laxton: 21.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Rio Smith (Copnor SC); 2nd, Oliver Cooper (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Dean Russell (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 4th, Lewis Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 5th, Mason Wilson (Academy, Basingstoke).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Samuel Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Zak Truscott (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Riccardo Drayton (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Viktor Balgariev (Jesters, Swindon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Ronnie Sullivan (Frames, Coulsdon); 2nd, O’Shay Scott (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport); 4th, Harry Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Drayton 2-1 Smith, Laxton 2-1 Russell, Sullivan 2-0 Truscott, Scott 2-1 Cooper.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Drayton 2-1 Laxton, Sullivan 2-0 Scott.
FINAL (25/18 points): Drayton 2-0 Sullivan.
Keegan celebrates a day of two halves
WHAT started as a tough day ended with a winner’s trophy for Wiltshire potter Keegan Reed.
Reed won only one frame out of nine in the group stages of the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour on home tables at Salisbury Snooker Club.
But he bounced back in the Plate competition for non-qualifiers and beat Gold player Connor Benzey (Eastleigh) in the final.
The Attic Life-sponsored event attracted a field of 37 across the three categories of Gold, Silver and Bronze.
The third legs of ten are at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, October 29.
For more information about loft conversion specialists Attic Life, which also sponsored rookie professional Billy Castle in last week's European Masters in Belgium, visit www.atticlife.co.uk.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIM: Connor Benzey (Chandlers Ford SC) beat Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury.
QUARTER-FINALS: Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar) beat Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport), Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC) beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Benzey beat Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC), Riley Ellis (147 SC, Swindon) w/o Viktor Balgariev (Jesters, Swindon).
SEMI-FINALS: Reed beat White, Benzey beat Ellis.
FINAL: Reed beat Benzey.
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 September 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. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
Competitions for 2017/18 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.
The 20-year-old insisted being in a “relaxed” state of mind helped him clinch a tight final on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
Rice pocketed £70 prize money after edging Steven Hughes 2-1 on the pink in the Attic Life-sponsored second leg at Salisbury Snooker Club.
“It was nice to get a result,” he said. “But Steven put me under pressure.
“If you’ve got your head in a good place and you’re relaxed in life in general, the game’s much easier. I’m happy. I’m in a good place.
“If you’re not happy in life and you’ve got other things on your mind, snooker’s one of the worst sports you can play.
“I didn’t play brilliantly but I was calm and never really lost my head.”
And he added: “The standard on the Gold Tour is good. Anyone can beat anyone. There’s no easy games.”
Rice, who now jointly leads the rankings with Bournemouth’s Bradley Cowdroy, is in his fourth and final season on the Cuestars circuit.
Earlier this year, he qualified for the EASB Premier Junior Tour for the country’s top-32 players aged under 21.
Chandler’s Ford-based Hughes, sponsored by Quickdraw Supplies, had knocked out leg-one winner Cowdroy 2-0 in the last-four.
Rice recorded the day’s highest break of 56 in a 2-0 semi-final victory over third-placed Aidan Murphy (Bristol), who had made a 55 in the group stages. Hughes is fourth.
The third leg of ten is at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, October 29.
For more information about loft conversion specialists Attic Life, which also sponsored professional Billy Castle in last week's European Masters in Belgium, visit www.atticlife.co.uk.
BREAKS
Anthony Rice: 56.
Aidan Murphy: 55.
Jamie Wilson: 43.
Bradley Cowdroy: 40.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Adam Stacey (Legends, Leytonstone); 2nd, Ryan Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Mickey Joyce (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Charlie Pringle (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Dan Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Jamie Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Aidan Murphy (Fishponds Cons Club, Bristol); 4th, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 5th, Evan Plummer (Frames, Coulsdon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Steven Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Connor Benzey (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Oliver Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Murphy 2-1 Stacey, Rice 2-0 Joyce, Cowdroy 2-1 Wilson, S Hughes 2-1 R Hughes.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): S Hughes 2-0 Cowdroy, Rice 2-0 Murphy.
FINAL (£80/£40, 25/18 points): Rice 2-1 S Hughes.
Wallace enjoys another fruitful trip to Salisbury
GOSPORT teenager Brett Wallace returned from his happy hunting ground with a second winner’s trophy on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
It was at Salisbury Snooker Club in April that the 16-year-old won his first tournament on the regional circuit.
And his second visit there yielded more silverware.
Wallace defeated rankings leader David O’Callaghan (Bournemouth) 2-1 in the final of the second leg.
Earlier, he dropped only two frames in four best-of-three group-stage matches and edged a tight semi-final 2-1 against Ally Pollard.
Explaining why he does so well in Salisbury, Wallace said: “I like the tables. They’re good.”
Wallace climbed to second place in the rankings behind leg-one winner O’Callaghan, who chalked up breaks of 49, 40, 40 and 37 during the Attic Life-sponsored event.
And he identified his main rivals for the title as “Riley (Ellis), Ally and David”.
Wallace is based at Fareham Snooker Club and is studying business at Fareham College.
Last season’s Bronze Tour championship play-off winner Callum White made the Silver semi-finals for the first time.
The 17-year-old from Havant finished second in his five-man group and was knocked out 2-0 by O’Callaghan.
Pollard (Alderholt) made the last-four for the second time in four tournaments. The 20-year-old recorded a 31 break in that match and a 33 in the group stages.
The third leg of ten is at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, October 29.
For more information about loft conversion specialists Attic Life, which also sponsored rookie professional Billy Castle in last week's European Masters in Belgium, visit www.atticlife.co.uk.
BREAKS
David O’Callaghan: 49, 40, 40, 37.
Brett Wallace: 35.
Chloe White: 34.
Shane Kearns: 34, 32.
Ally Pollard: 33, 31.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Brett Wallace (Fareham SC); 2nd, Callum White (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Riley Ellis (147 SC, Swindon); 5th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 4th, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 5th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Wallace 2-1 Pollard, O’Callaghan 2-0 Callum White.
FINAL (25/18 points): Wallace 2-1 O’Callaghan.
Early birthday present for Riccardo
THERE was an early birthday present for an 11-year-old from Chandler’s Ford.
Riccardo Drayton, who turns 12 on Monday, proudly held aloft his first regional winner’s trophy outside Salisbury Snooker Club.
The young potter survived a dramatic day of twists and turns on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
“I feel really proud of myself and I’m really happy that I’ve won my first Bronze tournament,” he said.
Drayton, who lost to Ronnie Sullivan in the final of the first leg in Waterlooville, turned the tables with a 2-0 victory in the final of the second leg sponsored by Attic Life.
In the second frame, Sullivan (Coulsdon) potted a re-spotted black and the cue-ball travelled the full length of the table to stop, momentarily, on the lip of a top-corner pocket before dropping in.
“It was unlucky for Ronnie to go in-off,” admitted Drayton. “I thought it was going to stop and then it fell in.”
And he revealed that he learnt lessons about safety shots and about taking on risky pots from last month’s defeat.
He said: “When I lost, I just thought I’d take what I did wrong and – if I got into a final again – I’d try to correct them.”
The finalists are now joint top of the rankings.
Drayton travelled a rocky road to the final. He lost his first group-stage match to Zak Truscott, won his other two, finished third in a three-way play-off and qualified for the knockout as one of the two best third-place finishers.
After beating Rio Smith (Portsmouth) 2-1 in the last eight, he edged Samuel Laxton (Portsmouth) by the same score in the semi-finals.
Drayton, a Year 7 pupil at Thornden School, trailed Laxton by 14 points on the colours in the deciding frame and won on the black.
The blue may leave a deep scar in Laxton’s memory for some considerable time, though. A wild shot by Drayton double-kissed it over a middle pocket only for the cue-ball to come back around the table and nudge it in.
Earlier, Sullivan chalked up his highest competitive break of 40 against Harry Wilson (Havant) in his first group stage match, beat first-time quarter-finalist Truscott (Waterlooville) 2-0 and then O’Shay Scott by the same score in the last-four.
Meanwhile, Dean Russell (Portsmouth) recorded a personal best 22 in his 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Waterlooville Sports Bar clubmate Laxton.
And eight-year-old Scott (Eastleigh) qualified for the knockout via a three-way play-off in the group stages and defeated Oliver Cooper (Banstead) 2-1 to make his first semi-final appearance.
The third leg of ten is at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, October 29.
For more information about loft conversion specialists Attic Life, which also sponsored rookie professional Billy Castle in last week's European Masters in Belgium, visit www.atticlife.co.uk.
BREAKS
Ronnie Sullivan: 40, 34, 21.
Riccardo Drayton: 32.
Will Forster: 25.
Rio Smith: 25.
Lewis Wilson: 24.
Dean Russell: 22.
Samuel Laxton: 21.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Rio Smith (Copnor SC); 2nd, Oliver Cooper (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Dean Russell (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 4th, Lewis Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 5th, Mason Wilson (Academy, Basingstoke).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Samuel Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Zak Truscott (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Riccardo Drayton (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Viktor Balgariev (Jesters, Swindon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Ronnie Sullivan (Frames, Coulsdon); 2nd, O’Shay Scott (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport); 4th, Harry Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Drayton 2-1 Smith, Laxton 2-1 Russell, Sullivan 2-0 Truscott, Scott 2-1 Cooper.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Drayton 2-1 Laxton, Sullivan 2-0 Scott.
FINAL (25/18 points): Drayton 2-0 Sullivan.
Keegan celebrates a day of two halves
WHAT started as a tough day ended with a winner’s trophy for Wiltshire potter Keegan Reed.
Reed won only one frame out of nine in the group stages of the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour on home tables at Salisbury Snooker Club.
But he bounced back in the Plate competition for non-qualifiers and beat Gold player Connor Benzey (Eastleigh) in the final.
The Attic Life-sponsored event attracted a field of 37 across the three categories of Gold, Silver and Bronze.
The third legs of ten are at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, October 29.
For more information about loft conversion specialists Attic Life, which also sponsored rookie professional Billy Castle in last week's European Masters in Belgium, visit www.atticlife.co.uk.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIM: Connor Benzey (Chandlers Ford SC) beat Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury.
QUARTER-FINALS: Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar) beat Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport), Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC) beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Benzey beat Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC), Riley Ellis (147 SC, Swindon) w/o Viktor Balgariev (Jesters, Swindon).
SEMI-FINALS: Reed beat White, Benzey beat Ellis.
FINAL: Reed beat Benzey.
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 September 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. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
Competitions for 2017/18 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.