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BOURNEMOUTH snooker ace Bradley Cowdroy survived a testing time to clinch his second winner’s trophy of the season on a regional under-21 circuit.
The 15-year-old returned to winning ways following his mock GCSEs in the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Gold Tour.
And the first-leg winner now leads the rankings after a 2-0 victory over Connor Benzey (Eastleigh) in the final at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
Cowdroy, known as ‘The Warrior’, insisted that winning snooker matches is nothing compared to the “hell” of taking exams.
The talented left-hander said: “Today was all about enjoying getting back into competition.
“During the last few weeks, I’ve been doing my mock exams for my GCSE year at school. It was hell, to be honest.
“The focus has been off snooker. I’ve not had much practice recently and so I didn’t really expect much from myself today.
“Playing snooker is stressful at the best of times but it’s nothing compared to your exams at school.”
Cowdroy won his first two group-stage matches in the event sponsored by the home club.
But he was then beaten by English Under-14 Champion Olly Gibbs (Gosport) and had to win a “nightmare, tight and tactical” match against Ryan Hughes (Chandler’s Ford) to qualify in second place.
“There’s definitely more pressure in the group stages, which are a dogfight,” he said. “The standard of everyone is so good.”
And he congratulated his Greenbaize clubmate David O’Callaghan, who won the Silver Tour final to extend his rankings lead.
“We were practising together (the previous day) and it was absolutely dreadful,” he added.
“Today was a present surprise for both of us. It was a good day for Greenbaize.”
Meanwhile, Adam Stacey, who beat Mickey Joyce (Basingstoke) in a six-reds play-off for the second of the two best third-place positions, was denied a first ever appearance in a final.
The Londoner took the first frame of a 2-1 last-four defeat by Benzey but lost a highly-tactical decider.
Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford), in his first semi-final of the season, was beaten 2-1 by Cowdroy.
Anthony Rice (Fordingbridge), who won the previous two legs to lead the rankings, dropped to second place after finishing bottom of his five-man group but he did knock in the day’s highest break of 66.
The fifth leg of ten is at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, January 7.
BREAKS
Anthony Rice: 66, 41.
Oliver Sykes: 61.
Aidan Murphy: 54.
Charlie Pringle: 48.
Connor Benzey: 41.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Oliver Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Jamie Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Mickey Joyce (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Steven Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Connor Benzey (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Dan Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Adam Stacey (Legends, Leytonstone); 4th, Charlie Pringle (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Evan Plummer (Frames, Coulsdon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Olly Gibbs (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Aidan Murphy (Fishponds Cons Club, Bristol); 4th, Ryan Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Arron Smith (Selsey RBL, Chichester).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Stacey 2-1 O Sykes, Benzey 2-0 Murphy, D Sykes 2-1 Gibbs, Cowdroy 2-0 Wilson.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Benzey 2-1 Stacey, Cowdroy 2-1 D Sykes.
FINAL (£70/£35, 25/18 points): Cowdroy 2-0 Benzey.
O’Callaghan claims third win in four events
DAVID O’Callaghan has opened up a commanding lead on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour after his third win in four outings.
But the 18-year-old from Wallisdown admitted he was forced to battle hard to end the resistance of Chloe White in the final at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
O’Callaghan had lost the opener to his 16-year-old opponent from Havant and trailed by 17 points with 18 on in the third-frame decider.
“I didn’t deserve it at all,” he insisted. “She played a lot better than me. I just managed to pot some balls here and there, and had a little bit of run.”
Earlier, O’Callaghan cruised through his four group-stage matches without dropping a frame and, in a repeat of the leg-three semi-final, beat Kaine Petty (Fordingbridge) 2-1 to set up a clash with the woman’s world number 30.
But he reckoned his performance deteriorated as the event sponsored by the home club progressed.
“I started really well but it just got worse and worse as it went on,” he explained.
“I just managed to claw frames here and there. The Kaine match was just as close as the Chloe one. I probably shouldn’t have won that one either.
“I guess that when it comes down to the pressure balls, I manage to pot them.
“I’m good under pressure. I don’t panic. You’re never out until you’re out.”
O’Callaghan won the tournaments in Waterlooville and Swindon but was runner-up to Brett Wallace (Gosport) in Salisbury.
He now has a whopping 29-point lead over Wallace, who lost 2-1 to White in the second semi. Petty remains in third place.
The fifth leg of ten is on O’Callaghan’s home tables at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, January 7.
BREAKS
David O’Callaghan: 42, 39.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Brett Wallace (Fareham SC); 2nd, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Riley Ellis (147 SC, Swindon); 5th, Callum White (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC); 5th, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Chloe White 2-1 Wallace, O’Callaghan 2-1 Petty.
FINAL (25/18 points): O’Callaghan 2-1 Chloe White.
Sullivan: I need to keep on winning
CHIPSTEAD’S young green-baize star Ronnie Sullivan insists he needs “to keep winning” if he wants to claim the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour rankings title.
The 13-year-old extended his lead after collecting his second winner’s trophy of the season in the fourth leg on home tables at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
Sullivan avenged his defeat by Samuel Laxton in the previous final in Swindon by beating the Portsmouth lad 2-0.
A break of 24 did the damage in the first frame and a 20 clearance to the black wrapped up the second.
Sullivan, who had lost to Laxton in the group stages of the event sponsored by the host club, admitted: “I started off really bad.”
But he added: “I played better in the final than I had all day. I was potting everything. It was good.
“I just need to keep winning.”
Laxton said: “It was tough and he deserved to win.”
Sullivan and eight-year-old O’Shay Scott both recorded the competition’s highest break of 31.
A couple of weeks ago, Sullivan compiled a personal best 75 in a practice match against Cuestars Championship Tour player Ronnie Blake.
Meanwhile, the new junior leagues at Waterlooville Sports Bar provided three of the four semi-finalists.
On his 14th Cuestars outing, Harry Wilson (Havant) qualified for the knockout for the first time - and he did it by winning his group - before losing 2-0 to Sullivan.
And Laxton knocked out his clubmate Zak Truscott (Waterlooville) 2-0.
Sullivan has a 13-point lead over Laxton. Leg-two winner Riccardo Drayton (Chandler’s Ford), who finished third in his round-robin group of five which contained the top-five ranked players, is six points further back in third.
The fifth leg of ten is at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, January 7.
BREAKS
Ronnie Sullivan: 31, 24, 24, 20, 20.
O’Shay Scott: 31.
Louie Leighton: 22.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Harry Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Zak Truscott (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Louie Leighton (Basildon); 4th, Mason Wilson (Academy, Basingstoke); 5th, Oliver Cooper (Frames, Coulsdon); 6th, Lewis Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Samuel Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Ronnie Sullivan (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Riccardo Drayton (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Dean Russell (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 5th, O’Shay Scott (Chandlers Ford SC).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Laxton 2-0 Truscott, Sullivan 2-0 H Wilson.
FINAL (25/18 points): Sullivan 2-0 Laxton.
Steven Hughes claims Plate win in Coulsdon
STEVEN Hughes defeated his Chandlers Ford clubmate Ryan Hughes 2-0 in the Plate final during the fourth legs of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
In the semis, Ryan beat Cuestars newcomer Louie Leighton (Basildon) while Steven overcame Keegan Reed (Salisbury).
The pair, who are not related, had both missed out on qualifying from their Gold groups.
Steven, sponsored by Quickdraw Supplies, beat Gold rankings leader Anthony Rice (Fordingbridge) but finished fourth in his group.
Ryan recorded 2-1 victories over Aidan Murphy (Bristol) and Arron Smith (Selsey) but lost a must-win match against Bradley Cowdroy (Bournemouth), the eventual tournament winner.
The fifth legs of ten are at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, January 7.
BREAKS
Steven Hughes: 36
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
QUARTER-FINALS: Louie Leighton (Basildon) beat Dean Russell (Waterlooville Sports Bar), Steven Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC) beat Callum White (Waterlooville Sports Bar), Ryan Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC) beat Riley Ellis (I47 SC, Swindon), Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC) bye.
SEMI-FINALS: R Hughes beat Leighton, S Hughes beat Reed.
FINAL: S Hughes 2-1 R Hughes.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
The 15-year-old returned to winning ways following his mock GCSEs in the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Gold Tour.
And the first-leg winner now leads the rankings after a 2-0 victory over Connor Benzey (Eastleigh) in the final at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
Cowdroy, known as ‘The Warrior’, insisted that winning snooker matches is nothing compared to the “hell” of taking exams.
The talented left-hander said: “Today was all about enjoying getting back into competition.
“During the last few weeks, I’ve been doing my mock exams for my GCSE year at school. It was hell, to be honest.
“The focus has been off snooker. I’ve not had much practice recently and so I didn’t really expect much from myself today.
“Playing snooker is stressful at the best of times but it’s nothing compared to your exams at school.”
Cowdroy won his first two group-stage matches in the event sponsored by the home club.
But he was then beaten by English Under-14 Champion Olly Gibbs (Gosport) and had to win a “nightmare, tight and tactical” match against Ryan Hughes (Chandler’s Ford) to qualify in second place.
“There’s definitely more pressure in the group stages, which are a dogfight,” he said. “The standard of everyone is so good.”
And he congratulated his Greenbaize clubmate David O’Callaghan, who won the Silver Tour final to extend his rankings lead.
“We were practising together (the previous day) and it was absolutely dreadful,” he added.
“Today was a present surprise for both of us. It was a good day for Greenbaize.”
Meanwhile, Adam Stacey, who beat Mickey Joyce (Basingstoke) in a six-reds play-off for the second of the two best third-place positions, was denied a first ever appearance in a final.
The Londoner took the first frame of a 2-1 last-four defeat by Benzey but lost a highly-tactical decider.
Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford), in his first semi-final of the season, was beaten 2-1 by Cowdroy.
Anthony Rice (Fordingbridge), who won the previous two legs to lead the rankings, dropped to second place after finishing bottom of his five-man group but he did knock in the day’s highest break of 66.
The fifth leg of ten is at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, January 7.
BREAKS
Anthony Rice: 66, 41.
Oliver Sykes: 61.
Aidan Murphy: 54.
Charlie Pringle: 48.
Connor Benzey: 41.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Oliver Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Jamie Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Mickey Joyce (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Steven Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Connor Benzey (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Dan Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Adam Stacey (Legends, Leytonstone); 4th, Charlie Pringle (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Evan Plummer (Frames, Coulsdon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Olly Gibbs (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Aidan Murphy (Fishponds Cons Club, Bristol); 4th, Ryan Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Arron Smith (Selsey RBL, Chichester).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Stacey 2-1 O Sykes, Benzey 2-0 Murphy, D Sykes 2-1 Gibbs, Cowdroy 2-0 Wilson.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Benzey 2-1 Stacey, Cowdroy 2-1 D Sykes.
FINAL (£70/£35, 25/18 points): Cowdroy 2-0 Benzey.
O’Callaghan claims third win in four events
DAVID O’Callaghan has opened up a commanding lead on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour after his third win in four outings.
But the 18-year-old from Wallisdown admitted he was forced to battle hard to end the resistance of Chloe White in the final at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
O’Callaghan had lost the opener to his 16-year-old opponent from Havant and trailed by 17 points with 18 on in the third-frame decider.
“I didn’t deserve it at all,” he insisted. “She played a lot better than me. I just managed to pot some balls here and there, and had a little bit of run.”
Earlier, O’Callaghan cruised through his four group-stage matches without dropping a frame and, in a repeat of the leg-three semi-final, beat Kaine Petty (Fordingbridge) 2-1 to set up a clash with the woman’s world number 30.
But he reckoned his performance deteriorated as the event sponsored by the home club progressed.
“I started really well but it just got worse and worse as it went on,” he explained.
“I just managed to claw frames here and there. The Kaine match was just as close as the Chloe one. I probably shouldn’t have won that one either.
“I guess that when it comes down to the pressure balls, I manage to pot them.
“I’m good under pressure. I don’t panic. You’re never out until you’re out.”
O’Callaghan won the tournaments in Waterlooville and Swindon but was runner-up to Brett Wallace (Gosport) in Salisbury.
He now has a whopping 29-point lead over Wallace, who lost 2-1 to White in the second semi. Petty remains in third place.
The fifth leg of ten is on O’Callaghan’s home tables at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, January 7.
BREAKS
David O’Callaghan: 42, 39.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Brett Wallace (Fareham SC); 2nd, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Riley Ellis (147 SC, Swindon); 5th, Callum White (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC); 5th, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Chloe White 2-1 Wallace, O’Callaghan 2-1 Petty.
FINAL (25/18 points): O’Callaghan 2-1 Chloe White.
Sullivan: I need to keep on winning
CHIPSTEAD’S young green-baize star Ronnie Sullivan insists he needs “to keep winning” if he wants to claim the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour rankings title.
The 13-year-old extended his lead after collecting his second winner’s trophy of the season in the fourth leg on home tables at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
Sullivan avenged his defeat by Samuel Laxton in the previous final in Swindon by beating the Portsmouth lad 2-0.
A break of 24 did the damage in the first frame and a 20 clearance to the black wrapped up the second.
Sullivan, who had lost to Laxton in the group stages of the event sponsored by the host club, admitted: “I started off really bad.”
But he added: “I played better in the final than I had all day. I was potting everything. It was good.
“I just need to keep winning.”
Laxton said: “It was tough and he deserved to win.”
Sullivan and eight-year-old O’Shay Scott both recorded the competition’s highest break of 31.
A couple of weeks ago, Sullivan compiled a personal best 75 in a practice match against Cuestars Championship Tour player Ronnie Blake.
Meanwhile, the new junior leagues at Waterlooville Sports Bar provided three of the four semi-finalists.
On his 14th Cuestars outing, Harry Wilson (Havant) qualified for the knockout for the first time - and he did it by winning his group - before losing 2-0 to Sullivan.
And Laxton knocked out his clubmate Zak Truscott (Waterlooville) 2-0.
Sullivan has a 13-point lead over Laxton. Leg-two winner Riccardo Drayton (Chandler’s Ford), who finished third in his round-robin group of five which contained the top-five ranked players, is six points further back in third.
The fifth leg of ten is at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, January 7.
BREAKS
Ronnie Sullivan: 31, 24, 24, 20, 20.
O’Shay Scott: 31.
Louie Leighton: 22.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Harry Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Zak Truscott (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Louie Leighton (Basildon); 4th, Mason Wilson (Academy, Basingstoke); 5th, Oliver Cooper (Frames, Coulsdon); 6th, Lewis Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Samuel Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Ronnie Sullivan (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Riccardo Drayton (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Dean Russell (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 5th, O’Shay Scott (Chandlers Ford SC).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Laxton 2-0 Truscott, Sullivan 2-0 H Wilson.
FINAL (25/18 points): Sullivan 2-0 Laxton.
Steven Hughes claims Plate win in Coulsdon
STEVEN Hughes defeated his Chandlers Ford clubmate Ryan Hughes 2-0 in the Plate final during the fourth legs of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
In the semis, Ryan beat Cuestars newcomer Louie Leighton (Basildon) while Steven overcame Keegan Reed (Salisbury).
The pair, who are not related, had both missed out on qualifying from their Gold groups.
Steven, sponsored by Quickdraw Supplies, beat Gold rankings leader Anthony Rice (Fordingbridge) but finished fourth in his group.
Ryan recorded 2-1 victories over Aidan Murphy (Bristol) and Arron Smith (Selsey) but lost a must-win match against Bradley Cowdroy (Bournemouth), the eventual tournament winner.
The fifth legs of ten are at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, on Sunday, January 7.
BREAKS
Steven Hughes: 36
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
QUARTER-FINALS: Louie Leighton (Basildon) beat Dean Russell (Waterlooville Sports Bar), Steven Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC) beat Callum White (Waterlooville Sports Bar), Ryan Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC) beat Riley Ellis (I47 SC, Swindon), Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC) bye.
SEMI-FINALS: R Hughes beat Leighton, S Hughes beat Reed.
FINAL: S Hughes 2-1 R Hughes.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
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