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DORSET snooker ace Bradley Cowdroy ended a “rough time” on the green baize in true ‘Warrior’ style.
Cowdroy lived up to his nickname with a battling performance to claim his first winner’s trophy for 11 months on the Cuestars Under-21 Gold Tour.
The 17-year-old from Bournemouth defeated home player Jamie Wilson 2-1 from 1-0 down on the professional standard Star table at Waterlooville Sports Bar.
A massive and unexpected 55 entries across the three tours meant a late finish. It was 10.40pm when Wilson offered the handshake.
Cowdroy, who pocketed ?100 prize money, said: “What a day! Midway through the afternoon, I thought that staying awake was going to be more of an achievement than actually winning the tournament. It was a mad day but I’m delighted.”
Reflecting on the final, he continued: “I know how dangerous Jamie is and how well he’s playing at the moment. He just does what he does best, which is long potting.
“I had to dig in, just be hard to beat and try to make the most of my chances.”
Cowdroy has now won all of the three Gold Tour legs held at Waterlooville Sports Bar since the club opened in the autumn of 2016.
And he admitted this latest success couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Last season, from Christmas onwards, I had a pretty rough time,” he said. “I was struggling for results.
“I was getting very down at tournaments, taking everything too seriously and beating myself up.
“I needed to believe in myself, take each tournament as it comes and try to have a more positive attitude.
“I know that I’m good enough to beat most people so I just need to believe in myself.
“I’m enjoying it a lot more this year. If I’m not playing well, like I wasn’t for large parts of today, I just keep believing and keep trying.”
Earlier, Wilson earned a place in the Cuestars records book.
The 15-year-old from Havant compiled the highest break in the ten-year history of the Gold Tour.
He made a 128 total clearance in the deciding frame of his 2-1 quarter-final victory over Londoner Ronnie Sullivan.
Connor Benzey (Eastleigh) remains top of the rankings after a 2-1 last-four defeat by Wilson.
Cowdroy wrapped up a 2-1 victory over Aristos Pampouris (London) in the second semi with a 62 break.
The second leg was sponsored by the Waterlooville-based snooker accessory supplier snookercrazy.com and Waterlooville Sports Bar.
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, hosts the third legs of ten on Sunday, November 3.
BREAKS
Jamie Wilson: 128, 87, 76.
Bradley Cowdroy: 62.
Aristos Pampouris: 57.
Elliott Weston: 54, 49.
Marcos Dayao: 48, 44.
Ryan Hughes: 46.
Steven Hughes: 45, 40.
Richard Hillgrove: 44.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Connor Benzey (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Dan Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Oliver Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Jamie Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Ryan Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Richard Hillgrove (Basildon SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Marcos Dayao (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 2nd, Steven Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Arron Smith (Selsey RBL); 4th, Elliott Weston (Top Spot, Havant).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Ronnie Sullivan (Frames, Coulsdon); 2nd, Aristos Pampouris (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 3rd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, O’Shay Scott (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Benzey 2-0 S Hughes, Wilson 2-1 Sullivan, Pampouris 2-0 O Sykes, Cowdroy 2-0 Dayao.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Wilson 2-1 Benzey, Cowdroy 2-1 Pampouris.
FINAL (?100/?25, 25/18 points): Cowdroy 2-1 Wilson.
Whaley celebrates back-to-back Silver wins
KINGS Cross potter Lee Whaley has made it two wins out of two on the Cuestars Under-21 Silver Tour.
The 17-year-old admitted he “still can’t believe it” after following up his success in Salisbury with victory in the second leg at Waterlooville Sports Bar.
Whaley defeated his Hurricane Room clubmate Elliott Johnson (Sutton) 2-0 in the final.
“We always have a great game together,” he said.
Whaley leads Johnson by 17 points at the top of the rankings and is the early favourite to claim the title.
“I still can’t believe it,” he added. “But I’m proud that I’ve accomplished this.
“I’ve always wanted to win a title. Let’s see what happens.”
Whaley dropped only one frame out of 13 all day and that was to Samuel Laxton (Portsmouth) in an epic last-four clash which he clinched on the final black.
Mason Wilson (Basingstoke), who lost 2-0 to Johnson in the second semi, earlier compiled a personal best 54 break against Nat Kidner (Bournemouth) in the quarter-finals.
Wilson and Riley Ellis (Clyffe Pypard, North Wilts) are joint third, three points adrift of Johnson.
The event was sponsored by the Waterlooville-based snooker accessory supplier snookercrazy.com and Waterlooville Sports Bar.
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, hosts the third legs of ten on Sunday, November 3.
BREAKS
Mason Wilson: 54, 50.
Riley Ellis: 37, 35.
Alex El-Deweiny: 30
Elliott Johnson: 38.
Simon Bubb: 37, 33, 30, 30.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Lee Whaley (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 2nd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); joint 3rd, Owen Jenkins (Waterlooville Sports Bar) & Callum White (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Riley Ellis (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Samuel Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport); 4th, Ben Crump (Mayfair, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mason Wilson (Academy, Basingstoke); 2nd, Thomas Sharp (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, John Donovan (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 4th, Alex El-Deweiny (Castle SC, Brighton).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Simon Bubb (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 2nd, Elliott Johnson (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 3rd, Oliver Cooper (Frames, Coulsdon); 4th, Dean Russell (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Whaley 2-0 Sharp, Laxton 2-1 Bubb, Johnson 2-1 Ellis, Wilson 2-0 Kidner.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Whaley 2-1 Laxton, Johnson 2-0 Wilson.
FINAL (25/18 points): Whaley 2-0 Johnson.
Late night delight for Harry The Potter
A NINE-year-old from Ferndown ended a marathon 12-hour day at Waterlooville Sports Bar clutching his first Cuestars winner’s trophy of the season.
It was 10.30pm when Harry ‘The Potter’ Wyatt finally broke the resistance of first-time finalist Will Kempson to claim the second leg of the Under-21 Bronze Tour.
Wyatt was forced to dig deep into his reserves after his ten-year-old opponent from Salisbury deservedly took the opening frame of the best-of-three clash.
Fortified by a cup of hot chocolate (“it keeps me going”), he won the next two.
A beaten semi-finalist in the first leg in Salisbury last month, Wyatt, who is based at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club, now leads the rankings.
Admitting tiredness was a factor in the final, he said: “It’s difficult. I played - not my best - but as good as I could.”
But he added it had been a “good” day.
You have to take your hat off to a nine-year-old and a ten-year-old still battling hard and performing well 12 hours after the draw was made.
Earlier, Wyatt won all five of his round-robin matches and then defeated home players George Laxton 2-1 and Ryan Kneller 2-0 in the knockout.
Kneller had qualified from his round-robin group for the first time.
Two new high breaks were recorded in the group stages. Thomas McEvoy (Warminster) made a 28 against Ryan Wilson (Waterlooville) and Freddie Turner (Andover) compiled a 24 against Aaron Wilson (Waterlooville).
The Gold, Silver and Bronze events sponsored by Waterlooville-based snooker accessory supplier snookercrazy.com and Waterlooville Sports Bar attracted a massive and unexpected field of 55 to the nine-table club.
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, hosts the third legs of ten on Sunday, November 3.
BREAKS
Thomas McEvoy: 28.
Harry Wyatt: 24, 22, 22, 21.
Freddie Turner: 24.
William Thomson: 22.
Will Kempson: 22.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Tyler Mack (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, George Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Katie Griffin (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Zain Jeraj (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 5th, Thomas Devine (Chandlers Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Eddie Mason (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Jaydon Elliott (147, Swindon); joint 3rd, Caden Read (Chandlers Ford SC) & Jake Sharp (Waterlooville Sports Bar) & Franklin Powell (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Harry Wyatt (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Will Kempson (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Freddie Turner (Salisbury SC); 4th, Aaron Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 5th, Lennon Savage (Chandlers Ford SC); 6th, Sam Walter (Mayfair, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Daniel Walter (Mayfair, Gosport); 2nd, Ryan Kneller (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Mason Coveney (Newbury); 4th, William Thomson (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Thomas McEvoy (Salisbury SC); 6th, Ryan Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Kempson 2-1 Mack, Elliott 2-0 D Walter, Kneller 2-0 Mason, Wyatt 2-1 Laxton.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Kempson 2-1 Elliott, Wyatt 2-0 Kneller.
FINAL (25/18 points): Wyatt 2-1 Kempson.
Donovan collects Plate trophy in Waterlooville
JOHN Donovan accounted for three home players en route to winning the Plate trophy during the second legs of the Cuestars Under-21 Tours at Waterlooville Sports Bar.
The newly promoted Bronze Tour champion had finished third in his Silver group, missing out on a place in the knockout.
But the youngster from Camden Town, who is based at the Hurricane Room, Kings Cross, collected the silverware in the secondary competition.
Donavan beat Chloe White (Havant), Katie Griffin (Swindon), Jake Sharp (Portsmouth) and then Owen Jenkins (Havant) in the final.
The event sponsored by the Waterlooville-based snooker accessory supplier snookercrazy.com and Waterlooville Sports Bar attracted a massive field of 55. Thanks to the players and parents for their patience. Contingency plans are being drawn up in case these sort of numbers persist through the season.
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, hosts the third legs of ten on Sunday, November 3.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME SIX-REDS MATCHES)
PRELIMS: Richard Hillgrove (Basildon SC) beat William Thomson (Chandlers Ford SC), Jake Sharp (Waterlooville Sports Bar) beat Callum White (Waterlooville Sports Bar), Katie Griffin (Jesters, Swindon) beat Caden Read (Chandlers Ford SC), John Donovan (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross) beat Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar), Lennon Savage (Chandlers Ford SC) beat Franklin Powell (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
QUARTER-FINALS: Sharp beat Hillgrove, Donovan beat Griffin, Owen Jenkins (Waterlooville Sports Bar) beat Savage, Ryan Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar) beat Aaron Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar).
SEMI-FINALS: Donovan beat Sharp, Jenkins beat R Wilson.
FINAL (15 REDS): Donovan beat Jenkins.
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)
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