Bizarre conclusion to Gold final

IT WAS a situation that will be talked about for years on the Cuestars snooker circuit.

The bottom line is that Welsh international Ollie Briffett-Payne clinched the fourth leg of the Under-21 Gold Tour at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.

Briffett-Payne, from Risca, near Newport, collected £100 in prize money and his second winner’s trophy of the season. And the teenager takes over top spot in the rankings at the halfway point of the campaign.

But you have to feel for his opponent in the final.

O’Shay Scott had fought back from 2-0 down, thanks in part to a 57 break, in his first Gold Tour final.

In the fifth-frame decider, the 13-year-old from Eastleigh attempted a thin safety on a red when central, full ball, contact was possible. He missed twice, was warned by the referee that a third miss would result in the loss of the frame – and missed again.

Many of the regular Gold Tour players were competing in the sixth and final leg of the EPSB Under-21 Premier Development Tour in Leicester on the same day.

Scott, along with a lot of our lads, is now in Sheffield for the World Snooker Federation Junior Championship.

The event was sponsored by trophy supplier Don Rogers Sports (www.donrogerssports.co.uk) and Swindon-based window cleaners Clean Cut (www.clean-cut.co.uk)

Fareham Snooker Club hosts the fifth leg of eight on Sunday, March 20.

BREAKS

O’Shay Scott: 57.
Riley Ellis: 41.
Ollie Briffett-Payne: 40.
Shane Kearns: 40.

GOLD RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP: 1st, Ollie Briffett-Payne (Red Triangle SC, Newport); 2nd, O’Shay Scott (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Riley Ellis (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon).

FINAL (£100/£25, 25/18 points): Briffett-Payne 3-2 Scott.

Picture: Ollie Briffett-Payne (left) and Roy Elliott, from Clean Cut.