Matt Wilson wins on Seniors debut
HIGH Wycombe cueist Matt Wilson made a winning return to the Cuestars circuit following a break of over six years.
The 40-year-old pocketed £200 in prize money after beating Surrey’s Paul Bunyard 2-0 in the final of the second leg of the Seniors (40+) Tour at Woking Snooker Centre.
It was nip and tuck the whole way in the opening frame of the high-quality match until Wilson laid a decisive snooker on the pink leaving the cue-ball tight to the black.
Bunyard, who won the first leg in Fareham, failed to hit the pink and left an easy frame ball for his opponent.
A solid 40 break put Wilson in early control of the second frame. Bunyard had an opportunity to get back in but a missed brown to the middle pocket proved costly as Wilson duly stepped in to complete victory with a clinical effort of 56.
Rankings leader Bunyard only dropped one frame – to Paul Ganley (Chessington) in the quarter-finals – en route to the final at his home club.
Wilson was pushed extremely hard in his last-eight and semi-final matches, prevailing in third-frame deciders against Andy Lavin and Paul Davis respectively.
Lavin, who is based at Shots in Watford, recorded the day’s highest break of 76 on his Cuestars debut and on the back of winning Week 5 of the Snooker Legends 900 series, beating the recent Swindon Championship Tour winner Billy Castle on the way.
Lavin reached the quarter-finals and donated his prize money to Dalton Lawrence (Guildford) who plays in the World Disability Billiards and Snooker German Open in Russelsheim this week.
Jason Pusser (Bournemouth) is joint third in the rankings, two points adrift of second-placed Carl Davies (Bournemouth), after losing 2-0 to Bunyard in the last-four.
The Parris Cues-sponsored event attracted a massive field of 46, one fewer than last season’s record of 47 in the corresponding fixture.
Organisers thanked Terry Teeman for officiating the final and Woking SC manager Peter Ruddick for being a brilliant host as always.
Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, hosts the third leg of nine on Sunday, November 26.
To find out about Parris Cues, visit www.parriscues.com.
BREAKS
Andy Lavin: 76, 56, 54.
Simon Dent: 73, 56.
John Monckton: 66, 54.
Matt Wilson: 65, 65, 65, 56, 48, 47, 40.
Lun Lee: 61, 48.
Paul Davis: 57, 48, 46, 41.
David Moritz: 57.
Jason Pusser: 55, 49, 44.
Paul Bunyard: 55, 48, 46, 44, 41.
Nigel Howe: 51, 48, 41.
Justin Eggins: 50, 41.
Alex Greenham: 46.
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS
GROUP A: 1st, Paul Bunyard (Woking SC); 2nd, Kevin Morris (Woking SC); 3rd, Chris Davies (Talbot Rise Club, Bournemouth); 4th, Chris Gaynor (Woking SC).
GROUP B: 1st, Paul Bailey (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Raj Puri (Hartley Country Club); 3rd, Carl Davies (St James Institute, Bournemouth); 4th, Paul Grove (Woking SC).
GROUP C: 1st, Lun Lee (Orpington); 2nd, Mark Burrell (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Al Maher (Frames, Coulsdon); 4th, Steve Read (Chandlers Ford SC).
GROUP D: 1st, Nigel Howe (QBall Sports Bar, Basildon); 2nd, Simon Dent (Castle SC, Brighton); 3rd, Justin Eggins (Chichester City Club); 4th, Ray Grall (Hayes WMC).
GROUP E: 1st, John Monckton (Top Q Club, Gloucester); 2nd, Peter Barnes (QBall Sports Bar, Basildon); 3rd, Martin Wallace (Crucible, Newbury); 4th, Peter Ebbins (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
GROUP F: 1st, Paul Davis (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, David Moritz (Shots, Watford); 3rd, Neil Carroll (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Steve Wheatland (Chandlers Ford SC).
GROUP G: 1st, Matt Wilson (Trinity Snooker Club, Henley); 2nd, Alex Greenham (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Jean-Marc Bancilhon (Woking SC); 4th, Terry Teeman (Woking SC).
GROUP H: 1st, Paul Ganley (Rhodrons Club, Chessington); 2nd, Kevin Palmer (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Dennis Tristram (Shots, Watford); 4th, Gavin Bolsover (Woking SC).
GROUP I: 1st, Darren Weetman (Woking SC); 2nd, Ketan Gohel (Brentham Club); 3rd, Phil Butler (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Dalton Lawrence (Woking SC).
GROUP J: 1st, Jason Pusser (St James Institute, Bournemouth); 2nd, Franco Carchedi (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Mark Thomas (Shots, Watford); 4th, Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC); 5th, Dj Jutla (Woking SC).
GROUP K: 1st, Andy Lavin (Shots, Watford); 2nd, Alan Harvey (Chertsey SC); 3rd, Darren Johnson (Petersfield Bowls & Snooker Club); 4th, Bluey Noel (Woking SC); 5th, Phil Vowels (West Byfleet SC).
KNOCKOUT RESULTS
LAST-16 (10 points): Bunyard 2-0 Carchedi, Ganley 2-0 Weetman, Pusser 2-1 Monckton, Howe 2-0 Burrell, Harvey 2-0 Lee, Davis 2-0 Puri, Wilson 2-1 Morris, Lavin 2-0 Bailey.
QUARTER-FINALS (12 pts, £20): Bunyard 2-1 Ganley, Pusser 2-0 Howe, Davis 2-0 Harvey, Wilson 2-1 Lavin.
SEMI-FINALS (15 pts, £45): Bunyard 2-0 Pusser, Wilson 2-1 Davis.
FINAL (25/18 pts, £200/£90): Wilson 2-0 Bunyard.
By Tim Dunkley and Chris Wyatt