Billy tops rankings after third straight success

THREE tournament wins on the spin has taken former snooker professional Billy Castle to the top of the Cuestars Championship Tour rankings.

Success in the fourth leg at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, earned the 31-year-old from Reading £200 in prize money.

Castle defeated defending champion Wayne Townsend (Northolt) 3-1 in the final of the event that was sponsored by the host club.

Tournament director John Hunter said: “Billy got better and better as the day went on.

“In the final, he gave Wayne very few opportunities and finished with his second century break of the day.”

There was a first semi-final appearance for Lun Lee (Orpington) and a first semi-final of the season for Connor Benzey (Eastleigh).

For centuries were recorded on the excellent tables. The pick of the bunch was made by Aristos Pampouris (Chingford) whose 115 in his first-round defeat by Simon Dent (Shoreham-by-Sea) was his highest competitive break.

Ryan Mears (Aldershot) put together a 113 in his 3-2 last-16 defeat by Ronnie Blake (Sutton). And Castle had a 105 in the last-four and 100 in the final.

Peter Devlin (London) drops to third place in the rankings. Townsend moves up to second.

Jack Dady (Basingstoke) collected £30 after beating Mears in the Plate final.

Fareham Snooker Club hosts the fifth leg of nine on Sunday, January 14.

For more information about the event sponsor, go to framessportsbar.com.

RESULTS (BREAKS)

PRELIMS: Daniel Hall 3-2 Garry Coulson, Billy Castle (85, 52) 3-0 (50) Kevin Palmer, Dharminder Singh Lilly (50) 3-2 (61) Peter Devlin, Simon Dent 3-1 (115) Aristos Pampouris, Jake Fowler 3-2 Franco Carchedi, Lun Lee 3-2 Sean Reeves, Tom Kennedy (56) 3-1 James Budd, Mark Lloyd 3-1 Will Forster, Labeeb Ahmed 3-0 Arif Mustafa, Ashil Sidar 3-2 Ray Grall, Wayne Townsend (67) 3-0 Andy Darken, Bradley Cowdroy (51) 3-0 Ronnie Sullivan,

LAST-16: Connor Benzey (83, 72) 3-0 Jack Dady, Ronnie Blake 3-2 (113, 53) Ryan Mears, Castle 3-0 Hall, Lilly (64) 3-1 Dent, Lee 3-1 Fowler, Lloyd (59, 52) 3-1 Kennedy, Ahmed (54) 3-2 Sidar, Townsend 3-1 Cowdroy.

QUARTER-FINALS: Benzey (79) 3-1 (52) Blake, Castle (86) 3-2 (68, 50) Lilly, Lee 3-2 Lloyd, Townsend (62) 3-1 Ahmed,

SEMI-FINALS (£40): Castle (105, 50) 3-2 (56) Benzey, Townsend 3-0 Lee.

FINAL (£200/£100): Castle (100, 68, 52) 3-1 Townsend.

PLATE RESULTS (BREAKS)

PRELIMS: Budd (54) 2-1 Forster, Pampouris 2-1 Palmer.

QUARTER-FINALS: Budd 2-1 Pampouris, Dady 2-0 Reeves, Mears 2-0 Grall, Sullivan 2-0 Darken.

SEMI-FINALS: Dady 2-0 Budd, Mears 2-1 (53) Sullivan.

FINAL (£30/£10): Dady 2-0 Mears.

Picture: Billy Castle