Gold leader Spratt claims first winner’s trophy

RYAN Spratt dusted off his old cue and won his first Cuestars tournament in south London.

The 15-year-old from Botley, who made his competitive debut a tad under three years ago, now sits top of the Under-21 Gold Tour rankings.

He pocketed £100 in prize money following a 3-2 victory over Ronnie Sullivan in the final of the second leg at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.

Reflecting on the events of the day at just gone 10pm, Spratt said: “I used my old cue and I felt positive about things.

“I lost my first two games but I managed to win 2-0 against Harry (Wyatt), a very good player. I made a 62 break and that got things going.”

Spratt qualified for the knockout as one of the two best thirds. He was 2-0 up and eventually won fifth-frames deciders in both his last-eight and semi-final matches against Will Forster (Wickham) and William Hurley (Rayleigh) respectively.

The England international described the experience of playing Sullivan on one of the club’s professional standard Star tables as “amazing”.

He added: “The table was so fast. I just love adapting to the conditions.”

Spratt first played competitively on October 25, 2021, in the Autumn Half-Term Cup at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club. On that day, he made a break of 11 and passed Bronze Level 1 of the Cuestars Academy.

He made his Bronze debut the following March, was swiftly promoted to Silver and is now in his second season in Gold thanks to a personal best 94 break recorded in April last year.

The hard-working teenager competes on the EPSB’s English Junior Tour and captained the England Under-16 B team in the Home Internationals in Leeds in August, which he described at the time as the “best thing” he’s ever done in snooker.

Chandlers Ford Snooker Club hosts the third leg of ten on Sunday, November 3.

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

BREAKS

Ryan Spratt: 62, 42.
Will Forster: 58, 42.
William Hurley: 53, 43.
Zain Jeraj: 50, 41.
William Thomson: 48.

GOLD RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Will Forster (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, John Donovan (Hurricane Room, Colindale); 3rd, Riley Ellis (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Donnie Gola (Mildmay Club).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Ronnie Sullivan; 2nd, William Hurley (Lanes Sports Bar, Rayleigh); 3rd, Ryan Spratt (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Harry Wyatt (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Zain Jeraj (London Snooker, Tooting); 2nd, William Thomson (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Asten Sahota (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Dylan Beer (Salisbury SC).

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Spratt 3-2 Forster, Hurley 3-0 Thomson, Sullivan 3-1 Sahota, Donovan 3-2 Jeraj.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Spratt 3-2 Hurley, Sullivan 3-1 Donovan.

FINAL (£100/£25, 25/18 points): Spratt 3-2 Sullivan.

Picture, from left: Ronnie Sullivan, Frames owner Tony Thompson, Ryan Spratt.