Harrison rewrites Cuestars records book

The teenager launched a barrage of breaks that included a personal best 144 total clearance and two other centuries as he swept to victory at the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Championship Tour.

Will Meharg (Chandler’s Ford SC), who was on the receiving end of the 144 in the group stages, described the break as “awesome”.

The 23-year-old said: “He did not miss in two frames. I had three shots. He just potted everything. It was unbeatable snooker.”

And, rather worryingly, at least for his opponents, Harrison told cuestars.uk.com he has more in the tank.

He said: “I could have played better as there were a few matches where I lost concentration or played the wrong shot. But I was pretty happy. I played at about 70% of my potential.”

Harrison, who lives in the village of Hawkeridge and is based at Player’s in Westbury, pocketed £100 after beating Neil Craycraft (147 Snooker Club, Swindon) 2-0 in the final. The pair had decided to split the prize money £100/£80 instead of £120/£60.

“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “We were both knackered so the standard was not great. I just started grinding the frames out.”

Earlier, the 19-year-old smacked a 130 into Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh) in the group stages and cleared for a 109 against Adam Nash (Woolston Conservative Club, Southampton) in the quarter-finals.

The only frame he lost all day was a re-spotted black in a 3-1 semi-final success against rankings leader Ryan Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough).

Ray Mears, Ryan’s dad, said Harrison won the tournament “in outstanding fashion”.

Cuestars director and founder John Hunter confirmed Harrison had set a new record.

He said: “Ben’s 144 break is the highest ever made in a Cuestars competition.”

The previous day, Harrison knocked in his seventh maximum 147 in a practice session on his match table at Player’s against good friend Nick Henderson. He also racked up five other tons.

“The Saturday gave me massive confidence,” he said. “It’s also down to absolutely mad practice. I’ve been playing about six hours a day and it all seems to be coming together.”

And Harrison paid tribute to his sponsor Steve White, from Bath Contract Flooring, for his continued moral and financial support.

“Steve has been a massive support for me, always giving me great confidence,” said Harrison. “And he has also just paid £350 to get me into the Q School Preparation Series (at the South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester) which is a fantastic help.

“Hopefully I’m saving my best for the Q School.”

Meanwhile, back at Jesters, there was a late and nail-biting conclusion to Group C. Mears had already clinched first place with just one frame dropped in six matches.

There was an agonising wait for Lewis Miles (Jesters, Swindon) as Jessie Stevens (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) needed to win his last two matches to nick second spot.

Stevens, making his Championship Tour debut, edged past David Shaw (Caversham WMC, Reading), another new boy, 2-1 but lost to Liam O’Shea (Jesters, Swindon) 2-0.

In the knockout, Miles went out in the last-eight 2-0 to Group B winner Alex Dunkley (Cue T’s, Marchwood), who went on to lose 3-2 to Craycraft in the semi-finals after leading 2-0 with breaks of 54 and 56.

Group A winner David Beakhouse (Colours, Reading) was also a last-eight casualty, losing 2-1 to Craycraft.

The fifth of the eight legs is again at Jesters, Swindon, on Sunday, February 20.

Ben Harrison: 144, 130, 109, 82, 82, 56, 52, 50, 50.

Alex Dunkley: 97, 56, 54.

Billy Castle: 91, 76, 69, 58, 58.

Mike Finn: 87, 60.

Ryan Mears: 87, 52.

Ben Tanner: 59.

Lewis Miles: 56.

Neil Craycraft: 53.

David Shaw: 51.

GROUP A: 1st, David Beakhouse (Colours, Reading); 2nd, Adam Nash (Woolston Cons, Southampton); 3rd, Adam King (The New Arches Snooker Centre, Coventry); 4th, Mike Finn (Woolston Cons, Southampton); 5th, James Ray (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 6th, Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club).

GROUP B: 1st, Alex Dunkley (Cue T’s, Marchwood): 2nd, Billy Castle (Cue T’s, Marchwood); 3rd, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Cons); 4th, Martin Wallace (Colours, Reading); 5th, Wasim Khan (Uxbridge SC); 6th, Sam Weekes (Jesters, Swindon).

GROUP C: 1st, Ryan Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 2nd, Lewis Miles (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Liam O’Shea (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Jessie Stevens (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 5th, David Shaw (Caversham WMC, Reading); 6th, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 7th, Sachin Plaha (Egham United Services Club).

GROUP D: 1st, Ben Harrison (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Neil Craycraft (147 SC, Swindon); 3rd, Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh); 4th, Will Meharg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 6th, John Smith (The Academy, Eastleigh); 7th, James Facey (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff).

QUARTER-FINALS (£15): Craycraft beat Beakhouse 2-1, Dunkley beat Miles 2-0, Mears beat Castle 2-0, Harrison beat Nash 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points, £25): Craycraft beat Dunkley 3-2, Harrison beat Mears 3-1.

FINAL (25/18 points, £120/£60): Harrison beat Craycraft 2-0.