Lloyd close to Championship Tour success

MARK Lloyd has one hand on the Cuestars Championship Tour rankings trophy and the £600 prize money.

The 25-year-old from Gosport won his fourth tournament of the season in the sixth leg at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club.

And unless he does a ‘Devon Loch*’, the 2018/19 champion will claim a second title in May.

Lloyd pocketed £250 after beating Labeeb Ahmed (Chessington) 2-1 in a good standard final of the Parris Cues-sponsored event that featured long potting as well as tactical battles.

And he recorded the day’s highest break of 107 in his 3-0 quarter-final win against O’Shay Scott (Eastleigh).

Matt Callow (Midhurst) reached the last-four for the first time.

Ronnie Blake (Sutton) defeated Neil Carroll (Rownhams) 2-0 in the Plate final.

To find out more about the event sponsor, go to www.parriscues.com.

Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth, hosts the seventh leg of nine on Sunday, March 9.

*Devon Loch, owned by the Queen Mother and ridden by future best-selling author Dick Francis, inexplicably fell in the final straight while leading the 1956 Grand National at Aintree.

RESULTS (BREAKS)

PRELIMS: Will Forster 3-0 Kevin Palmer, Carl Davies 3-1 Steve Wheatland, Shane Hatfield 0-3 Labeeb Ahmed.

LAST-32: Will Forster 1-3 Carl Davies, Labeeb Ahmed 3-2 James Page, Ryan Spratt (52) 1-3 (66) Bradley Cowdroy, Jake Fowler 0-3 Bill Lee, Matt Callow (60) 3-1 Steve Read, Asten Sahota 3-2 Simon Dent, Alex Greenham 1-3 Jamie Wilson, Ryan Hughes 0-3 Paul Davis, Noah Gartell 0-3 Jack Squires, Harry Wyatt 3-2 William Thomson, Ronnie Blake 1-3 (74, 64) Billy Castle, Oliver Sykes (73, 54) 3-0 Neil Herd, Navraj Landa 1-3 Riccardo Drayton, Evan Plummer 2-3 O’Shay Scott, Mark Lloyd (55) 3-0 Neil Carroll, Shane Hellyer 1-3 Riley Ellis.

LAST-16: Carl Davies 1-3 Labeeb Ahmed, Bradley Cowdroy 3-0 Bill Lee, Matt Callow 3-1 Asten Sahota, Jamie Wilson 1-3 Paul Davis, Jack Squires 3-1 Harry Wyatt, Billy Castle (60, 59, 50) 3-0 Oliver Sykes, Riccardo Drayton 0-3 O’Shay Scott, Mark Lloyd 3-0 Riley Ellis.

QUARTER-FINALS: Labeeb Ahmed 3-0 Bradley Cowdroy, Matt Callow (56) 3-0 Paul Davis, Jack Squires 0-3 (83, 78) Billy Castle, O’Shay Scott 0-3 (107, 51) Mark Lloyd.

SEMI-FINALS (£55): Labeeb Ahmed 3-2 Matt Callow, Billy Castle 0-3 (61) Mark Lloyd.

FINAL (£250/£120): Mark Lloyd 2-1 Labeeb Ahmed.

PLATE RESULTS (BREAKS)

LAST-16: Noah Gartell 1-2 Ryan Spratt, Shane Hatfield 2-1 Simon Dent, Ronnie Blake (60) 2-0 Steve Wheatland, Shane Hellyer 2-0 Alex Greenham, Steve Read 0-2 Navraj Landa , Ryan Hughes 1-2 Neil Carroll, Neil Herd 1-2 William Thomson, Jake Fowler 2-0 James Page.

QUARTER-FINALS: Ryan Spratt 2-0 Shane Hatfield, Ronnie Blake (59) 2-0 Shane Hellyer, Navraj Landa 0-2 Neil Carroll, William Thomson 1-2 Jake Fowler.

SEMI-FINALS: Ryan Spratt 0-2 Ronnie Blake, Neil Carroll 2-0 Jake Fowler.

FINAL (£30/£15): Ronnie Blake 2-0 Neil Carroll.

By Tim Dunkley and Steven Hughes