Cuestars lads do us proud in Turkey

ONE runner-up trophy and two quarter-finals was an excellent haul by Cuestars lads from the European Championships in Turkey.

Oliver Sykes fell one agonising frame short of earning himself a two-year tour card for the professional circuit.

The 19-year-old from Chandler’s Ford came back from 3-1 down in the final of the Under-21 event against former professional Iulian Boiko, from Ukraine. He won three frames in a row to lead 4-3 but just couldn’t nail the one more required.

Earlier, O’Shay Scott lost 4-0 to Polish star Michal Szubarczyk in the quarter-finals of the Under-18 competition.

And Harry Wyatt also lost 4-0 to Michal in the last-eight of the Under-16 event. Michal went on to win both titles.

The numbers are staggering. The English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards awarded 14 of the 24 England places to lads who have competed in our tournaments in the past 14 months.

Players qualified for the trip to the Pine Beach Belek Hotel on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea by finishing high enough on the English Junior Tour, the national under-21 circuit.

UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP

All four of our lads – Oliver Sykes, Aidan Murphy, O’Shay Scott and Kaylan Patel – qualified for the knockout.

UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP

Four of our five lads – O’Shay Scott, Kaylan Patel, Dylan Smith and William Hurley – qualified for the knockout. William Thomson missed out on the head-to-head rule.

UNDER-16 CHAMPIONSHIP

All five of our lads – William Thomson, William Hurley, Adam Abbas, Zain Jeraj and Harry Wyatt – qualified for the knockout.

Picture is of our Under-16 players.

Full results can be found at www.ebsa.tv.