Mark conquers Malta

IT WAS a fruitful week in Malta for Gold Tour star Mark Lloyd.

The English Under-16 champion beat the English Under-14 champion in the final of the tenth European Under-17 Snooker Championship, an open tournament for young players worldwide.

“It was an amazing experience,” he said. “It meant more because I had qualified for it and earned the right to be there (by winning the national title).”

A total of 17 youngsters from England, Germany, Sweden, Thailand, Malta and Belgium were split into four round-robin groups for the week-long event played on one table at the Apple Bar, on Triq it-Turisti (Tourist Street), in Bugibba.

Competing in his first overseas event, Lloyd, who is based at Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, won all three of his round-robin matches and beat Kobe Vanoppen (Belgium) 4-1 in the last-eight and Halim Hussain (Birmingham) 4-0 in the semi-finals.

And in the final, the 16-year-old defeated Halim’s 14-year-old brother Hamim 5-2 to pocket 500 Euros (£225). Hamim, the national under-14 champion for the past two seasons, also lost in last year’s final.

“It was a great tournament,” said Lloyd. “And it was great to get to know the lads participating in the event. It was a quality experience. It was just a bonus to win it.”

Lloyd thanked John Hartley for organising the event and Vincent Pisani for initially introducing the tournament.

Jonny Mutch, who also competes on the Cuestars Gold Tour, was a group-stage casualty.

GROUP-STAGE RESULTS

Mark Lloyd: 3-0 Anton Woywod (Germany), 3-2 Reggie Edwards (Norwich), 3-1 Isaac Borg (Malta).

Jonny Mutch: 0-3 Wesley Pelgrims (Belgium), 3-0 Andrej Nasibov (Sweden), 1-3 Jan Joachim (Germany), 0-3 Manasawin Phetmalaikul (Thailand).

Picture: John Hartley (left) and Mark Lloyd.

Report by Tim Dunkley.