13-year-old pockets £300
A 13-YEAR-OLD boy has won £300 in a six-month snooker competition.
There were smiles – eventually – when Ryan Hughes (pictured) was confirmed as the Open Series 19 champion at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club.
The most improved player over the 26 weeks endured a tense and, at times, emotional afternoon as the £1,310 handicapped competition designed to prepare the budding stars for national tournaments came to a dramatic end.
Three players went into the final event with a chance of clinching top spot.
Hughes, who led or jointly led the rankings for 23 of the 26 weeks, had a six-point advantage (which equates to two rounds of the main competition) over defending champion Oliver Sykes and 14-year-old Connor Benzey.
But he was left sweating on other results after a 3-1 first-round defeat by Steve Wheatland.
“I didn’t think I was going to win it after that,” admitted the Cuestars Bronze Tour rankings leader.
Benzey, who reached the quarter-finals of the English Under-14 Championship in Leeds the previous week, finished third and will collect £200 after losing his first match 3-1 to fourth-placed Charlie Pringle, 14.
Ten-year-old Sykes beat Olly Gibbs (Gosport) 3-0 but then lost 3-2 to Pete Jordan (Bitterne) despite extracting the penalty points from a required snooker in the decider.
Hughes, who was watching, said: “I was praying for Pete to just pot a ball when Oliver got the snooker to get it over and done with.”
Sykes, who the previous week had won the February Half-Term Cup and the Under-13 Premier title, had to console himself with runners-up spot and £250.
Series 20, with £1,310 prize money for the top-12 ranked players, kicks off at 1pm on Saturday. Entry fee is £9 for club members and £10 for non-members.
OPEN SERIES 19 WEEK 26 RESULTS (17 RUNNERS)
Prelims: Barry Doswell 2 Steven Hughes 1.Last-16: Suzie Opacic 2 Doswell 0, Steve Wheatland 3 Ryan Hughes 1, Charlie Pringle 3 Connor Benzey 1, Dan Hammond 3 David Stewart 2, Dan Sykes 3 Mike Trigg 0, Simon Ayers 3 Mickey Joyce 1, Pete Jordan 2 Jason Terry 1, Oliver Sykes 3 Olly Gibbs 0. Quarter-finals: Opacic 2 Wheatland 0, Pringle 3 Hammond 0, Ayers 3 D Sykes 2, Jordan 3 O Sykes 2.Semi-finals: Opacic 2 Pringle 0, Jordan 2 Ayers 0.Final: Opacic 2 Jordan 0.Plate final: R Hughes 2 Joyce 1. Breaks: D Sykes: 49; Opacic: 42, 32, 31; Ayers: 39, 35; Wheatland: 36; Gibbs: 32; Hammond: 32.Top 12 and prize money: Ryan Hughes (C/Ford) 8 h/cap, 163 pts, £300; Oliver Sykes (C/Ford) -5, 157, £250; Connor Benzey (Eastleigh) -10, 154, £200; Charlie Pringle (C/Ford) 4, 137, £150; Barry Doswell (Portsmouth) 24, 135, £100; Dan Sykes (C/Ford) -16, 134, £80; Phil Morgan (Salisbury) -14, 131, £65; Steven Hughes (C/Ford) -7, 125, £50; Jamie Wilson (Havant) -12, 122, £40; Dan Hammond (Winchester) -19, 114, £30; Pete Jordan (Bitterne) 12, 86, £25; Mickey Joyce (Basingstoke) -10, 83, £20.
Picture by Tim Dunkley