83 break for 14-year-old

A CUESTARS Silver Tour player has already booked a place on next season’s Gold Tour.

Connor Benzey (pictured) knocked in an 83 break in a practice match against Southampton’s former Town Champion Danny Gallant at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club this evening.

It’s not often that the two-time (and only) Club Champion is left picking balls out of pockets during a session with one of the lads.

But Gallant was a mere – but delighted – bystander as the 14-year-old compiled a personal best on Table 2 just before 6pm.

It did not come as a huge surprise to those who have seen the teenager in action recently. He has been threatening to knock in a big one for some time.

It’s been quite a year, so far, for Benzey, whose highest competitive break is 53. On January 1, he clinched the ten-day Christmas Cup and – on the same day – signed a substantial year-long sponsorship deal with Pitman Training Winchester.

He then qualified for the last-16 of the English Under-14 Championship and reached the quarter-finals in Leeds. For his birthday last month, he received a brand-new John Parris cue. And last week, he pocketed £200 for finishing third in the six-month long Open Series.

Last season’s Bronze Tour play-off champion, he is currently third on the Silver Tour rankings and is preparing to make his debut on the EASB Regional Junior Tour South.

Report and picture by Tim Dunkley