D-Day anniversary marked with hat-trick of high breaks

IT WAS 71 years ago last Saturday that British, US and Canadian troops mounted the biggest air and sea invasion in history that proved to be the turning point of the fight against Nazi Germany in World War 2.

To young players at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club, the landings by Allied forces on five Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944, more famously known as D-Day, was probably something they covered in history at school one day.

And perhaps that’s the way it should be. There are people still alive today who ran up those beaches in France under heavy gunfire to enable us all to live a free life.

Fast forward to June 6, 2015, and the writing was on the wall when Charlie Pringle (pictured) made his highest scores on three practice routines in the previous five days.

The 13-year-old, who has already won promotion to the Cuestars Silver Tour by finishing his debut Bronze season in sixth place, swept through the Open Series without dropping any of his 11 frames.

And he made a personal best 42 break against Daniel Woods, the best player in the tournament.

Earlier, nine-year-old Lewis Wilson, from Havant, is now just 53 points behind big brother Jamie’s highest break after knocking in a five-ball personal best 18 in his defeat by Olly Gibbs in the Eastleigh & District Under-13 Premier League.

FIVE-BALL BREAK: Nine-year-old Lewis Wilson and Sam Warren made a 26 break (one below his highest) in the Eastleigh & District Under-19 League and was set to win the day’s high-break prize.

However, defending Premier champion Mickey Joyce, 12, seemed to have snatched it with a 27…

… only for 14-year-old Warren, from Hamble, to respond with a personal best 28 against Bronze Tour championship runner-up Oliver Sykes.

SO CLOSE TO 30! Sam Warren

It’s a sobering thought that on this day 71 years ago around 4,000 Allied troops were killed in France.

Report and picture by Tim Dunkley