Hunter claims record 11th South Wilts title
JOHN Hunter insisted he has no thoughts of retiring after claiming a record 11th Cuestars South Wilts Snooker League title.
In fact, the 51-year-old (pictured) is hoping to improve his game.
The Andover cueman secured his eighth straight title, with a game in hand, by overcoming Neil Carroll (Rownhams) 4-1 with breaks of 52 and 54 at Salisbury Snooker Club.
“I have no thoughts of retiring,” he said. “I want to emulate some of my fellow Cuestars Seniors Tour players who are hungry to improve their snooker.
“I’m looking forward to working less and playing snooker more in my retirement.”
Meanwhile, Anthony Rice leads Neil Herd by three points in the race for the runners-up spot.
Rice beat Richard Arnold 5-0 with runs of 55, 49 and a “few 30s”.
The 19-year-old from Fordingbridge said “The score probably wasn’t a fair reflection of the match.
“And Richard missed a blue that I’m sure he’ll be disappointed with that would have given him the final frame.”
Bemoaning the continuation of his poor season, Arnold said: “There were a couple of breaks but I can’t recollect them – it’s yet another age-related benefit.”
Herd (Frome) picked by two wins with a bevy of breaks thanks to a new outlook on the game.
“I tried to play a bit faster as I felt I have been over thinking my shots,” he said after efforts of 68, 42, 39, 38, 35, 33 and 31 in a 5-0 whitewash against David Rice, who added a 48.
Herd followed that with runs of 47 and 35 in a 3-2 win against Gary Hart (Porton).
Hart said: “It was a good scrap but Neil’s safety was better and he took his chances better than I did so it was a fair result.
Steve Ashton climbed to fourth on the back of a 3-2 victory over Paul Burt (Britford). He knocked in a break of 36 in the first frame, a 33 in the fifth and won the second and fourth on the final blacks.
And Simon Peacock (Winterbourne Gunner) wrapped up a 5-0 success against John Rice (Fordingbridge) with a 48.
“I played the best I’ve played in a difficult season due to lack of playing the game,” he said.
“I can’t wait for the final match to come so I can hopefully start putting some practice in for next season.”
Rice said: “All credit to the Tornado. He blitzed me off the table with consistent fast break building.”
| P | W | L | F | A | Pts | |
| John Hunter | 10 | 10 | 0 | 40 | 10 | 50 |
| Anthony Rice | 10 | 8 | 2 | 35 | 15 | 43 |
| Neil Herd | 10 | 7 | 3 | 33 | 17 | 40 |
| Steve Ashton | 10 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 20 | 36 |
| Simon Peacock | 10 | 6 | 4 | 27 | 23 | 33 |
| Neil Carroll | 10 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 23 | 32 |
| David Rice | 9 | 6 | 3 | 25 | 20 | 31 |
| Paul Burt | 10 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 27 | 28 |
| Stuart Dreyer | 9 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 29 | 18 |
| Gary Hart | 10 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 34 | 18 |
| John Rice | 10 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 13 |
| Richard Arnold | 10 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 39 | 12 |
Results: Anthony Rice 5 Richard Arnold 0, Neil Herd 3 Gary Hart 2, Simon Peacock 5 John Rice 0, John Hunter 4 Neil Carroll 1, Steve Ashton 5 Paul Burt 0, Neil Herd 5 David Rice 0, Stuart Dreyer P David Rice P.
Highest break: John Hunter 89
Picture by Tim Dunkley
Have you got any snooker news?
It doesn’t have to be from a Cuestars tournament. E-mail me details or contact me via Facebook and you could be on the Cuestars website and in your local newspaper. E-mail: [email protected]
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)