Can Rice make it five?

ANTHONY Rice is in pole position to join four other current Cuestars players on the EASB Premier Junior Tour.

The 18-year-old from Fordingbridge (pictured) leads the Regional Junior Tour South after winning the second leg of the under-20 feeder circuit at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.

Rice, who made a quarter-final exit in the first leg in Dunstable in September, is currently seventh on the Cuestars Gold Tour and fifth on the Cuestars Championship Tour.

A 100-mile journey that included the dreaded roadworks on the M3 meant the left-hander wasn’t concentrating enough in his first group-stage match.

Trailing 2-0 to Jamie Wilkes (Bristol) but aware that the three best second-placed players from the five groups would qualify for the knockout, Rice dug deep to take the final frame.

“I told myself to focus,” he said. “Even though I had lost the match, that frame could prove key to getting out of the group.”

He then accounted for the “phenomenal young potter” Evan Plummer (Coulsdon) 3-0 and saw off Adam Edkins (Gillingham) 2-1 from 1-0 down.

Through to the knockout by one frame, he beat Londoner Lennard Cripps 2-0, Wilkes 2-1 on the pink in the decider and Tokki Yamaguchi (Eastbourne) 2-0 in the final.

“By the time the final came, I was eager to get home,” Rice said. “The roadworks on the M3 make it a longer journey than normal so it takes about two hours to get home.

“That’s the last thing you want after you’ve spent the whole day trying to put full concentration into matchplay snooker.

“Neither of us played great and I had some luck along the way.”

Rice, who pocketed £125 prize money, proved the old adage that a big break only wins one frame.

He made a 79 in the Gold Tour event in Salisbury – and failed to get out of his group. He made a 67 in the Championship Tour event in Swindon – and failed to get out of his group. He only managed breaks of 37 and 35 all day in Coulsdon – and won the tournament.

Comparing the Regional Junior Tour South with the Cuestars Gold Tour, Rice said: “The standard on the Gold Tour is higher than the RJT at the moment as there are three or four Premier Tour standard players on the Gold Tour.

“Hopefully, I can join the other Gold Tour players on the Premier Tour next season.”

Bradley Cowdroy (Bournemouth) was the only other Cuestars player to make the knockout. He lost 2-1 to Wilkes in the last-eight.

Reece King (Bournemouth), James Beaven (Coulsdon), Jamie Wilson (Havant), Callum Browne (Westbury), Jonny Mutch (Cambridge), Harry Jones (Coulsdon) and Evan Plummer (Coulsdon) made group-stage exits.

Cuestars members already on the Premier Tour are Mark Lloyd (Gosport), James Budd (Fareham), Sonnie O’Sullivan (Aylesbury) and Ronnie Blake (Coulsdon).

The third leg of six is at the Castle Snooker Club, Brighton, on Sunday, December 6.

Report and picture by Tim Dunkley.