Cuestars trio reach national finals
IT WAS a fantastic achievement by three young past and present Cuestars members from Hampshire.
In the space of two days, Jordan Winbourne, 13, Shane Castle, 11, and Adam Bobat, 13, (all pictured) qualified for the final stages of two national snooker competitions in two different age groups.
For the third year running, the talented trio potted their way to the last 16 of the English under-14 national championship.
Winbourne and Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC) and Bobat (Fareham SC) head to Leeds next April after progressing through the English Association of Snooker & Billiards (EASB) southern region qualifier at the 147 Club in Swindon.
Winbourne sailed through his round-robin group – winning all four matches 3-0 and posting breaks of 79 and 62.
Castle, a semi-finalist last season, dropped only one frame in 12 – to Bobat – and won his five-man group with ease.
However, Bobat was forced to battle through a play-off to book his trip north. The final place went to the best third-placed player out of the five groups. Bobat, a beaten finalist in 2007/08 and semi-finalist last season, had an identical record to Chandler’s Ford debutante Bouwe Bosma, 13. Bobat won the one-frame play-off. In the group stages, Bosma had lost a black-ball frame to Londoner Peter Devlin.
Just 24 hours later, the three amigos repeated the feat in the under-16 event in Romford. Winbourne and Bobat, who both reached the final stages last season, will be joined for the first time by Castle.
Winbourne and Castle were drawn in the same round-robin group at Grove Snooker Centre. The pair clashed in a high-quality first match of the day. Castle took the first frame with a 47 break. A 69 gave Winbourne a 2-1 lead. Castle forced a decider with a 46 and sealed a 3-2 win with a 50.
“It was a good game,” admitted Castle, twice Pontin’s under-12 champion.
It proved to be the only frames Winbourne dropped in seven group matches all weekend.
He added breaks of 50 and 62 in his next two games and beat Sam Streames (Gloucs) 3-1 in the second round. Group winner Castle overcame home player Ryan Marriner 3-1 to qualify. Bobat, who finished second in his group, eased past Declan Bristow (Bristol) 3-0.
Bobat’s mum, Gail, said: “It’s a really great achievement from all three of them.”
Castle, Winbourne and Bobat have been good friends and rivals for years.