Mears qualifies by a whisker

ALDERSHOT hotshot Ryan Mears squeezed through to the last-16 of the English Six-Reds Championship by the narrowest of margins.

The 2012 runner-up said he “couldn’t believe how close it was” after pipping Cornwall’s Darran Lock, the 2013 runner-up, by just one frame.

Mears, the 2010/11 rankings winner on the Cuestars South of England Championship Tour, met Lock in the final match of the southern qualifier at the Hurricane Room, St Albans, and needed a snooker to take the first frame on the black.

The 25-year-old went on to win 3-1 unaware that a second frame for his opponent would have been enough. As the pair ended with identical records, Mears progressed on the head-to-head rule.

“I thought a win for either of us would ensure second spot (in the round-robin group),” he said.

“I couldn’t believe it was close enough that if I had only won 3-2 it wouldn’t have been enough. So I was quite relieved because I didn’t know this while I was playing.”

Ashley Beal (East Sussex), Kurtis Weaver (Bristol) and Wayne Townsend (Middlesex) qualified along with Mears for the next stage at Barretts Club, Northampton, on Saturday, January 31, 2015.

Three-time Cuestars Championship Tour winner Jon Charlton finished third in his group.

Report by Tim Dunkley.