Hunter bags two tons in Chandlers Ford success

TWO century breaks were recorded by tournament winner John Hunter during a “weird kind of day” on the Cuestars Seniors (40+) Tour.

The 52-year-old from Andover extended his lead at the top of the rankings after beating Simon Dent 2-1 to clinch the sixth leg at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club.

Dent, who edged Matt Ford (Bracknell) 2-1 on the black in the last-four, may consider himself unlucky after his two half-century breaks in the final only yielded one frame.

He made a 53 from 41 points down in the opener but lost on the pink and forced a decider with a run of 68.

Hunter, who pocketed £100 prize money, built on an early break of 38 in the third frame and left his opponent from Shoreham needing snookers with two reds left.

He now has a virtually unassailable 38-point advantage over Ford with two legs remaining

“I wanted to keep my lead,” he said. “I lost it a few years back from what seemed to be a safe position.”

Earlier, in the round-robin group stages, Hunter hit three figures twice.

He missed a dead simple blue on 115 in his first match against Dan Hammond (Winchester) and added a 108 in his last game against Wasim Khan (High Wycombe).

Surprisingly, he didn’t make another break of 40 or more in all of his 15 frames.

“It was weird kind of day,” he said. “I’ve had two centuries yet not made a 40.

“It shows that the things I’ve been working on are working, although, under pressure, I’m still a little bit brittle.”

Neil Carroll (Rownhams) climbed to fourth place after losing 2-0 to Hunter in his first semi-final for just over a year. Third-placed Martin Wallace (Wokingham) chalked up a 73 in a 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Dent. And Darren Johnson (Petersfield) made the last-eight for the first time.

In the race for the Masters (55+) title, defending champion Phil Morgan (Salisbury) leads Stephen Hills (Northfleet) by seven points. Paul Burt (Salisbury) is two points further back in third.

The 25 runners for the event sponsored by Muddiman Building Services returned 22 breaks of 40 or more.

Salisbury Snooker Club hosts the seventh leg of eight on Sunday, March 24.

For more information about Muddiman Building Services, visit www.muddimanbuilding-services.co.uk.

BREAKS

John Hunter: 115, 108.
Martin Wallace: 73.
Simon Dent: 68, 64, 56, 54, 53, 46, 44.
Matt Ford: 67, 60, 58, 45, 45, 44.
Mike Quinnell: 62, 49.
Paul Norris: 61, 51.
John Monckton: 47.
Wayne Muddiman: 41.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS

GROUP A: 1st, John Hunter (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Dan Hammond (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Wasim Khan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, Paul Burt (Salisbury SC); 5th, Adrian Frisby (Sidcup & Foots Cray United Services Club).

GROUP B: 1st, Matt Ford (Sunninghill Comrades Club); 2nd, Mike Quinnell (Old Bexley Ex-Servicemen’s Club); 3rd, Neil Jefferis (The Ightham Club, Sevenoaks); 4th, Phil Morgan (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Jackie Ellis (Chandlers Ford SC).

GROUP C: 1st, Martin Wallace (Crucible, Newbury); 2nd, Darren Johnson (Petersfield Bowls & Snooker Club); 3rd, Andrew Darken (Chertsey SSNR Club); 4th, Stephen Hills (Traders, Northfleet); 5th, Terry Harbord (Bournemouth & District Constitutional Club).

GROUP D: 1st, Simon Dent (Castle Club, Brighton); 2nd, Paul Norris (Castle Club, Brighton); 3rd, Paul Lawrence (Park Gate RBL); 4th, Herman Desmier (Bournemouth & District Constitutional Club); 5th, Richard Arnold (Salisbury SC).

GROUP E: 1st, Neil Carroll (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Wayne Muddiman (Chandlers Ford Central Club); 3rd, John Monckton (Woking SC); 4th, Chris Rigby (Chertsey SSNR Club); 5th, Finlay Palmer (Sidcup & Foots Cray United Services Club).

KNOCKOUT RESULTS

QUARTER-FINALS (12 pts, £15): Hunter 2-0 Norris, Carroll 2-1 Quinnell, Dent 2-1 Wallace, Ford 2-0 Johnson.

SEMI-FINALS (15 pts, £25): Hunter 2-0 Carroll, Dent 2-1 Ford.

FINAL (25/18 pts, £100/£40): Hunter 2-1 Dent.

Picture by Tim Dunkley

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Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)