Townsend victorious in huge Seniors field

WAYNE Townsend was last man standing from a massive 32-strong field for the third leg of the Cuestars Seniors (40+) Tour at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club.

The west Londoner pocketed £150 in prize money after beating the impressive Nick Birney in the final.

Townsend, from Northolt, dropped only one frame out of the 15 he played.

Earlier, in his first outing of the season, Birney (High Wycombe) knocked out five-time Seniors champion John Hunter (Andover) 2-1 in the last-eight and the former IBSF World Masters champion Dharminder Lilly (Fareham) 2-1 in the semi-finals.

Nigel Phillips (Farnborough), who never fails to qualify for the knockout, climbed to third place in the rankings

Hunter has a five-point lead over Martin Wallace (Wokingham) at the top of the table.

Jason Stedman (Romsey), Carl Groves (Bournemouth) and Gareth Howard (Winchester) qualified from their round-robin groups on their Seniors debuts.

In the last-16, Stedman came up against Birney while Groves went out to Townsend. Howard lost to Townsend in the quarter-finals.

The high-quality field returned 18 breaks of 40 or more. Lilly took the honours with a 102, his highest break at a Cuestars tournament.

It was a great day, as always, with matches played in the right spirit.

Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, hosts the fourth leg of eight on Sunday, February 20.

BREAKS

Dharminder Lilly: 102, 57, 48.
Nick Birney: 88, 48, 41, 40.
Neil Herd: 74, 64.
Martin Wallace: 73.
Wayne Townsend: 64, 56, 48, 47.
Neil Jefferis: 58, 49.
Carl Groves: 50.
Nigel Phillips: 46.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS

GROUP A: 1st, Wayne Townsend (Hayes WMC); 2nd, John Hunter (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Justin Eggins (Chichester City Club); 4th, Steve Wheatland (Chandlers Ford SC).

GROUP B: 1st, Martin Wallace (Crucible, Newbury); 2nd, Carl Groves; 3rd, Raj Puri (Hartley Country Club); 4th, Kevin Collins (Jesters, Swindon).

GROUP C: 1st, Dharminder Lilly (Fareham SC); 2nd, Dan Hammond (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Darren Johnson (Petersfield Bowls & SC); 4th, Phil Morgan (Chandlers Ford SC).

GROUP D: 1st, Nigel Phillips (Sovereign, Farnborough); 2nd, Paul Burt (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Paul Lawrence (Park Gate RBL); 4th, Kevin Palmer (Frames, Coulsdon).

GROUP E: 1st, Neil Herd (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Richard Arnold (Salisbury SC); 4th, Will Brown (Salisbury SC).

GROUP F: 1st, Andrew Darken (Feltham Constitutional Club); 2nd, Finley Palmer (Sidcup & Foots Cray United Services Club); 3rd, Simon Peacock (Salisbury SC); 4th, Graham Leech (Crucible, Newbury).

GROUP G: 1st, Nick Birney (High Wycombe Liberal Club); 2nd, Gareth Howard (The Winchester Club); 3rd, Gareth Samuel (Lytchett United RBL); 4th, Steve Read (Chandlers Ford SC).

GROUP H: 1st, Neil Jefferis (The Ightham Club, Sevenoaks); 2nd, Jason Stedman (Romsey Cons); 3rd, Stephen Hills (Northfleet Traders Club, Gravesend); 4th, Neil Carroll (Chandlers Ford SC).

KNOCKOUT RESULTS

LAST-16 (10 pts): Townsend 2-0 Groves, Howard 2-1 Jefferis, Herd 2-0 F Palmer, Phillips 2-0 Hammond, Lilly 2-0 Burt, Ashton 2-1 Darken, Birney 2-0 Stedman, Hunter 2-0 Wallace.

QUARTER-FINALS (12 pts, £10): Townsend 2-0 Howard, Herd 0-2 Phillips, Lilly 2-1 Ashton, Birney 2-1 Hunter.

SEMI-FINALS (15 pts, £30): Townsend 2-0 Phillips, Lilly 1-2 Birney.

FINAL (25/18 pts, £150/£70): Townsend 2-0 Birney.