Two in a row for rankings leader Davis
PAUL Davis has stretched his lead at the top of the Cuestars Seniors Tour rankings thanks to a second successive tournament win.
Last month’s victor in Bournemouth repeated his feat in the fourth leg of the over-40s circuit at Waterlooville Sports Bar.
Davis (Wareham) was once again playing some brilliant match snooker and progressed to the final without dropping a single frame.
Matt Ford (Bracknell) took the lead in an excellent contest with a quick-fire 53 break. Davis had to respond when he got the chance and did so with a classy 44 in the second to square the match. Both players had chances in the decider but a couple of crucial high pressure long pots helped Davis get over the line.
The high-quality field of 27 players included first appearances of the season for previous ranking winners Wayne Townsend (Northolt), Ford and Dharminder Singh Lilly (Fareham).
Ford and Townsend shared the high-break honours with 87 apiece.
Damian Henners (Southampton) put together an excellent performance to qualify for the knockout stage in only his second Seniors event before losing to Paul Foster (Swanmore) in the last-16.
The last-16 proved to be the falling ground for three of the favourites. Townsend lost 2-1 to Ford in a high-quality encounter, Lilly was eliminated 2-0 by Dean Sycamore (Chichester) and number-two ranked Jason Pusser (Bournemouth) went down 2-0 to Nigel Howe (Basildon).
After the boost of defeating Townsend, Ford seemed to find another gear, playing the free-flowing fluent snooker he is so well known for and progressing through to the final with wins over Alex Greenham (Poole) and Foster.
Organisers thanked club-owner Suzy Wilson and the team at Waterlooville Sports Bar for looking them as always. All the players enjoyed the great playing conditions.
Chandlers Ford Snooker Club hosts the fifth leg of nine on Sunday, January 21.
BREAKS
Matt Ford: 87, 63, 55, 55, 53, 46, 46.
Wayne Townsend: 87, 62, 42, 40.
Dharminder Singh Lilly: 84, 64, 51, 48, 45.
Nigel Howe: 84, 48.
Jason Pusser: 81, 77.
David Moritz: 69, 47, 44.
Paul Foster: 62, 44.
Dean Sycamore: 59, 56, 55.
Phil Butler: 54.
Darren Johnson: 53.
Paul Bailey: 52.
Paul Davis: 51, 49, 44.
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS
GROUP A: 1st, Paul Davis (Greenbaize); 2nd, Shane Hatfield (Greenbaize); 3rd, Neil Herd (Salisbury SC); 4th, Neil Carroll (Chandlers Ford SC).
GROUP B: 1st, Paul Foster (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Jason Pusser (St James Institute, Bournemouth); 3rd, David Brock (Exeter SC); 4th, Ray Grall (Hayes WMC).
GROUP C: 1st, Martin Wallace (Crucible, Newbury); 2nd, Darren Johnson (Petersfield Bowls & Snooker Club); 3rd, Damian Henners (Greenbaize); 4th, Peter Ebbins (Greenbaize).
GROUP D: 1st, Wayne Townsend (Hayes WMC); 2nd, Nigel Howe (Q Ball Sports Bar, Basildon); 3rd, Kevin Palmer (Frames, Coulsdon); 4th, Justin Eggins (Chichester City Club); 5th, Phil Vowels (West Byfleet Social Club).
GROUP E: 1st, Dharminder Singh Lilly (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Alan Harvey (Chertsey Social Club); 3rd, Alex Greenham (Greenbaize); 4th, Phil Butler (Greenbaize); 5th, Gareth Samuel (Lytchett & Upton RBL).
GROUP F: 1st, David Moritz (Shots, Watford); 2nd, Matt Ford (Sunninghill Comrades); 3rd, Dean Sycamore (Chichester City Club); 4th, Paul Bailey (Greenbaize); 5th, Steve Read (Chandlers Ford SC).
KNOCKOUT RESULTS
LAST-16 (10 points): Davis 2-0 Palmer, Howe 2-0 Pusser, Johnson 2-1 Moritz, Sycamore 2-0 Lilly, Greenham 2-1 Wallace, Ford 2-1 Townsend, Harvey 2-0 Hatfield, Foster 2-0 Henners.
QUARTER-FINALS (12 pts, £10): Davis 2-0 Howe, Johnson 0-2 Sycamore, Greenham 1-2 Ford, Harvey 0-2 Foster.
SEMI-FINALS (15 pts, £25): Davis 2-0 Sycamore, Ford 2-0 Foster.
FINAL (25/18 pts, £120/£60): Davis 2-1 Ford.
Picture: Paul Davis (left) and Matt Ford
By Tim Dunkley and Chris Wyatt