Late birthday present for Hunter
JOHN Hunter kept his hopes of claiming a tenth Cuestars South Wilts Snooker League title alive by defeating current leader Richard Swaffield in a must-win match.
A day after his 50th birthday, the Andover cueman prevailed 4-1 at Salisbury Snooker Club against the player tipped by many to be a champion in waiting.
Swaffield described the match as “painful snooker” and his opponent admitted a slice of luck at 1-1 in the third frame when he missed the pink but finished safe with a handful of reds in the open was crucial.
Hunter, who took the next two with breaks of 52 and 40, said: “That enabled me to win the frame and gain the upper hand for the remainder of the match.
“I guess it was a must win game. Thankfully, I didn’t see it that way as I was just enjoying the opportunity to play snooker.”
Hunter is three points adrift of Swaffield but does have a game in hand.
Meanwhile, Simon Peacock (Winterbourne Gunner) moved up to joint second after wrapping up a 4-1 victory over Neil Carroll (Rownhams) with a run of 50 in the final frame.
The Tornado, who had lost to the top two in his previous two fixtures, said it was great to be “back in full force again”.
Bottom-placed Richard Arnold, beaten 4-1 by Paul Burt (Britford), admitted: “It was thoroughly deserved. He was the better player on the night.”
And he added: “With the (two) withdrawals from the league and my less than steady progress, I could end up on minus something at this rate.”
David Rice (Fordingbridge) compiled a 48 break in the second frame of a 3-2 win over Arnold.
“It should have been 4-1,” said the 21-year-old. “I just need to work on closing out matches and frames. But it’s another win on the board.”
Rice is four points off top spot in his final season on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour following a 2-0 defeat by ten-year-old Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford) in the final of the sixth leg of eight at Fareham Snooker Club.
Steve Ashton, whose only two victories this season have been wiped out after the withdrawal of the players concerned, beat Trevor Pittman 3-2 and quipped: “I’m just hoping he doesn’t pull out!”
And Anthony Rice (Fordingbridge) opened with a 68 in his 5-0 whitewash of Pittman.
“That was the climax unfortunately,” said the 18-year-old. “After that I felt a bit nervous for some reason and it took me three or four chances to win a frame.
“I’m delighted with the scoreline but know there is much room for improvement in those situations.”
Results: Richard Arnold 1 Paul Burt 4, Steve Ashton 3 Trevor Pittman 2, Anthony Rice 5 Trevor Pittman 0, Simon Peacock 4 Neil Carroll 1, David Rice 3 Richard Arnold 2, John Hunter 4 Richard Swaffield 1.