16 days in the life of a champion
RYAN Hughes capped a remarkable 16 days by becoming the first player to clinch the double on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
But, yet again, family and friends were subjected to another emotional rollercoaster ride during the Championship play-off at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon.
The outwardly laid-back 14-year-old from Chandler’s Ford (pictured with Kurt Maflin) survived another black-ball drama against rankings runner-up Ben Tillison in the semis and edged a nail-biting final 2-1 against Chloe White.
Earlier, rankings winner Hughes had knocked in a 31 break in his first group-stage match against Rio Smith (Portsmouth) and qualified for the knockout unbeaten.
His first real test was battling back from 1-0 down in the last-eight to Chandler’s Ford SC clubmate Oli Line (Botley) to prevail 2-1.
“It was intense,” admitted Hughes. “I nearly lost my quarter-final and semi-final. I just ground it out.”
Indeed. In the deciding frame of his semi, Tillison (Portsmouth) attempted to pot the final black into the green pocket. It came off the jaws and hurtled towards the opposite black corner pocket.
Hughes revealed he was just about to pack his cue away but the black stopped right on the lip of the pocket.
“The black was a whisker away from dropping in and I was about to unscrew my cue,” he said.
He then faced White who needed crutches to get to the table and hobbled around on an injured ankle. Hughes sunk a long pink to take the lead but his 14-year-old opponent from Havant broke the back of the next with a run of 25.
In what can only be described as a low-scoring war of attrition, Hughes secured the deciding frame with the thinnest of thin pinks into a middle pocket using the rest.
Just over two weeks previously, Hughes, no relation to clubmate and Silver Champion Steven Hughes, embarked on a staggeringly successful run.
In that time, he has reached three successive finals – winning two of them – in the Saturday afternoon Open Series at his home club and now leads the rankings with a record low handicap.
He won the eighth and final leg on the Cuestars Bronze Tour, which included a black-ball victory over Tillison, to secure the rankings title and he chalked up a personal best 46 break in a practice match.
And during Finals Day in Swindon, he played a professional for the first time. Hughes recorded the third highest points score of 30 in one of the exhibition frames against world number 50 Kurt Maflin.
BREAKS
Ryan Hughes: 31.
Chloe White: 25, 23.
Jack Ratcliffe: 21.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Ryan Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Rio Smith (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Jack Ratcliffe (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Arnie Petty (Salisbury SC); 5th, William Forster (Mayfair, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Oli Line (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Bowen Zhu (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, Harry Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Chloe White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Riley Ellis (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Ben Crump (Mayfair, Gosport); 4th, Callum White (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS: Hughes 2 Line 1, Tillison 2 Ellis 1, Chloe White 2 Jack Ratcliffe 1, Kearns 2 Smith 1.
SEMI-FINALS: Hughes 2 Tillison 1, Chloe White 2 Kearns 1.
FINAL: Hughes 2 Chloe White 1.
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