Battling Riley jointly leads Silver rankings

WILTSHIRE teenager Riley Ellis jointly leads the Cuestars Under-21 Silver Tour snooker rankings after a hard-fought victory in the third leg in south London.

The 17-year-old from Clyffe Pypard was forced to battle all day to secure his first winner’s trophy of the season at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.

Ellis, who is based at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club, topped his five-man round-robin group but was really put under the cosh in the knockout.

Up against his nine-year-old club-mate William Thomson, Ellis lost the first frame and survived a re-spotted black in the second before running out a 2-1 winner.

He then overcame bogey player Simon Bubb, the event-two winner from London, 2-0 in the last-four and beat Samuel Laxton (Portsmouth) 2-0, both on the black, in the final.

It was a long day for Ellis but he was delighted to win such tight matches in the event sponsored by the host club.

“I love playing Samuel,” he said. “He gives me a run for my money on safety play, that’s for sure.

“(Bubb) is a person I struggle to play well against. But I managed to hold my own and fight back.”

And he added: “There’s no easy games in Silver!”

Earlier, Laxton, despite struggling with a foot injury and not having played for a while, chalked up his first half-century break. He made a 60 to recover from 1-0 down to first-time semi-finalist Harry Wyatt (Ferndown).

Ellis, who is sponsored by Swindon-based Save On Tyres and recently qualified as a WPBSA snooker coach, joins event-one winner Elliott Johnson (London) at the top of the table going into the second half of the shortened season. Beaten quarter-finalist John Donovan (London) is third.

Salisbury Snooker Club hosts the fourth leg of six on Sunday, September 12.

BREAKS

Samuel Laxton: 60.
Riley Ellis: 49, 32, 31.
Will Forster: 40.
Simon Bubb: 39, 38, 35,
John Donovan: 35.

SILVER RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Elliott Johnson (London Snooker); 2nd, William Thomson (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Chloe White (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 4th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Simon Bubb (Cousins, London); 2nd, John Donovan (Cousins, London); 3rd, Samuel Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 4th, Will Forster (Fareham SC); 5th, Callum Truelove (Castle SC, Brighton).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Riley Ellis (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Harry Wyatt (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Jimmy Gregory; 4th, Mason Wilson (Academy, Basingstoke); 5th, Farhaan Hatimi (Coulsdon).

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Laxton 2-0 Johnson, Wyatt 2-0 Donovan, Bubb 2-1 Gregory, Ellis 2-1 Thomson.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Laxton 2-1 Wyatt, Ellis 2-0 Bubb.

FINAL (25/18 points): Ellis 2-0 Laxton.

Picture by Tim Dunkley

From left: Samuel Laxton, Tony Thompson (Frames Sports Bar owner), Riley Ellis.