Beebe edges ahead of Gibbs

EASTLEIGH potter Luke Beebe reckons one more win could secure the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour rankings title.

The 12-year-old (pictured left) is now favourite after collecting his second successive winner’s trophy in the fifth leg on home tables at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club.

“It went really well,” he said. “I was starting to get my potting ability back.”

Indeed. In the round-robin group stages against Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC), Beebe, on a run of 44, was robbed of a first half-century when a tricky pink rattled the jaws.

And he added a 39 in the first frame of a 2-0 final victory over Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).

Undefeated in his five-man group, Beebe survived a bit of a battle against Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC) in the last-eight and inflicted a second semi-final defeat of the season on fifth-placed Nat Kidner, the much improved lad from Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth.

Meanwhile, it was a remarkable run from Tillison (below), who had never qualified for the knockout in his previous 12 outings.

He came second in a three-way play-off in his group and then accounted for Jordan Lee (Woking SC) 2-0 and newcomer Lee Fitzpatrick (Totton Recreation Club) 2-1.

Beebe leads Ollie Gibbs (Stoke SC, Gosport), a group-stage casualty, by 12 points. Edward James (Woking SC) is third, ahead of McDonald.

The sixth leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, March 2.

BREAKS

Luke Beebe: 44, 39.

BRONZE RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Lee Fitzpatrick (Totton Recreation Club); 3rd, Connor Benzey (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC); 5th, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Liam Ashman (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, Harry Cook (Woking SC); 5th, Connor Shaw (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Jordan Lee (Woking SC); 2nd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Ollie Gibbs (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Sam Warren (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Edward James (Woking SC); 2nd, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Ben Hatch (Southampton); 4th, Adam Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Beebe beat McDonald 2-1, Kidner beat Pollard 2-0, Tillison beat Lee 2-0, Fitzpatrick beat James 2-1.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Beebe beat Kidner 2-0, Tillison beat Fitzpatrick 2-1.

FINAL (25/18 points): Beebe beat Tillison 2-0.

Picture by Tim Dunkley