Bronze title-contender Laxton wins in Woking

GEORGE Laxton is one of the favourites for the Cuestars Under-21 Bronze Tour title after winning the second leg at Woking Snooker Centre.

The 14-year-old from Portsmouth defeated his Waterlooville Sports Bar clubmate Finn Kirby 2-0 in the final.

Laxton moves up to second place in the rankings while Kirby collected his first Cuestars trophy in only his second outing.

Paying tribute to his opponent, Laxton said: “Finn played very, very well. He kept pushing me.”

Reflecting on what promises to be a close title race, he added: “If I keep playing like I did today, I have a chance.”

It was actually a second successive trophy for Laxton. He reached the Plate final in the first leg in Salisbury last month.

Earlier, Ayan Roy (London) made his highest competitive break of 16 against Daniel Walter (Portsmouth) in the group stages.

His excellent day continued with a fine 2-1 quarter-final victory over last season’s rankings runner-up Zain Jeraj (Tooting) and ended in a 2-0 last-four defeat by Laxton.

Dylan Beer (Fair Oak) knocked out leg-one winner Caden Read (Chandler’s Ford) 2-1 in the last-eight before going down 2-0 to Kirby in the semi-finals.

The event was sponsored by Chris Gaynor, who runs snookerzone.co.uk, and his brother-in-law Alex Hoff, boss of helicopter training outfit Hoff Aviation.

Please note date change! Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, hosts the third leg of eight on Sunday, January 30.

BREAKS

Caden Read: 25.
Ayan Roy: 16(PB)

BRONZE RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Caden Read (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Zain Jeraj (London Snooker); 3rd, Christopher Woodward (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Ellise Scott (Chandlers Ford SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, George Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Thomas McEvoy (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Dylan Beer (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Samuel Walter (Mayfair, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Ayan Roy (Frames, Coulsdon); 2nd, Finn Kirby (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 3rd, Daniel Walter (Mayfair, Gosport); 4th, Tyler Beer (Chandlers Ford SC).

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): D Beer 2-1 Read, Kirby 2-1 McEvoy, Laxton 2-0 D Walter, Roy 2-1 Jeraj.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Kirby 2-0 D Beer, Laxton 2-0 Roy.

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

Picture, from left: Chris Gaynor and George Laxton.