Caden Read enjoys best weekend ever

CADEN Read ended his “best weekend” with a first winner’s trophy on the Cuestars Under-21 Bronze Tour.

The nine-year-old defeated rankings leader Harry Wyatt 2-0 in the final of the fifth leg on home tables at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club.

It was a reversal of last month’s final in south London.

Read – who was watched in the early stages of the tournament by Dave and Jan Randall from his sponsor, Southampton-based Installation Contract Engineers – admitted he had to battle hard to overcome his clubmate

“It was pretty tough against Harry,” he said. “I had to do my best.”

Read climbed to fifth in the rankings at the halfway point of the season.

The previous day, he recorded his highest break of 25 and was unbeaten in the opening week of the new Eastleigh & District Under-13 and Under-19 Leagues.

He then equalled that break with a 25 clearance to beat Wyatt on the black in the round-robin stage of the Cuestars tournament.

After winning his group with four victories out of five, he defeated Daniel Walter (Portsmouth) 2-0 and Eddie Mason (Salisbury) 2-1 in the knockout.

Reflecting on his green-baize success over the two days, Read said: “It’s been my best weekend.”

Ten-year-old Wyatt (Ferndown) extended his lead to 38 points over second-placed George Laxton (Portsmouth), who went down 2-0 to Thomas McEvoy (Warminster) in the quarter-finals.

Walter (Portsmouth) and Jaydon Elliott (Swindon) remained in third and fourth respectively after last-eight exits.

Another large entry of 22 meant just qualifying for the knockout was a feat in itself.

The event was sponsored by David Stewart, to raise awareness of the charity Sightsavers, and Chandlers Ford SC.

To find out more about Sightsavers, which works to eliminate avoidable blindness and promotes the rights of people with disabilities, go to www.sightsavers.org. To find out more about Chandlers Ford SC, visit www.cfordsnooker.co.uk.

Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, hosts the sixth leg of ten on Sunday, February 2.

BREAKS

Harry Wyatt: 39, 22, 22.
Caden Read: 25.
Daniel Walter: 20.

BRONZE RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Caden Read (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Harry Wyatt (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Jake Sharp (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 4th, Lennon Savage (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Freddie Turner (Salisbury SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, George Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Eddie Mason (Salisbury SC); joint 3rd, Ryan Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar) & Tyler Mack (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 5th, Sam Walter (Mayfair, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Will Kempson (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Daniel Walter (Mayfair, Gosport); 3rd, William Thomson (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Ryan Kneller (Waterlooville Sports Bar; 5th, Katie Griffin (Jesters, Swindon; 6th, Finn Kirby (Waterlooville Sports Bar).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Jaydon Elliott (147, Swindon); 2nd, Thomas McEvoy (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Thomas Devine (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Aaron Wilson (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 5th, Chris Bennett (Chandlers Ford SC); 6th, Mason Coveney (Crucible, Newbury).

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Wyatt 2-0 Kempson, Read 2-0 D Walter, Mason 2-1 Elliott, McEvoy 2-0 Laxton.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Read 2-1 Mason, Wyatt 2-0 McEvoy.

FINAL (25/18 points): Read 2-0 Wyatt.

Picture by Tim Dunkley

From left: Caden Read, Chandlers Ford SC owner Ray Cooper, Harry Wyatt.

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Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)