Glory for Matib in Bournemouth

YOUSUF Matib was forced to battle hard in Bournemouth to claim his first ever snooker tournament win.

The 14-year-old from Leytonstone beat Zoard Toth 2-1 on the black in the final of the
tenth and last leg of the Cuestars Under-21 Bronze Tour at Greenbaize Snooker Club.

Matib, who is based at the Hurricane Room in Kings Cross, said: “I feel great. I’m happy to win.

“Quarter-final, semi-final, final – all went to 2-1. I was under pressure but I got it in the end on the black ball.”

Earlier, 14-year-old Toth (Borehamwood) made his highest competitive break of 38 in his last-eight victory over Lee Clayden (Chingford).

Matib – who made his Cuestars debut in November, 2022 – finished the season in third place behind Noah Gartell (Isle of Wight) and runaway champion Jack Squires (Gosport).

Channel Islander Archie Greier kept up his run of qualifying for the knockout in all seven events he has entered and finished fourth. Fifth-placed Oliver Donnelly (Wandsworth) made his fourth semi-final appearance of the campaign.

A total of 58 different players have competed on the Bronze Tour this season.

The event was sponsored by Greenbaize SC (www.greenbaizesnooker.com) and one of its members, Cuestars Masters Tour player Shaun Hayman.

Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, hosts the Cuestars Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Championships on Sunday, May 19, with guest professional Joe Perry.

BREAKS

Zoard Toth: 38(PB), 25.
Seth Charters: 31.
Archie Greier: 28, 24, 20.
Rayan El Qmache: 23, 21, 20.
Yousuf Matib: 22.
Navraj Landa: 21.

BRONZE RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Archie Greier (First Tower, Jersey); 2nd, Seth Charters (JP’s, Harlow); 3rd, Rayan El Qmache (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 4th, Dylan Denieffe (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Oliver Donnelly (Surrey Snooker Academy); 2nd, Zoard Toth (Shots Watford); 3rd, Navraj Landa (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Aariz Tariq (Welling SC); 5th, Stanley Sims (Woking SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Yousuf Matib (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 2nd, Lee Clayden (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 3rd, Archie Light (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Beibei Ji (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Jack Miller (Salisbury SC).

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Greier 2-0 Landa, Toth 2-0 Clayden, Donnelly 2-0 Light, Matib 2-1 Charters.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Toth 2-0 Greier, Matib 2-1 Donnelly.

FINAL (25/18 points): Matib 2-1 Toth.

Picture, from left: Yousuf Matib, Greenbaize owner Debbie Ealy, Zoard Toth.