Jodie sets Cuestars record

SWINDON’S Jodie Symes is the first girl to ever win a South of England Cuestars snooker tournament.

The phenomenal 15-year-old re-wrote the history books at the Cuestars Under-21 Bronze Tour event at her home club, Jesters SC.

After dropping just one frame in four round-robin matches and edging past club-mate Joshua Lee 2-1 in the quarter-finals, Symes faced the mighty Ryan Gavin who had won the first two tournaments.

Symes won 2-1 and went on to beat another club-mate, Oliver Parsons, by the same score in the final.

Cuestars director John Hunter confirmed that Symes is the first girl to claim a winner’s trophy in the 16-year history of the South of England junior circuit.

“Jodie continues to achieve amazing results,” he added.

Symes, who is coached by Paul Rose, started at Jesters aged seven. She attends Dorcan Technology College and is ranked 18th on the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association circuit.

High Wycombe’s Gavin, who has now won 18 of his 20 matches across the first three tournaments, scored his first half-century – 50 exactly. He leads the Bronze rankings from Symes in second.

Group D winner Mark Lloyd, the 2008/09 Cuestars Under-12 champion, went out 2-0 to Eastleigh’s Rob Henley in the last eight.

The fourth tournament in the eight-event series is at Rileys, Cardiff, on January 10.

Jodie Symes picture by Monique Limbos.

BRONZE RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Ryan Gavin (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Rob Henley (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Jake White (Trowbridge); 4th, Corrie Tallentire (Trowbridge); 5th, Derrick Volante (Jesters, Swindon).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Jodie Symes (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Bradley Hatch (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Cameron Holt (Rileys, Reading); 4th, David Edwards (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 5th, Charlie Rush (Thatcham).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Oliver Clark (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Sam Storey (Thatcham); 5th, William Gould (Thatcham).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Gary Wilkins (Trowbridge); 3rd, Joe Moon (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Joshua Hughes (Suzy Q’s, Worcester); 5th, Ben Hatch (The Academy, Eastleigh); 6th, Henry Vockins (Thatcham).

QUARTER-FINALS (eight points): Gavin beat Wilkins, Symes beat Lee 2-1, Parsons beat Bradley Hatch 2-1, Henley beat Lloyd 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Symes beat Gavin 2-1, Parsons beat Henley 2-1.

FINAL (25/18 points): Symes beat Parsons 2-1.

Winbourne runs riot

ENGLAND under-14 international Jordan Winbourne left his final opponent shell-shocked on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.

The 13-year-old ran riot against the 2008/09 Cuestars Under-21 Open champion Daniel Tallentire.

After victory in event one at Salisbury in October, the rankings leader made it two out of three on the match table at Jesters SC, Swindon.

Westbury’s Tallentire potted just a handful of balls as Winbourne chalked up breaks of 54 and 38 in the first frame, 33 and 37 in the next, and 40 and 48 in the third.

“It came out of nowhere,” the Chandler’s Ford youngster admitted.

Winbourne leads event-two winner Lee Roling (Eastleigh) by 20 points. Roling, 19, went out in the group stage.

Both finalists won their round robin groups without dropping a frame. In the semi-finals, Winbourne beat Group A winner Ollie Tydeman (C/Ford) 3-1 while Tallentire edged out Group C winner James Bolton (Salisbury) 3-2.

The fourth tournament in the eight-event series is at Rileys, Cardiff, on January 10.

Jordan Winbourne picture by Kevin Legg.

BREAKS:

Ollie Tydeman: 56, 42
Lee Roling: 56
Jordan Winbourne: 54, 51, 48, 40
Ben Tanner: 51
Lee Carlton: 47, 36
Daniel Tallentire: 44, 42
James Bolton: 42, 33, 32, 31, 30

GOLD RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Ollie Tydeman (Chandler’s Ford); 2nd, Lee Carlton (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Jack Lander (Q Ball SC, Eastbourne); 4th, Liam O’Shea (Jesters, Swindon).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Jordan Winbourne (C/Ford); 2nd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Lee Roling (The Academy, Eastleigh).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, James Bolton (Salisbury); 2nd, Kevin Impett (C/Ford); 3rd, John Smith (The Academy, Eastleigh).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Daniel Tallentire (Westbury); 2nd, Daniel Woods (C/Ford); 3rd, Eddie Van Damme (Westgate SC, Gloucester).

QUARTER-FINALS (eight points): Tydeman beat Woods 3-0, Winbourne beat Impett 3-0, Bolton beat Tanner 3-2, Tallentire beat Van Damme 3-2.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Winbourne beat Tydeman 3-1, Tallentire beat Bolton 3-2.

FINAL (25/18 points): Winbourne beat Tallentire 3-0.

Warner hits Silver streak

GOSPORT’S Lee Warner dropped just one frame in the knockout to clinch the Cuestars Under-21 Silver Tour event at Jesters SC, Swindon.

Runner-up in Group C after a 3-2 defeat by Reading’s Dean Matthews, Warner, based at Stoke Snooker Club, stepped up a gear to account for event-two winner Daniel Winfield (Westbury) 3-0 in the quarter-finals and Thyas Evans (Westbury) 3-0 in the last four.

A 3-1 victory over Bournemouth’s Bradley Chappell in the final took Warner up to fifth in the rankings.

Eastleigh’s Lee Bell, who won the first event in Salisbury in October, leads the rankings after a 3-2 semi-final defeat by Chappell. The 16-year-old beat Group C winner Dean Matthews (Reading) 3-1 in the previous round.

Group A winner Liam Burnet (Eastleigh) won all three group games 3-1 but lost by the same score in the last eight to Thyas Evans (Westbury).

Making a first appearance of the season, Thatcham’s Ben Gould won Group D but went out 3-1 to Chappell in the knockout.

The fourth tournament in the eight-event series is at Rileys, Cardiff, on January 10.

SILVER RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Liam Burnet (The Academy, Eastleigh); 2nd, Bradley Chappell (Green Baize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Jamie Perry (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Joshua Brooker (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Daniel Winfield (Players, Westbury); 2nd, Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Jordan Wallace (Thatcham SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Dean Matthews (Rileys, Reading); 2nd, Lee Warner (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Matt Geer (The Academy, Eastleigh).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Ben Gould (Thatcham SC); 2nd, Thyas Evans (Trowbridge); 3rd, Sam Jefferson (Jesters, Swindon).

QUARTER-FINALS (eight points): Evans beat Burnet 3-1, Warner beat Winfield 3-0, Bell beat Matthews 3-1, Chappell beat Gould 3-1.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Warner beat Evans 3-0, Chappell beat Bell 3-2.

FINAL (25/18 points): Warner beat Chappell 3-1.

Picture by Monique Limbos

Cuestars reminds older players that the new format means they have an even greater responsibility on competition day. Language should be curbed and drinking alcohol should be moderated.

Cuestars director John Hunter added: “To be fair I have also received positive feedback from parents and section organisers of young players.

“For instance, Dominic Burtenshaw of Swindon’s Jesters Snooker Club was complimented by the Portsmouth-Copnor teams for his good conduct at the Eastleigh Section Team event. I would like to see more players conducting themselves like Dominic.”

Did you do something notable in the last Cuestars tournament? Or any other tournament? Have you just beaten your highest break? Have you got anything to say? E-mail me details at [email protected] and you could be on the Cuestars website.

Tim Dunkley (World Snooker Association coach)