Johnson: hard work pays off

ELLIOTT Johnson declared that “all the hard work’s paying off” after claiming his first winner’s trophy on the Cuestars Under-21 Silver Tour.

The 16-year-old from Sutton, Surrey, defeated his gone2pot teammate John Donovan (Camden Town) 2-0 in the final of the opening leg at Waterlooville Sports Bar.

Johnson, who last season was runner-up once and a losing semi-finalist on four occasions, has been making good use of his free practice time at London Snooker, a club in Tooting.

He said: “All the hard work’s paying off.

“John’s playing well. I had to up my game to win the final.”

The next step for the teenager is to sign up for the EPSB Under-20 Regional Development Tour.

Both finalists actually finished as runner-up in their respective round-robin groups. In the last-four, first-group winner Mason Wilson (Basingstoke) lost 2-1 to Donovan and second-group winner Samuel Laxton (Portsmouth) went out 2-0 to Johnson.

Earlier, Laxton, after minimal practice, had chalked up a personal best 48 break in his group-stage victory over Donovan.

The trophies were presented by tournament sponsor Marc Lockley, who runs www.snookercrazy.com – a cues and snooker accessories website based in Waterlooville.

Chandlers Ford Snooker Club hosts the second leg of six on Sunday, August 15.

BREAKS

Samuel Laxton: 48.
John Donovan: 41.
Elliott Johnson: 32, 30.
Will Forster: 30.
Riley Ellis: 30.

SILVER RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Mason Wilson (Academy, Basingstoke); 2nd, Elliott Johnson (London Snooker); 3rd, Riley Ellis (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Samuel Laxton (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, John Donovan (Cousins, London); 3rd, Will Forster (Mayfair, Gosport); 4th, William Thomson (Chandlers Ford SC).

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Donovan 2-1 Wilson, Johnson 2-0 Laxton.

FINAL (25/18 points): Johnson 2-0 Donovan.

Picture by Tim Dunkley

From left: Elliott Johnson, Marc Lockley (from snooker.crazy.com), John Donovan.