Knox denies Lloyd outright rankings lead
ASCOT teenager Dan Knox insisted his break building is not up to scratch after claiming the winner’s trophy on his first Cuestars snooker outing this season.
The 18-year-old (pictured) sunk the ninth shot of a black-ball tussle in the deciding frame of the final against Mark Lloyd to pocket the £50 prize money at Woking Snooker Centre.
Knox reckons solid matchplay saw him through the fourth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
“It’s a good level of competition at the top,” he said. “There’s five or six players who are pretty much the same level.
“I’m solid but my break building isn’t quite at their level. When it goes close and tense, I can beat them.”
The 2013 Silver Tour play-off champion finished third in his five-man group following defeats by Lloyd and James Budd but he qualified for the knockout as one of the two best third-placed players from the three groups.
He turned the tables on the pair from Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, in the knockout – beating Budd 2-1 in the last-four and Lloyd by the same score in the final.
Originally based at Woking SC, Knox, who is studying for his A-levels at Reading Blue Coat School, is now a man with no club as he practises on his own table at home.
He just missed out on promotion to the EASB Premier Junior Tour last season and is lying third in the Regional Junior Tour South after two events this season
Last season’s Silver Tour rankings winner Mickey Joyce, who lives in Basingstoke but is based at Chandler’s Ford SC, finished bottom of his five-man Gold group… Oh, but the 11-year-old from Basingstoke did manage a personal best 73 break, the highest of the day, in his final match against Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC).
Lloyd and Brad Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) shared the rankings title last season and again have identical points at the halfway point of the current campaign. Lloyd, 15, defeated 20-year-old Chappell 2-0 in the semi-finals to draw level.
The fifth leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, February 1.
BREAKS
Mickey Joyce: 73.
James Budd: 67, 42.
Mark Lloyd: 59, 46, 44, 42,
Brad Chappell: 54, 46, 38, 35.
Anthony Rice: 46, 36.
Jamie Wilson: 41.
Bradley Cowdroy: 37.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 5th, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC); 5th, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Dan Knox (Ascot); 4th, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Budd beat Rice 2-1, Knox beat Cowdroy 2-0, Lloyd beat Petty 2-1, Chappell beat Sykes 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Knox beat Budd 2-1, Lloyd beat Chappell 2-0.
FINAL (£50/£25 25/18 points): Knox beat Lloyd 2-1.
Report and picture by Tim Dunkley.