Late, late breakfast show
A LATE breakfast fuelled Bristol potter Thomas Lancastle’s bid to claim back-to-back snooker tournament wins on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
And the teenager from Eastville Snooker Club revealed that words of wisdom helped him overcome Ben Tanner (Eastleigh) in the final at the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth.
“My first game didn’t go too well as I was late arriving at the club and didn’t have any breakfast,” explained Lancastle.
“I was surprised I won that game and then had something to eat, which gave me some energy for rest of the day.”
The 16-year-old’s closest match in the round-robin group stages was a five-frame thriller against Romford SC’s Stuart Scott (“a very nice guy”), who had battled back from 2-0 down but lost the decider.
After accounting for Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon) 3-1 in the last-four, Lancastle extended his lead in the rankings by seeing off 20-year-old Tanner 3-2 in the final.
Lancastle, who also beat Tanner in last month’s final at Woking Snooker Centre, said: “Somebody gave me advice recently and that was to play the table and not your opponent.
“It’s easier said than done but if you get your head around this it does work as I found out in the final against Ben Tanner.
“It was not one of my better snooker days, and to be honest with myself I wasn’t feeling on form, but a win’s a win. Thank you Bournemouth!”
Fifth-placed Tanner topped his group despite losing 3-2 to Lee and he then defeated Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon) 3-0 in the semi-finals.
The fourth of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, January 6.
BREAKS
Stuart Scott: 49.
Ben Tanner: 47, 42, 41, 40.
Sam Storey: 35.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol); 2nd, Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Stuart Scott (Romford SC); 4th, Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Ben Tanner (Eastleigh WMC); 2nd, Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Tanner beat Parsons 3-0, Lancastle beat Lee 3-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Lancastle beat Tanner 3-2.
Picture of Thomas Lancastle by Bob Lancastle.
Dan’s the man, again
EAST Sussex’s budding snooker star Dan Carr admitted he was forced to battle all day to claim a second tournament win in a row on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.
The teenager from the Hailsham Memorial Institute was quick to pay tribute to his opponents after edging Daniel Knox (Woking SC) 2-1 in the final at the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth.
“I was happy to get to the final because I had a couple of very close and difficult matches, especially in the semi-final (against ten-year-old Bradley Cowdroy),” said Carr, who also beat Knox 2-1 in the semi-finals at Woking last month.
“I knew it would be a tough game against Daniel Knox because he is a very good player and all of the frames were very close.
“I am extremely happy to have won my second tournament in a row and I hope that I can win a few more this season.”
Remarkably, the 17-year-old rankings leader has lost only two matches out of 16 on the Silver Tour this season. And they were both against players from Stoke SC, Gosport. He was beaten by Mark Lloyd in the semi-finals in Salisbury and by Karl Eggar in the group stages in Woking.
However, Carr proved he CAN beat players from Gosport with a 2-0 quarter-final victory over fourth-placed James Budd in Bournemouth.
Cowdroy, playing on home tables, topped his round-robin group despite losing to Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC). The youngster beat Group B runner-up Eggar 2-0 in the last-eight before losing 2-1 to Carr.
Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) made his first Silver Tour semi-final since promotion from Bronze at the end of the 2010/11 season.
The 15-year-old from Reading won his group and edged Trigg 2-1 in the quarter-finals before going down 2-0 to Knox.
Knox’s 2-1 last-eight win over Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC) had ended the 12-year-old’s hopes of a first last-four spot.
Meanwhile, Cameron Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport) enjoyed his return to the Cuestars circuit after a break of nearly two years. He chalked up a break of 35 and finished third in his group.
“My best game came too late,” he said. “I was a bit shaky at the start and nervous but I played well. It was a good day.”
The fourth of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, January 6.
BREAKS
Mark Lloyd: 44, 33, 30.
Cameron Gillon: 35.
Daniel Knox: 35.
Connor McLean: 33.
Cameron Holt: 30.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Daniel Knox (Woking SC); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 2nd, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Cameron Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Dan Carr (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 2nd, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 3rd, Olly Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Knox beat Bolsover 2-1, Holt beat Trigg 2-1, Cowdroy beat Eggar 2-0, Carr beat Budd 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Knox beat Holt 2-0, Carr beat Cowdroy 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Carr beat Knox 2-1.
Mickey takes first winner’s trophy
NINE-year-old Basingstoke lad Mickey Joyce admitted it was “nerve-racking” playing in his first snooker final on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
But the youngster, who is based at Chandler’s Ford SC, kept his cool to see off leg-one winner Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) 2-0 at the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth.
Unsurprisingly, Joyce said he was “pleased” to see the match ball disappear into the pocket.
Joyce, who actually lost to Compton in the round-robin group stages, won nine frames out of ten in his eighth Cuestars tournament since making his debut in April, 2010.
Meanwhile, Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport) was celebrating after reaching his first semi-final.
After winning just one group match out of seven since making his Cuestars debut in Salisbury in October, the 12-year-old finished runner-up in his group in Bournemouth and defeated leg-two winner Connor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) 2-1 in the last-eight before losing 2-0 to Joyce.
Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC) made his first quarter-final appearance for nearly a year and lost two pink-ball games to the eventual tournament winner.
Nine-year-old Jamie Wilson survived a three-way play-off to qualify from his group and then saw off his Chandler’s Ford clubmate Luke Beebe 2-0 in the quarter-finals.
But Wilson’s hopes of making the final for the first time ended in a 2-0 defeat by his former Copnor clubmate Compton.
Compton, who edged Karan Chadda (Chandler’s Ford SC) 2-1 in the previous round, has taken over top spot from Flanagan. Joyce climbed to third.
The fourth of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, January 6.
BREAKS
Jamie Wilson: 29.
Connor Flanagan: 25.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Mickey Joyce (Crucible, Newbury); 3rd, Bradley Lane (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Jordan Lee (Woking SC); 5th, Allistair Pollard (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Edward James (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Connor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon); 4th, Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Karan Chadda (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Ben Hatch (Eastleigh); 4th, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Compton beat Chadda 2-1, Wilson beat Beebe 2-0, Kitchen beat Flanagan 2-1, Joyce beat Petty 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Compton beat Wilson 2-0, Joyce beat Kitchen 2-0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Joyce beat Compton 2-0.
Picture of Mickey Joyce by Tim Dunkley
Consolation trophy for Bodman
GOLD Tour player Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon) clawed back the 14-point handicap start to account for the Silver Tour’s Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) in the Plate final.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
LAST-16: Cameron Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex) beat Jordan Lee (Woking SC), Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport), Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon) beat Allistair Pollard (Salisbury SC), Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon) beat Stuart Scott (Romford SC), Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Ben Hatch (Eastleigh), Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: McLean beat Gillon, O’Sullivan beat Sykes, Bodman beat Benning, Ball beat Lloyd.
SEMI-FINALS: McLean beat O’Sullivan, Bodman beat Ball.
FINAL: Bodman beat McLean.
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Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)