Lloyd repays sponsor’s faith

GOSPORT teenager Mark Lloyd repaid his new sponsor’s faith with a first winner’s trophy on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.

Lloyd (pictured left) battled through two humdinger knockout matches against home players at the Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth, after finished runner-up in his three-man round-robin group.

The 14-year-old edged out Rikki Moore 3-2 from 2-0 down in the last-four and Bradley Chappell, who had beaten Lloyd 3-1 in the group stages, 3-2 in the final.

“Brad played well in the first frame,” admitted Lloyd, who then took the next two. “I was just about to win the second-to-last frame but he knocked in a fabulous clearance. The momentum was with him.”

But there was to be no winning return to the Cuestars circuit for Chappell as the new rankings leader won the decider.

Dave and Rose Norman, the husband and wife owners of Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport, have offered Lloyd free table time, one-to-one tuition from Dave and tournament expenses. They popped into Greenbaize to check on their protégé’s progress.

“It was nice having them here,” said Lloyd. “I went 2-0 down to Rikki in the semis and managed to clinch it. Dave was watching.”

The talented young potter, who also competes on the EASB Regional Junior Tour, reached the semi-final on his Gold Tour debut in Salisbury but failed to progress from the group stages in Woking and Swindon where he had the consolation of claiming both Plate trophies.

Meanwhile, another Stoke Snooker Club member, James Budd, was denied a happy 18th birthday after letting slip a 2-0 lead against Chappell in the semi-finals.

The fifth leg of eight is at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club on Sunday, February 2.

BREAKS

Rikki Moore: 53.
Bradley Chappell: 47.
James Budd: 40, 31.

GOLD RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Rikki Moore (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Daniel Knox (Woking SC); 4th, Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Lloyd beat Moore 3-2, Chappell beat Budd 3-2.

FINAL (£25/£10, 25/18 points): Lloyd beat Chappell 3-2.

Picture by James Budd