Marshal back in contention for Bronze title

MARSHAL Denieffe put himself back in contention for the Cuestars Under-21 Bronze Tour rankings title by collecting his second winner’s trophy of the season.

A crucial victory over front-runner Sam Perkins in the last four of the ninth and penultimate leg at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club kept his hopes alive.

And the 17-year-old from Clapham gave himself a real chance by beating debutant Vincent Callender 2-0 in the final of the event sponsored by Pitman Training.

Denieffe said: “I was dropping quite far down because I didn’t qualify (for the quarter-finals) in a few events.

“So I came to this one thinking just play and hope for the best and I started making loads of breaks.”

Reflecting on the title race, he added: “Sam’s one of the main players. I definitely have to step up my game to play Sam.

“It’s given me a good chance. I’ve got good momentum going into the last event.”

Denieffe thanked his dad – Paul – Aunt Caroline and girlfriend, Nancy,

“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be coming to Cuestars,” he insisted.

Leg-eight winner Toby Waters (Kings Somborne) continued his good form by knocking in a new high break of 31 against Milo Taylor (Somerton) in the round-robin group stage.

Tommy Reid (Dormansland, Surrey) made the semi-finals for the first time, losing 2-0 to 12-year-old Callender (Woking). Joseph Hughes (Portsmouth) qualified for the last-eight in only his second event.

Rankings leader Perkins (New Milton) takes a 14-point lead into the tenth and final leg on Sunday, May 4, at Greenbaize Snooker Club, Bournemouth. Alex Scotney (Sutton) is third.

BREAKS

Marshal Denieffe: 32, 25, 25, 24.
Toby Waters: 31(PB), 20.
Jesse Goncalves: 22.
Joseph Hughes: 22.
Oliver Donnelly: 21.
Sam Perkins: 20.

BRONZE RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Oliver Donnelly (Surrey Snooker Academy); 2nd, Sam Perkins (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Lewis Thomson (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Isaac Church (Chandlers Ford SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Alex Scotney (Surrey Snooker Academy); 2nd, Chester Chan (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Harry Merwood (Salisbury SC); 4th, Toby Walker (Castle SC, Brighton).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Marshall Denieffe (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 2nd, Tommy Reid (Castle SC, Brighton); 3rd, Freddie Hare (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Jai Zeng (Castle SC, Brighton).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Toby Waters (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Ben Taylor-Jenkins (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Milo Taylor (Somerton SC); 4th, Oliver Callow (Chandlers Ford SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP E: 1st, Alfie Wyatt (Waterlooville Sports Bar); 2nd, Jack Miller (Crucible, Newbury); 3rd, Beibei Ji (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Tyler Heard (Shots, Watford).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP F: 1st, Charlie Ings (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Aariz Tariq (Welling SC); 3rd, Harvey Denieffe (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross); 4th, Kieran Hall (Stepfield SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP G: 1st, Jesse Goncalves (Liss RBL); 2nd, Joseph Hughes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Vincent Callender (Woking SC); 4th, Stanley Sims (Woking SC); 5th, Dany Lee (Hurricane Room, Kings Cross).

LAST-16 (10 points): Callender 1-0 Donnelly, Hughes 1-0 Taylor-Jenkins, Reid 1-0 Ings, Wyatt 1-0 Chan, M Denieffe 1-0 Miller, Tariq 1-0 Waters, Perkins 1-0 Goncalves, Scotney 1-0 Ji.

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Callender 2-1 Hughes, Reid 2-0 Wyatt, M Denieffe 2-0 Tariq, Perkins 2-1 Scotney.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Callender 2-0 Reid, M Denieffe 2-1 Perkins.

FINAL (25/18 points): M Denieffe 2-0 Callender.