Tanner’s Newbury triumph after Gloucester disaster
BEN Tanner regrouped after his Gloucester disaster to virtually secure the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour rankings title in the penultimate leg.
The 19-year-old from The Academy, Eastleigh, potted his way to a second tournament win of the season in the seventh event at The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury.
Tanner, who defeated title-rival Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury) 3-1 in the last-four, has one hand on the trophy after accounting for Stuart Scott (Romford SC) 3-2 in the final.
It was Tallentire’s third semi-final defeat this season and Scott’s third successive runners-up spot.
The winner of the last leg in Swindon next month will collect 25 points. Tanner extended his lead over Tallentire to 23, a tantalising three points short of the finish line.
After failing to progress to the knockout for the first time this season on the professional tables at the South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester, last month, Tanner dropped just one frame in the Newbury group stages, to clubmate Lee Bell.
Scott recorded the day’s top break of 70 and beat leg-six winner Ben Fortey (SWSA, Gloucester) 3-2 in the second semi. Fortey was undefeated in the group stages.
The eighth and final leg is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, May 6.
BREAKS
Stuart Scott: 70.
Ben Tanner: 56, 56.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Ben Fortey (SWSA, Gloucester); 2nd, Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 2nd, Stuart Scott (Romford SC); 3rd, Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh).
SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Tanner beat Tallentire 3-1, Scott beat Fortey 3-2.
FINAL (25/18 points): Tanner beat Scott 3-2.
Bodman’s title challenge back on track
AFTER two quarter-final blips, it was business as usual for Swindon’s Troy Bodman in the seventh leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour at The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury.
The budding star, based at Jesters Snooker Hall, had seen his title challenge falter following last-eight exits at Chandler’s Ford and Gloucester.
But Bodman bounced back to chalk up a fourth tournament win of the season by defeating third-placed Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) 2-1 in the final.
The rankings leader takes a 22-point lead over clubmate Joshua Lee into the final leg on home tables next month.
However, it could all have been so different.
Bodman survived a three-way play-off to progress from his round-robin group after suffering a 2-1 defeat by Daniel Knox (Woking SC).
Lee, who had closed the gap to five points after his victory in Gloucester last month, suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Cuestars debutante James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport) in the last-eight.
Budd, surely a name for the notebook, was knocked out 2-0 by Bodman in the semi-finals.
Lancastle beat Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex) 2-1 in the second semi, denying his opponent a first final. McLean had accounted for seventh-placed Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 2-0 in the previous round.
McLean’s clubmate Daniel Carr, another making his first Cuestars outing, fell 2-0 to Bodman in the quarter-finals and Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) lost at the same stage by the same score to Lancastle.
The eighth and final leg is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, May 6.
BREAKS
Thomas Lancastle: 39.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 3rd, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Daniel Knox (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol); 2nd, Dan Carr (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 3rd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Budd beat Lee 2-1, Bodman beat Carr 2-0, Lancastle beat O’Sullivan 2-0, McLean beat Holt 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Bodman beat Budd 2-0, Lancastle beat McLean 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Bodman beat Lancastle 2-1.
Farmer closes gap to one point
NATHAN Farmer’s third tournament win on this season’s Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour took the teenager to just one point from top spot in the rankings.
Farmer, based at Gosport’s Stoke Snooker Club, edged 12-year-old Jasmine Bolsover 2-1 in the seventh-leg final at The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury.
With one leg to play in Swindon next month, the triple champion is yapping at the heels of Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), who lost 2-0 to eight-year-old Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) in the quarter-finals.
Although Wilson reached his first semi-final, he was knocked out 2-1 by Bolsover (Woking SC), who climbed to fourth place after being denied a first tournament win.
Farmer accounted for Corey Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury) 2-0 in the last-eight and leap-frogged third-placed Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon) after a 2-0 semi-final victory over the Wiltshire lad.
In the quarter-finals, Bolsover dispatched Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC) 2-1 and Bellinger beat Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-0.
Remarkably, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), the winner at Gloucester last month, finished bottom of his five-man group. Even more remarkably, the nine-year-old’s only win came against his clubmate Ball, who he had also seen off in the Gloucester final.
The eighth and final leg is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, May 6.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Mickey Joyce (Crucible, Newbury); 4th, Bradley Lane (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 3rd, Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Thomas Holton (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Corey Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Olly Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Farmer beat Tallentire 2-0, Bolsover beat Trigg 2-1, Bellinger beat Eggar 2-0, Wilson beat Ball 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Farmer beat Bellinger 2-0, Bolsover beat Wilson 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Farmer beat Bolsover 2-1.
Lane scoops Plate trophy
PORTSMOUTH’S Bradley Lane saw off the challenge of Spike Hull to claim victory in the Plate competition.
Bronze Tour player Lane, who is based at Copnor Snooker Club, defeated his opponent from along the M27 at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club in the final.
The Plate was a secondary tournament for those not progressing to the knockout at the seventh leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours at The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
LAST-16: Mickey Joyce (Crucible, Newbury) beat Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport), Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth),
QUARTER-FINALS: Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh), Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), Bradley Lane (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Joyce, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Woods.
SEMI-FINALS: Hull beat Compton, Lane beat Cowdroy.
FINAL: Lane beat Hull.
Have you got any snooker news?
E-mail me straight after a tournament and your news will appear in the report. And it doesn’t have to be from a Cuestars tournament. E-mail me details or contact me via Facebook and you could be on the Cuestars website and in your local newspaper. E-mail: [email protected]
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)