Ryan’s dream debut

RYAN Hughes (pictured) twice needed a snooker to cap a dream debut on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour. Last season’s Bronze Tour double winner kicked off life on the second tier with a nail-biting 2-0 victory over Charlie Pringle to clinch the first leg at Woking Snooker Centre. That means the 14-year-old has now won six of his last nine tournaments on the junior circuit.

After taking the first frame of the final on the black against his clubmate from Chandler’s Ford SC, Hughes extracted the penalty points from the required snooker in the next before committing a foul himself. With the cue-ball ten feet away from the pink and black, which were both close to a corner pocket, he was rightly asked to play again. But Hughes took a calculated gamble and laid a peach of a snooker from which his 15-year-old opponent failed to escape.

Reflecting on Pringle’s decision, after mopping up the last two colours, he said: “I would have done the same. I was worried about going in-off but I already needed snookers so I could take risks.”And he added: “I thought I was ready for (the Silver Tour) but, coming into the day, I wasn’t expecting to win it. I was hoping to get through my group but I didn’t know how far I’d get after that.

”Pringle had beaten Hughes 2-0 in the round-robin group stages of the Parris Cues-sponsored event before edging a hard-fought 2-1 last-four victory over Harry Jones (Coulsdon). In the second semi, Hughes overcame Group A winner David O’Callaghan (Bournemouth) 2-0.

The second leg of ten, sponsored by Attic Life, is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, October 2.

BREAKS

Charlie Pringle: 54.

SILVER RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, David O’Callaghan (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Harry Jones (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 5th, Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Charlie Pringle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ryan Hughes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 4th, Keegan Reed (Salisbury SC).SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Hughes 2 O’Callaghan 0, Pringle 2 Jones 1. FINAL (25/18 points): Hughes 2 Pringle 0.

Pictures by Tim Dunkley

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