Silver Tour: battle of the sixes
SIX players are separated by six points at the top of the Silver Tour rankings after the first six legs produced six different winners.
There has never been an end-of-season scramble like it.
Steven Hughes (Chandler’s Ford) leads Oliver Sykes (Chandler’s Ford) and Aidan Murphy (Bristol) by one point,
Murphy was runner-up to Hughes in the Bronze Tour rankings title last season and Sykes was runner-up in the Bronze championship play-off.
Three points further back are Connor Benzey (Eastleigh), last season’s Bronze play-off champion and 21-year-old David Rice (Fordingbridge), in his last season as a junior. And that pair are two points in front of Olly Gibbs (Gosport), who won the Bronze play-off championship in 2013/14.
And you can’t write off Drew Hampshire (Swindon) and James Beaven (Banstead) who are 13 points adrift of Gibbs.
The outcome of this season’s title race will probably be traced back to one shot or one great break or one hard luck story or one fluke which will be the subject of much debate for weeks or months or even years.
One player will be delighted and five will be disappointed. But all six, whether they realise it or not, will be better players for the experience and mentally stronger.
Win, lose or draw, it’s been a great season. And, yes, it could be a draw. Two seasons ago, Wayne Muddiman and John Hunter tied for the Seniors Tour title and Brad Chappell and Mark Lloyd shared the Gold Tour title.
There had never been a three-way tie. How about a six-way tie? Now that would be a story.
THE STORY SO FAR:
Leg one in Salisbury on October 4: Drew Hampshire (pictured) beat David Rice 2-1 in the final. The 16-year-old, who missed out on promotion to Gold by two points last season, said: “I’m hoping to do better this year.”
Leg two in Swindon on November 1: Aidan Murphy beat Connor Benzey 2-0 in the final. The 11-year-old was rewarded with a ride in his sponsor’s Ferrari.
Leg three in Coulsdon on December 13: Steven Hughes beat David Rice 2-1 in the final. The 14-year-old admitted he “dug deep” from 1-0 down.
Leg four in Bournemouth on January 10: Olly Gibbs beat Steven Hughes 2-1 in the final. The 12-year-old, who was suffering with a sore neck, was rewarded with a well-earnt curry and a spot of Deep Heat.
Leg five in Woking on February 7: James Beaven beat Jasmine Bolsover 2-0 in the final. The 11-year-old admitted he’d never won a scratch tournament before.
Leg six in Fareham on March 13: Oliver Sykes beat David Rice 2-0 in the final. The ten-year-old revealed his brother Dan, who won the Gold final, had dispensed some words of wisdom before the tournament.
Leg seven is in Swindon on April 10:
Leg eight is in Chandler’s Ford on May 1:
Report and picture by Tim Dunkley