Sykes beats old adversary to claim first Gold success

OLIVER Sykes (pictured) overcame his “bogey player” to clinch the opening leg of the Cuestars Under-21 Gold Tour at Salisbury Snooker Club.

The 16-year-old from Chandler’s Ford pocketed £100 in prize money after beating fellow England international Bradley Cowdroy (Bournemouth) 3-0 in the final.

Earlier, Sykes recorded the day’s highest break of 89 – twice.

But he didn’t have it all his own way. The talented left-hander lost his opening group-stage match 2-0 to London-based John Donovan, who was making his Gold Tour debut following promotion as Silver rankings champion at the end of last season.

Sykes said: “It was a struggle at the start. Against John Donovan, I’ve never played him before, he was playing well.

“As soon as I got the first game out of the way, I just seemed to trust my technique.”

Turning to the knockout, he added: “Against Riley (Ellis) in the semis, he made a 65 and in the next two frames I made 56 and 89. That’s the sort of snooker I’ve got to be playing to win those sort of games.

“Bradley’s my bogey player at the moment so it was nice to beat him 3-0. Overall, I’m pretty happy.”

Donovan continued his excellent start by winning his group and beating Simon Bubb (London) 2-0 in the last-eight before going down 2-0 to Cowdroy in the semi-finals of the event sponsored by Salisbury Snooker Club.

Newcomer Jacob Boyle (Cardiff) qualified for the knockout but lost 2-0 to Sykes in the quarters.

Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon, hosts the second leg of ten on Sunday, October 2.

For more information about Salisbury Snooker Club, go to salisburysnookerclub.co.uk.

BREAKS

Oliver Sykes: 89, 89, 56.
Evan Plummer: 78, 50.
Riley Ellis: 65.
Will Forster: 59.
Bradley Cowdroy: 57, 53, 51.
Elliott Johnson: 53, 51.
Simon Bubb: 44.
John Donovan: 41.
O’Shay Scott: 40.

GOLD RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Evan Plummer (Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon); 2nd, Simon Bubb (Gunnersbury Triangle Club); 3rd, O’Shay Scott (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Shane Kearns (Jesters, Swindon).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Jacob Boyle (Cardiff); 3rd, Riley Ellis (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, William Harrison (Petworth RBL).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, John Donovan (Cousins, London); 2nd, Oliver Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, Elliott Johnson (London Snooker, Tooting); 4th, Will Forster (Waterlooville Sports Bar).

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Ellis 2-1 Plummer, Sykes 2-0 Boyle, Cowdroy 2-0 Scott, Donovan 2-0 Bubb.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Sykes 2-1 Ellis, Cowdroy 2-0 Donovan.

FINAL (£100/£25, 25/18 points): Sykes 3-0 Cowdroy.