Sykes leads Gold rankings after south London success

THE widely-travelled Oliver Sykes has returned to the top of the Cuestars Under-21 Gold Tour rankings.

He collected £100 in prize money after beating his Chandlers Ford club-mate O’Shay Scott 3-0 in the final of the second leg at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.

Sykes dropped only one frame all day, against home player Evan Plummer in the last-four.

Reflecting on the day, the 17-year-old left-hander said: “It’s been OK. I battled it out quite a bit. I haven’t been scoring too heavily today.

“It wasn’t an easy (round-robin) group. William (Thomson), Harry (Wyatt) and Asten (Sahota) are not easy to play against. They are very attacking.”

Sykes is a busy boy!

He was in Sweden on the Q Tour a fortnight ago. Next Saturday he travels back to Coulsdon for the southern qualifier for the Landywood SC English Amateur Championship. Eight days later is the second leg of the English Junior Tour in Waterlooville. Then he’s off to Germany on October 20 for the Q Tour.

“I’m busy every weekend at the moment,” he said. “I’m loving it. I love every tournament. I love competing.”

Scott topped his group and defeated leg-one runner-up John Donovan 2-0 in the last-four.

Defending champion Sykes goes to the top of the rankings. Leg-one winner Thomson (Chandler’s Ford) drops to second. Scott (Eastleigh) and Donovan (Camden Town) are joint third.

Ronnie Sullivan (Chipstead) recorded the day’s highest break of 89 in the round-robin group stages of the event sponsored by Frames Sports Bar.

Chandlers Ford Snooker Club hosts the third leg of ten on Sunday, November 5.

For more information about the event sponsor, go to framessportsbar.com.

BREAKS

Ronnie Sullivan: 89.
Evan Plummer: 84, 73, 50, 45, 42.
O’Shay Scott: 79, 78, 66.
Oliver Sykes: 62, 60, 56, 54, 54, 53.
John Donovan: 61.
Adam Abbas: 48, 43.

GOLD RESULTS

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP: 1st, Oliver Sykes (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Asten Sahota (Chandlers Ford SC); 3rd, William Thomson (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Harry Wyatt (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, John Donovan (Hurricane Room, Colindale); 2nd, Evan Plummer (Frames, Coulsdon); 3rd, Ronnie Sullivan (Chipstead); 4th, Adam Abbas (Castle SC, Brighton); 5th, Will Forster (Waterlooville Sports Bar).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, O’Shay Scott (Chandlers Ford SC); 2nd, Elliott Johnson; 3rd, Ryan Spratt (Chandlers Ford SC); 4th, Riley Ellis (Chandlers Ford SC); 5th, Zain Jeraj (London Snooker, Tooting).

QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Sykes 2-0 Sullivan, Plummer 2-0 Johnson, Donovan 2-0 Spratt, Scott 2-0 Sahota.

SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Sykes 2-1 Plummer, Scott 2-0 Donovan.

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

Pictured, from left: Oliver Sykes, Frames Sports Bar owner and competition sponsor Tony Thompson, O’Shay Scott.