Winbourne fired up after Rocket clash
TWO days after playing Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Players Tour Championship (PTC), Jordan Winbourne rocketed to the top of the 2011/12 Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour rankings.
Although the 15-year-old lost 4-0 to the three-time world champion in a match streamed live on the internet, reports suggested he was unlucky not to take a couple of frames.
Winbourne landed his dream tie against O’Sullivan after winning two amateur rounds in PTC 7, the Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy, at the South West Snooker Academy (SWSA), Gloucester.
Like all the players and officials, the youngster wore a pink polo shirt to raise awareness of breast cancer which claimed the life of SWSA owner Paul Mount’s sister, after whom the trophy was named.
For proud dad Chris, one of more than a hundred people watching in the main arena, it was time for a “reality check”.
“It was incredible,” he said. “You look up and see Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jordan Winbourne on the screen and you’ve got to do a bit of a reality check.
“To play Ronnie in an exhibition game is one thing, but to play him in a proper tournament when it really matters…well, there’s not many people that get to do that, is there?
“Jordan’s proved, if it needed proving, that his technique and temperament can stand up to anything.”
While admitting to being a bit nervous in the first frame, Winbourne said: “I didn’t really mind who I played.”
And when the players shook hands after the match?
“I said ‘good luck in the next round’ and he said ‘thanks’.”
Less than 48 hours later, the teenager from Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club was in action on the Gold Tour at Salisbury Snooker Club.
And he edged his friend, clubmate and south-coast rival Shane Castle, 13, 3-2 in the semi-finals. Leading 1-0 and 2-1, Winbourne took the decider with a couple of 30-plus breaks.
“It was a bit of a scrappy match, really,” he admitted. “And it was a bit of a struggle.”
Winbourne, who dropped just four frames out of 21 all day, accounted for last season’s Silver champion Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead) 3-0 in his round-robin group.
The final was a one-sided affair as the England international dispatched Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh) 2-0.
The second of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, November 13.
BREAKS
Shane Castle: 66, 59, 55, 52.
Ben Tanner: 55, 54.
Jordan Winbourne: 53.
GOLD RESULTS:
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Shane Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Jordan Winbourne (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club, Maidenhead); 4th, Lee Roling (The Academy, Eastleigh).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Stuart Scott (Romford SC); 4th, James Bolton (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Ollie Kendrick (Whitmore Reans Cons, Wolverhampton); 2nd, Danny Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury).
QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Castle beat Tallentire 3-0, Winbourne beat Bell 3-1, Chappell beat Impett 3-1, Tanner beat Kendrick 3-1.
SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Winbourne beat Castle 3-2, Tanner beat Chappell 3-0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Winbourne beat Tanner 2-0.
Revenge is sweet
SWINDON’S Joshua Lee exacted sweet revenge over his friend and clubmate Troy Bodman to claim the first leg of the 2011/12 Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour at Salisbury Snooker Club.
Lee had lost 2-1 to last season’s Bronze champion Bodman in the group stages but the tables were turned when the Jesters Snooker Hall-based potters met in the final.
As well as chalking up a 2-0 victory to take an early lead in the rankings, Lee also compiled an impressive 56 break – the highest of the day on the Silver Tour.
Newbury’s Sam Storey (Thatcham SC), who made his Silver Tour debut at Salisbury, proved he can compete at this higher standard after picking up a couple of frames against decent opposition.
Another former Bronze player, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club High Wycombe), who came third in the rankings and made a quarter-final exit in the championship, won Group C but was knocked out 2-1 in the last-eight by his clubmate Paul Ives.
And the 2010/11 Bronze rankings winner Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury) may consider himself unlucky to be drawn in a tough Group A with the two finalists.
The second of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, November 13.
BREAKS
Joshua Lee: 56.
SILVER RESULTS:
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham SC); 2nd, Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club High Wycombe); 2nd, Connor Probets (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Jamie Perry (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Connor McLean (Eastbourne); 3rd, Josh Brooker (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).
QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Bodman beat McLean 2-1, Lancastle beat Probets 2-0, Ives beat Holt 2-1, Lee beat Perry 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Bodman beat Lancastle 2-1, Lee beat Ives 2-0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Lee beat Bodman 2-0.
Stewart on the Ball
YOUNG potters from Bournemouth dominated the first leg of the 2011/12 Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
Stewart Ball defeated his nine-year-old Greenbaize clubmate Bradley Cowdroy 2-1 in the final at Salisbury Snooker Club.
Ball, who finished 15th last season, qualified in second place from his round-robin group after a defeat by Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon).
But wins over the phenomenal 11-year-old Woking schoolgirl Jasmine Bolsover and Chandler’s Ford’s in-form Austen Petty booked Ball a place in the final.
It was Petty’s first ever semi-final appearance in a Cuestars competition and it came a week after he compiled his first 30 break. The 13-year-old saw off clubmate and practice-partner Spike Hull in the quarter-finals.
After ending Oliver Clark’s run to the last-eight, Bellinger came unstuck against Cowdroy, who was joint 12th in 2010/11. Cowdroy had knocked out Group A winner Corey Tallentire.
The second of the eight legs is at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, on Sunday, November 13.
And now in the first of an exciting new series, guest columnist Oliver Clark takes a look at life on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
CLARK’S CORNER
TWO nervous youngsters made their Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour debut on Sunday, October 8.
The Bronze event received a good turnout of 17 people across a range of ages.
Matthew Boudier is an 11-year-old from Stoke Snooker Club, Gosport. I spoke to him before the draw and he seemed very excited but rather nervous. Matt started well with a good win over Jasmine Bolsover, Woking, but suffered a close defeat to Oliver Clark, Chandlers Ford.
Another close defeat to Kaine Petty, Bournemouth, put Matt in a potential three way tie but a safety that caught the jaws left Jasmine to beat Oliver on the pink, knocking Matt out.
Mitchell Snook is a 13-year-old player from Chandlers Ford Snooker Club and has only been playing snooker for a mere nine months. Before the event Mitchell was very nervous as this was his first major tournament.
Mitchell faced a tough draw including club-mate Spike Hull and Corey Tallentire, Westbury.
Though he was disappointed with his overall performance, Mitchell told me: “Today I realised that safety is very important at this level of snooker.”
Though both players failed to qualify at this event, both have shown enough potential to be looked out for in future Cuestars events.
Finally, a well done to Stewart Ball, from Bournemouth’s Greenbaize Snooker Club, who defeated club-mate Bradley Cowdroy 2-1 in the final.
BRONZE RESULTS:
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Corey Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Thomas Holton (Woking SC); 5th, Mitchell Snook (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 2nd, Oliver Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Matthew Boudier (Stoke SC, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Austen Petty beat Hull 1-0, Ball beat Bolsover 1-0, Bellinger beat Clark 1-0, Cowdroy beat Tallentire 1-0.
SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Ball beat Petty 1-0, Cowdroy beat Bellinger 1-0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Ball beat Cowdroy 2-1.
Lloyd: one to watch
SILVER Tour player Mark Lloyd accounted for the Gold Tour’s Oliver Parsons to claim victory in the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Plate competition.
Lloyd, based at Stoke SC, Gosport, failed to qualify from a tough group containing both finalists but triumphed in the consolation competition.
A Silver Championship finalist in 2010/11, Lloyd’s rapid progress in recent years could see him become one of the youngest players to qualify for the elite Gold Tour.
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
LAST-32: Josh Brooker (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Matthew Boudier (Stoke SC, Gosport), Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
LAST-16: Farmer beat Brooker, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Arnie Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS: Lloyd beat Farmer, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon) beat Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport); Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon) beat Mitchell Snook (Chandler’s Ford SC),
SEMI-FINALS: Lloyd beat Flanagan, Parsons beat Kaine Petty (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
FINAL: Lloyd beat Parsons.
Picture by Janie Watkins (On Q Promotions): Jordan Winbourne in action against Ronnie O’Sullivan.
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Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)