Labeeb wins in Newbury & 147 for Billy Castle

LABEEB Ahmed ended his ten-year wait for a first success on the Cuestars Championship Tour …

… And ex-professional Billy Castle recorded the first maximum break in the 35+ years of the grass-roots organisation during a momentous day in Newbury.

Ahmed pocketed a whopping £300 after beating defending champion and rankings leader Mark Lloyd 3-1 in the final of the third leg at The Crucible Sports & Social Club.

The 35-year-old from Chessington, who made his debut in October, 2015, was competing in his 32nd Cuestars tournament. He moves up to joint second in the rankings with O’Shay Scott.

Earlier, Castle made a 147 against Ronnie Blake in the quarter-finals. Play stopped on all the other tables as the news rippled around the club that the 33-year-old from Reading was on a maximum. Slightly out of position on the pink, he floated it into the middle pocket and sent the cue-ball around the back of the black.

Cuestars director John Hunter videoed the final few shots for a YouTube short. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R41QbumiMRE.

Castle made three of the day’s six centuries, including a 113 against Jacob Boyle in the last-16 where he missed the 15th red on a maximum chance.

Ahmed, Ronnie Sullivan and Mike Finn were the others to hit three figures. And there were 33 other breaks of 50 or more recorded by the massive 43-strong field for the event which was sponsored by Reading-based PL Auto Services.

Snookerdad Matt Callow beat Alex Greenham 2-0 in the Plate final.

Results and rankings list are on https://snookerscores.net/organisation/cuestars.

Salisbury Snooker Club hosts the fourth leg of eight on Sunday, December 14.

Prize money: winner Labeeb Ahmed £300; runner-up Mark Lloyd £150; semi-finalists Mike Finn & Billy Castle £75 each; quarter-finalists Ronnie Blake, Mitchell Berry, O’Shay Scott & Jake Baker £25; Plate winner Matt Callow £40; Plate runner-up Alex Greenham £15.

By Tim Dunkley and Steven Hughes