Lloyd stretches his lead in Salisbury

MARK Lloyd is on course to become the first player since Matt Ford in 2016 to retain the Cuestars Championship Tour title.

Appearing in his third consecutive final, the 26-year-old from Gosport pocketed £150 in prize money after beating Jake Baker 3-0 to clinch the fourth leg at Salisbury Snooker Club.

He now leads James Budd by 36 points at the halfway point of the season.

Poole-based Baker collected £75 for reaching his first final on the Championship Tour and is now joint third in the rankings with Will Forster.

Seniors Tour players Carl Davies, who made a 104 in the previous Seniors Tour event in Bournemouth, and Matt Callow made the last-four from a high-quality field of 20.

Plate winner Paul Davis certainly had his scoring boots on. The former Seniors ranking champion from Wareham recorded the day’s highest break of 110 plus efforts of 67, 64, 62 and 52. Davis beat debutant Nikos Christoforou, from Croydon, 2-1 in the final.

Results and rankings list are on snookerscores.net.

The event was sponsored by Salisbury Snooker Club (salisburysnookerclub.co.uk).

The Crucible Sports and Social Club, Reading, hosts the fifth leg of eight on Sunday, January 11.

Prize money: winner £150 Mark Lloyd, runner-up £75 Jake Baker, semi-finalists Matt Callow and Carl Davies £50 each. Plate winner £25 Paul Davis.

By Tim Dunkley and Steven Hughes

Picture: Mark Lloyd (left) and Jake Baker