Dream debut for Finley

AN 11-year-old boy from Kettering made a dream debut on a regional junior snooker circuit.

Finley Wilson collected the winner’s trophy in Newbury AND beat his highest break twice.

Wilson edged Londoner Buddy Dean 2-1 in the final of the first leg of the Cuestars Under-21 Bronze Tour at The Crucible Sports & Social Club.

Earlier, he knocked in a personal best 28 in his third round-robin group-stage match against Aariz Tariq and raised the bar again with a 34 in his semi-final victory over Charlie Ings.

“It was good,” said the budding star who is based at Barratts Sports Bar in Northampton. “I enjoyed the environment and I’m glad I got the win. I’ve not won anything before (in snooker).”

Reflecting on the final, he added: “We both battled. I got away with the win. There are certain things I need to work on.”

Meanwhile, Finley’s eight-year-old brother, Bailey, chalked up his highest break of 21 in his 2-0 quarter-final defeat by Dean.

Dean defeated Haydn Howell 2-1 in the last-four. Elliot Norman, from Clevedon, Somerset, made his Cuestars debut.

All results are on snookerscores.net.

Salisbury Snooker Club hosts the second leg of nine on Sunday, October 4.