Cowdroy close to Premier Junior Tour promotion
BRADLEY Cowdroy edged closer to automatic promotion to the national under-21 snooker tour after winning a second tournament of the season on the feeder circuit.
The 14-year-old from Bournemouth battled back from 1-0 down to beat Ryan Hughes 2-1 in the final of the fourth leg on the EASB Regional Junior Tour – South West.
Paying tribute to his opponent from Chandler’s Ford, Cowdroy said: “Ryan played great all day. It was probably the best I’ve ever seen him play but I think it was just my extra experience that pushed me over the line in the end.
“He’s improving massively, though, and I’m sure it won’t be long before he starts winning these tournaments.”
Cowdroy qualified for the knockout by finishing second in his round-robin group on the professional standard Star tables at the South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester.
The left-hander then overcame Anthony Rice (Fordingbridge) 2-1 on the final black in the last-four, also from 1-0 down.
Earlier, in the group stages, he recorded the day’s highest break of 57 against Steven Hughes (Chandler’s Ford).
Cowdroy, who won the first event of the season in Poole and lies third in the rankings behind Connor Benzey (Eastleigh) and Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford), will compete on home tables next month in the fifth leg at Greenbaize Snooker Club and then winds up the season in Swindon four days before his 15th birthday in April.
It was a day to remember for Ryan Hughes. The 14-year-old recorded his first half century in matchplay, a 52 in the deciding frame of his 2-1 group-stage victory over rankings leader Benzey, and reached his first final on the Regional Junior Tour.
Cowdroy nearly made it two tournament wins in two days but he was beaten 2-0 by English Under-18 Champion Mark Lloyd in the final of the sixth leg on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour at Top Spot Snooker Club, Havant.
Picture by Tim Dunkley
Have you got any snooker news?
Send me your snooker news now. It doesn’t have to be from a Cuestars tournament. E-mail me details or contact me via Facebook and you could be on the Cuestars website and in your local newspaper. E-mail: [email protected]
Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)