Castle set to be crowned Championship Tour winner
BILLY Castle has one hand on his second Cuestars Championship Tour title.
The 31-year-old from Reading won his fifth tournament out of the six he has entered this season at Woking Snooker Centre.
It means he just needs to turn up at the refurbished Waterlooville Sports Bar next month to collect the £600 top prize.
Ex-professional Castle pocketed £260 after beating Mark Lloyd (Gosport) 3-2 in an action-packed and tight eighth-leg final that went to the blue in the decider.
Defending champion Wayne Townsend (Northolt) saw his hopes of retaining the title fade significantly after losing 3-2 to Labeeb Ahmed (Chessington) in the last-16.
Three centuries and 40 other breaks of 40 or more were recorded during the event sponsored by Taom Chalk. Beaten semi-finalist Connor Benzey (Eastleigh) chalked up a 123 and a 115 while Lloyd chipped in with a 109.
After finishing runner-up in the Plate in Bournemouth last month, Riley Ellis (north Wilts) went one better by defeating Aristos Pampouris (Chingford) 2-1 in the final of the competition for players losing their first match.
For more information about Taom Chalk, go to taombilliards.com.
Waterlooville Sports Bar hosts the ninth and final leg on Sunday, May 5.
RESULTS (BREAKS)
PRELIMS: Paul Grove 0-3 Jack Dady, Wayne Townsend 3-1 Nick O’Sullivan, Russell Moraira 1-3 Dan Webb, Labeeb Ahmed 3-1 Ray Grall, Jasmine Bolsover 0-3 (83) Bradley Cowdroy, George Heatley 3-0 Kevin Morris.
LAST-32: Jack Dady 0-3 (88) Wayne Townsend, Dan Webb 0-3 Labeeb Ahmed, Bradley Cowdroy (79, 67, 51) 3-1 George Heatley, Alex Greenham 0-3 (92, 71, 55) Mark Lloyd, James Cullen (58) 2-3 Ronnie Blake, Connor Benzey (80) 3-0 Mark Greer, Oliver Sykes 2-3 (55) Dharminder Lilly, Aristos Pampouris 1-3 Marcos Dayao, Paul Davis (63) 3-0 Franco Carchedi, Harry Wyatt 3-2 Al Maher, Billy Castle (73, 63) 3-0 Sean Reeves, Brandon Nguyen (52) 2-3 Matt Simpson, Simon Dent 2-3 Jason Pusser, Ronnie Sullivan 3-1 Dalton Lawrence, Jake Baker 3-2 Riley Ellis, Shane Kearns 0-3 Billy West.
LAST-16: Wayne Townsend (71) 2-3 (68, 51) Labeeb Ahmed, Bradley Cowdroy (60) 2-3 (109, 69, 50) Mark Lloyd, Ronnie Blake 1-3 (115, 52) Connor Benzey, Dharminder Lilly 3-1 Marcos Dayao, Paul Davis (60) 3-1 Harry Wyatt, Billy Castle (50, 50) 3-0 Matt Simpson, Jason Pusser 3-2 Ronnie Sullivan, Jake Baker 1-3 Billy West.
QUARTER-FINALS: Labeeb Ahmed 0-3 (75, 57) Mark Lloyd, Connor Benzey (57, 52, 50) 3-0 Dharminder Lilly, Paul Davis 0-3 (92) Billy Castle, Jason Pusser (93) 1-3 Billy West.
SEMI-FINALS (£65): Mark Lloyd (58, 50) 3-1 (123) Connor Benzey, Billy Castle (96, 50) 3-0 Billy West.
FINAL (£260/£130): Billy Castle (59) 3-2 (63) Mark Lloyd.
PLATE RESULTS (BREAKS)
LAST-16: Dalton Lawrence 2-1 Shane Kearns, Al Maher 2-1 Jasmine Bolsover, Simon Dent 2-1 Kevin Morris, Aristos Pampouris 2-0 Ray Grall, Riley Ellis 2-0 James Cullen, Paul Grove 0-2 Alex Greenham, Franco Carchedi 0-2 Sean Reeves, Nick O’Sullivan 2-0 Mark Greer.
QUARTER-FINALS: Dalton Lawrence 1-2 (54) Al Maher, Simon Dent 1-2 Aristos Pampouris, Riley Ellis 2-1 Alex Greenham, Sean Reeves 2-1 Nick O’Sullivan.
SEMI-FINALS: Al Maher 0-2 (54) Aristos Pampouris, Riley Ellis 2-0 Sean Reeves.
FINAL (£40/£20): Riley Ellis 2-1 Aristos Pampouris.
By Tim Dunkley and Steven Hughes