Lloyd returns from Sheffield in time to win in Newbury

RANKINGS winner Mark Lloyd survived two fifth-frame deciders en route to clinching his third tournament victory of the season on the Cuestars Championship Tour.

The 26-year-old from Gosport returned from the World Championship qualifiers in Sheffield in time to prove his dominance in the eighth and final leg at The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury.

Lloyd, who also won the title last year and in 2018/19, collected £220 in prize money after defeating rankings runner-up Ronnie Blake 3-1 in the final.

He did, however, have his work cut out for him – surviving two deciders in the tournament, first against James Budd in the last-16 and again in the semis against Labeeb Ahmed.

Lloyd won the comeback-of-the-day award with runs of 112, 77 and 60 to win 3-2 from 2-0 down to Ahmed.

O’Shay Scott took the day’s high-break honours with a 117 break in the last-16 against Dan Sykes.

Chris Rice beat Austen Petty 2-1 in the Plate final.

It’s been a productive week for Lloyd. He pocketed a cool £5,000 after beating Liu Wenwei 10-3 in the first qualifying round match of the Halo World Championship at the English Institute of Sport in the steel city. But a 10-2 defeat in the second round by world number 58 Oliver Lines meant he could make the trip to Berkshire the following day.

Results and rankings list are on snookerscores.net: https://snookerscores.net/events/cuestars-championship-tour-event-8

Prize money: winner Mark Lloyd £220, runner-up Ronnie Blake £100, semi-finalists Ian Rose & Labeeb Ahmed £50, Plate winner Chris Rice £25, Plate runner-up Austen Petty £10.

The top-16 ranked players are invited to the Cuestars Championship, which carries a £400 first prize, at The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Reading, on Sunday, May 10.

By Tim Dunkley and Steven Hughes