Seb leads Q School race

SWINDON snooker ace Seb Worrall has taken an early lead in the race for a coveted place at Q School.

The 34-year-old took advantage of home tables to win the first leg of the Cuestars South of England Championship Tour at Jesters Snooker Club.Worrall, who pocketed £150 prize money, fired in an 88 break in the second frame of a 3-0 victory over Southampton’s Town Champion Mike Finn in the final.  “Beating Mike Finn in the final was a good achievement as he is a great player,” he said. “Although a bad back may have hampered him a little.”Worrall lost only one of his 21 frames throughout the Absolute Snooker-sponsored event and has now won four of the last six Championship Tour legs that he has entered in Swindon.“I always play well at Jesters as it is my local club,” he explained.And he added: “I was just happy to get out of the group but what tends to happen is the deeper I go in a tournament the better I play.

”The rankings winner at the end of the eight-leg campaign earns a free place at Q School, World Snooker’s end-of-season double header from which the four semi-finalists receive two-year cards for the professional circuit.Cautious about his prospects, Worrall admitted: “Realistically it’s a long shot – but you never know.” Meanwhile, Cuestars director John Hunter hailed the 35-strong turnout as “fantastic”.

The high-quality field returned 29 breaks of 50 or more. Finn recorded the highest of 96 in his 3-2 last-four victory over Churchills teammate Billy Castle. Christian Chislett, beaten 3-0 by Worrall in the second semi, was the most prolific half-century breaker with five – one more than Castle’s four. Matt Ford’s bid for a hat-trick of rankings titles faltered with a 3-2 defeat in the quarter-finals by Callum Lloyd, one of a five-strong contingent from Wales.

The second leg of eight is at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club on Sunday, October 16. Sponsor Absolute Snooker is a national independent company specialising in table recovering and maintenance. The Swansea-based firm also offers a wide range of cues, cases and accessories for snooker, pool and billiards. For more information, go to  www.absolutesnooker.com.

BREAKS

Mike Finn: 96, 56, 51.

Seb Worrall: 88, 73.

Matt Wilson: 87, 80.

Ed Topham: 87.

Matt Ford: 77, 50.

Kishan Hirani: 70, 67.

Ryan Mears: 70, 61.

Adam Stacey: 70.

Billy Castle: 68, 60, 60, 54.

Rikki Moore: 62.

Callum Lloyd: 60, 58.

Mike Talmondt: 60.

Christian Chislett: 58, 57, 56, 54, 52.

Anthony Rice: 56.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS

GROUP A: 1st, Mike Talmondt (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Grant Mason (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Adam Stacey (Legends, Leytonstone); 4th, Martin Luker (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, James Facey (Canton Liberal Club, Cardiff).

GROUP B: 1st, Ryan Mears (Sovereign, Farnborough); 2nd, Nigel Phillips (Sovereign, Farnborough); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).

GROUP C: 1st, Seb Worrall (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Ed Topham (Canton Liberal Club, Cardiff); 3rd, David Rice (Salisbury SC); 4th, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Peter Chin (Jesters, Swindon).

GROUP D: 1st, Mike Finn (Churchills, Eastleigh); 2nd, Emin Thorose (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Brad Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Andrew Mayell (Player’s, Westbury); 5th, Charlie Pringle (Chandler’s Ford SC).

GROUP E: 1st, Matthew Stadius (Selsey RBL, Chichester); 2nd, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Jake Stewart (147 Swindon); 4th, Wasim Khan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).GROUP F: 1st, Billy Castle (Crucible, Newbury); 2nd, Christian Chislett (Selsey RBL, Chichester); 3rd, Rikki Moore (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

GROUP G: 1st, Callum Lloyd (Redz, Cwmbran); 2nd, Kishan Hirani (Canton Liberal Club, Cardiff); 3rd, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 4th, Mark Wells (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

GROUP H: 1st, Matt Wilson (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Matt Ford (Sunninghill Comrades Club); 3rd, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 4th, Martin Wallace (Crowthorne RBL).

KNOCKOUT RESULTSLAST-16 (20 points): Talmondt 3 Phillips 0, Worrall 3 Thorose 1, Chislett 3 Stadius 1, C Lloyd 3 Ford 2, Mason 3 Mears 1, Finn 3 Topham 0, Castle 3 A Rice 2, Hirani 3 Wilson 1.

QUARTER-FINALS (£15, 24 points): Worrall 3 Talmondt 0, Chislett 3 C Lloyd 1, Finn 3 Mason 0, Castle 3 Hirani 2.

SEMI-FINALS (£35, 30 points): Worrall 3 Chislett 0, Finn 3 Castle 2.

FINAL (£150/£70, 50/36 points): Worrall 3 Finn 0.Picture: Mike Finn (left) and Seb Worrall

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