Pringle wins five-day competition
PASSING a set of exercises that he had been stuck on for a year helped Charlie Pringle claim his third school holiday title at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club.
The 14-year-old Cuestars Silver Tour player ended five days of competition by lifting the Ken Jones May Half-Term Cup, named in honour of the former Saints player and renowned snooker coach.
“I didn’t think I played amazing,” he said. “I just managed to do well in the things we do in the mornings.”
Indeed. Pringle completed Level 8 of the Cuestars Coaching Programme – which he first started this time last year – was joint fourth in the billiards, came second in the cricket, completed Level 9 at his first attempt and held his own at snooker in the afternoons.
The Year 9 pupil at Thornden School, who won the 2014 Christmas Cup and the 2015 February Half-Term Cup, edged runner-up Harry Joyce by 2.5 points after winning five of his eight snooker matches on the final day. One fewer win would have seen Joyce, 11, crowned champion.
Oliver Sykes was third, half a point ahead of Connor Benzey.
Pringle saw his main rival as Benzey, 14, who made eight breaks of 30 or more during the week.
“You’ve just got to get in first,” he explained. “If you miss, you know he’s going to make 30 or 40 points.”
Mickey Joyce, 13, recorded the week’s highest snooker break of 61. Benzey compiled the best cricket break of 63. And ten-year-old Sykes impressed visiting billiards expert Trevor Thorn by making a 53 break in the three-ball game.
The next competition with World Snooker coach Tim Dunkley is the Rotary Summer Cup, which will run on all 32 weekdays during the school summer holidays. Email [email protected] for more information.
Final rankings: Charlie Pringle 58.5 points, Harry Joyce 56, Oliver Sykes 51.5, Connor Benzey 51, Bowen Zhu 38.5, Olly Gibbs 28, Mickey Joyce 27, Ryan Hughes 20, Riley Ellis 19, Coby Mumford 10.5, O’Shay Scott 6.
Pictures by Tim Dunkley
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E-mail: [email protected]