Taylor-Jenkins retains Rotary Summer Cup and makes first half-century

BEN Taylor-Jenkins recorded his first half-century break on the day he retained the Rotary Summer Cup at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club.

It came in the week before his debut on the Cuestars Under-21 Silver Tour at Salisbury Snooker Club.

The 14-year-old from Hedge End, who attended every single one of the 30 days of the school-holiday competition, gained promotion from Bronze by passing the 40-break threshold in the middle of last month.

Ben capped this remarkable performance with a new high break of 51 against Josh Juttla during the afternoon of the final day.

Fellow Silver Tour player Navraj Landa was runner-up in the overall rankings.

Earlier, Caden Read, who is also a Silver player, put together a personal best run of 65 against Nirvir Bohra. That makes 18 new high breaks by Summer Cup players in all competitions over the holiday period.

Organiser and WPBSA coach Tim Dunkley reckoned it had been “surreal” at times.

He said: “For example, on Day 23, Noah Gartell made his first century. Within the hour, William Thomson increased his highest break to 110. And the following day, O’Shay Scott put together a personal best 132 total clearance in the Open Series.

“And we’ve never had attendance numbers like this in the 12-year history of the competition. We’ve had players from six different counties. But it’s great preparation for the new Cuestars and EPSB seasons.”

We do it all again in the Autumn Half-Term Cup. The majority of the players who attend the school-holiday competitions at Chandlers Ford SC are Bronze Tour standard or below. For more information, email Tim Dunkley at [email protected] or ring him on 07986 376114.