First Seniors win of the season gives Davis pole position
PAUL Davis, twice a runner-up this season, was delighted to win the fourth leg of the Cuestars Seniors (40+) Tour at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club.
The Wareham cueist pocketed £150 in prize money following his 2-0 victory over Martin Wallace in the final and now leads the rankings.
Davis played solid all day and started well in the round-robin group stage by making the day’s highest break of 88 against Carl Davies.
His path through the knockouts was far from straightforward. A last-16 encounter against Jason Pusser, who qualified for the last-16 via a three-way blue-ball shootout, could have gone either way but it was Davis who potted the last few colours in the decider to get the result.
Equally close matches against Shane Hellyer, who was playing well at his home club, and Neil Craycraft again saw Davis get over the line in tense deciding frames.
The final was a lot closer than the 2-0 scoreline would suggest. Davis took the opening frame with a couple of solid scoring visits despite Wallace’s best efforts to keep him out with some stellar safety play.
Davis edged to a 30-point lead with one red remaining in the next. Wallace chipped away with some clever safety and found himself in a position to clear from the brown to steel the frame. All the hard work was done with excellent pots on the blue and pink but a tricky black with the match on the line rattled in the jaws and stayed over the pocket leaving Davis the easiest of chances.
It was a welcome return to the headlines for Wallace who was appearing in his first final on the Seniors Tour since he beat Davis 2-0 to clinch the seventh leg of the 2023/24 season at Salisbury Snooker Club. Davis went on to claim the rankings title that season.
Wallace topped his group and defeated Neil Jefferis, Garry Coulson and Matt Callow in the knockout.
Home player Harjit (Harry) Singh enjoyed an excellent run on his debut. He was undefeated in his tough round-robin group against Jefferis, clubmate Steve Wheatland and Mark Thomas and beat another clubmate Neil Carroll 2-1 in the last 16 before losing to event-one winner Craycraft 2-0.
Tournament director Chris Wyatt said: “Thanks to the ladies at Chandlers Ford who really looked after us as they always do.”
And he added: “I would personally like to wish all of the Cuestars players, parents, clubs and organisers a very happy Christmas and New Year.”
Links to results and breaks:
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, hosts the fifth leg of eight on Sunday, January 18.
PRIZE MONEY: Paul Davis £150; Martin Wallace £75; semi-finalists Neil Craycraft & Matt Callow £25 each; quarter-finalists Shane Hellyer, Harry Singh, Garry Coulson & Anthony Cutler – £10 each.
By Chris Wyatt and Tim Dunkley