Two tons in nine days
TWO snooker century breaks in nine days suggests that Andover cueman John Hunter is refusing to decline gracefully into middle age.
Less than two months shy of his 50th year on this planet, Hunter (pictured) is actually fast approaching a new peak in his illustrious career.
A 112 clearance en route to claiming the third leg of the Cuestars South of England Seniors (40+) Tour on home tables at Salisbury Snooker Club appeared to reinforce the point.
Hunter, who smacked in a 104 against Ally Pollard in the Cuestars South Wilts Snooker League eight days previously, has now won all three events this season.
He signalled his early intent by wrapping up a 2-1 win over Martin Wallace with an 85 clearance that, admittedly, did include an outrageous fluke on the pink.
And he completed his round-robin group-stage matches with breaks of 88 and a 112 against Peter Chin (Woking SC).
“I just kept landing in the right place,” he insisted.
The rankings leader neutralised the threat of ex-professional Mike Talmondt in the semi-finals, beating the Portsmouth potter 2-0.
“In fairness to Mike, he was struggling and I was able to pick up on that early,” said Hunter.
“I was able to build up nice leads in both frames, tucking up behind the colours when opportunities arose, keeping Mike cold.”
Richard Swaffield (Salisbury SC) accounted for Wallace (Crowthorne RBL) 2-0 in the second semi and lost a one-frame shootout for the ranking points to Hunter in the final.
The title rivals for the Cuestars South Wilts Snooker League had agreed to split the £130 prize money.
Twelve breaks of 50 or more were recorded by the 22 runners.
Seniors Tour organisers are considered adding a seventh date next season as the previous two tournaments had attracted good fields of 30 and 23.
The fourth leg of six is at Fareham Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, February 15. The question is: can anyone stop Hunter from completing a clean sweep of all six tournaments this season?
BREAKS
John Hunter: 112, 88, 85, 63, 58, 49, 46.
Steve Allen: 69, 50, 47.
Steve Ashton: 65.
Chris Stocker: 62, 43.
Richard Swaffield: 61, 30.
Nick Birney: 59.
Mike Talmondt: 58, 46, 43, 40.
Scott Compton: 37, 36, 30.
Neil Herd: 37, 33.
Stephen Hills: 31.
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS
GROUP A: 1st, Richard Swaffield (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Martin Hill (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Steve Allen (Totton Recreation Club); 4th, Stephen Hills (Traders, Northfleet); 5th, Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC); 6th, Richard Arnold (Salisbury SC).
GROUP B: 1st, Nick Birney (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Chris Stocker (Sunninghill Comrades Club, Ascot); 3rd, Trevor Pittman (Salisbury SC); 4th, Alan Thomas (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Paul Lawrence (Park Gate RBL, Southampton); 6th, Neil Carroll (Chandler’s Ford SC).
GROUP C: 1st, John Hunter (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Martin Wallace (Crowthorne RBL); 3rd, Peter Chin (Woking SC); 4th, David Stewart (Chandler’s Ford SC); 5th, David Volante (Jesters, Swindon).
GROUP D: 1st, Mike Talmondt (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 2nd, Mark Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Neil Herd (Frome, Somerset); 4th, Scott Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 5th, Bob Toulouse (Sovereign SC, Farnborough).
KNOCKOUT RESULTS
QUARTER-FINALS (£10, 12 pts): Swaffield beat Tillison 2-0, Wallace beat Birney 2-1, Hunter beat Stocker 2-0, Talmondt beat Hill 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (£25, 15 pts): Swaffield beat Wallace 2-0, Hunter beat Talmondt 2-0.
FINAL (£80/£50 25/18 pts): Hunter beat Swaffield 1-0.
Report and picture by Tim Dunkley.