Dan’s four-year wait over
AFTER four years pounding the Cuestars circuit, Dan Sykes has finally got his hands on a winner’s trophy.
And the 17-year-old from Chandler’s Ford (pictured) recorded one of the best results of his life in the semi-finals.
The teenager, whose ten-year-old brother Oliver had earlier won the Silver event, made it a family double by clinching the sixth leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour at Fareham Snooker Club.
Sykes took the first frame of the final against Jonny Mutch on the black and the second on the blue after his 16-year-old opponent from Cambridge had extracted the penalty points from the required snooker.
“I knew it was going to come, it was just a case of when,” said Sykes, who had never been past the Gold quarter-finals before.</p><p style=”text-align: center;”><img width=”309″ height=”296″ alt=”” src=”/userfiles/image/Jonny%20Mutch%20150715%20TDb%20(640×615).jpg” /></p><p style=”text-align: center;”><b>RUNNER-UP: Jonny Mutch</p><p>It was a sweet 2-1 semi-final victory over England Under-16 champion Mark Lloyd from 1-0 down on one of the club’s two Star tables that hinted it could possibly be Sykes’ day.
“That was a good draw,” he admitted. “I wanted to play against him because I’ve been so close to beating him (previously).
“To get past that hurdle feels pretty good, to be fair, especially after that first frame.”
Indeed. Gosport-based Lloyd showed his experience on the EASB Premier Junior Tour and on England duty by taking the opener despite needing two snookers on the pink. It was a hammer blow to his opponent.
“It did frustrate me a little bit but that gave me the motivation to win the next two,” said Sykes.
Reflecting on the professional standard tables, he added: “I really like it. It suits my game because it stops me hitting the ball hard. When I hit it hard, I miss. When I hit it softly and stroke it, it goes in.”
Brad Chappell (Poole) lost 2-1 to first-time finalist Mutch in the last-four but maintained his six-point lead over Lloyd at the top of the rankings.
No breaks of 40 or more were recorded by the 14 players.
The seventh leg of eight is at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, April 10.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Brad Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC); 4th, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 5th, Arron Smith (Selsey RBL).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC); 2nd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, James Budd (Fareham SC); 4th, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 5th, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Reece King (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC); 4th, Jamie Wilson (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Chappell 2 Budd 0, Mutch 2 Trigg 0, Lloyd 2 Cowdroy 1, Sykes 2 King 0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Mutch 2 Chappell 1, Sykes 2 Lloyd 1.
FINAL (£45/£25 25/18 points): Sykes 2 Mutch 0.
Report and picture by Tim Dunkley