First tournament success for Aariz

A WELLING teenager has tasted success for the first time on a regional junior snooker circuit.

It may have been third time lucky for Aariz Tariq but there was nothing lucky about his victory on the Cuestars Under-21 Bronze Tour in Wiltshire.

The 14-year-old, who has two runner-up trophies on his mantlepiece, beat Oliver Callow 2-0 in the final of the second leg at Salisbury Snooker Club.

Earlier, he was undefeated in his five-man round-robin group and put together four breaks of over 20, including a 32, before beating newcomers Balhaar Singh Grewal and Joe Carmona in the knockout.

And he dropped only one frame all day, against Carmona who made a 25 break on his competitive debut.

Tariq said: “It feels good to finally win. It went well.

“I played well today. I just need to keep winning.”

Tariq is based at Shades Snooker & Pool Club, Deptford, and made his Cuestars debut in January, 2024, in Coulsdon. He lost in his previous two finals in Chandler’s Ford and Newbury last autumn.

Callow moved up to third place after edging new rankings leader Buddy Dean 2-1 in a high-quality semi-final clash. Second-placed Tariq is one point adrift of top spot.

The event was sponsored by Salisbury Snooker Club (salisburysnookerclub.co.uk).

Results and ranking lists are on snookerscores.net.

Chandlers Ford Snooker Club hosts the third leg of nine on Sunday, November 8. Gold will be at Waterlooville Sports Bar