Gold champion O’Sullivan praises “brilliant” coach
AYLESBURY snooker ace Sonnie O’Sullivan praised his “brilliant” coach after securing his second regional title in two years.
National glory is now the teenager’s aim – and perhaps to follow his namesake Ronnie onto the professional circuit.
O’Sullivan was crowned Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour champion during finals day at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
Last season’s Silver Tour champion stepped up a level and defeated home player Ollie Parsons 3-0 in the top-tier final.
“I didn’t play that well,” admitted the 16-year-old, whose practice base is the Liberal Club in High Wycombe.
“It was quite close. I potted pressure balls and kept my nerve in the final stages.”
O’Sullivan added that the final result and his 3-0 last-eight win against Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) “didn’t really reflect the scorelines”.
And he described his 3-2 semi-final success over rankings winner Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) as “quite a battle”.
This season has been key in the youngster’s snooker career.
He started his debut campaign on the Gold Tour slowly, but finished fourth in the rankings. And he entered the EASB (English Association of Snooker & Billiards) Regional Junior Tour, but only competed in two of the five legs.
Then he bumped into World Snooker coach David Mumford at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club. Goals have now been set and a plan has been drawn up.
“He’s a brilliant coach,” declared O’Sullivan. “We’ve had two sessions and already I’ve had an improvement.”
“If you want to get anywhere, you need to go through (the EASB junior tours). You need to be playing the best players in the country.”
O’Sullivan is now focused on a top three position next season and promotion to the EASB Premier Junior Tour.
RESULTS (BREAKS)
QUARTER-FINALS: Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) beat Ryan Gavin (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 3-1, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) 3-0, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon) beat Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury) 3-1, Ollie Parsons (Jesters, Swindon) beat Stuart Scott (Romford SC) 3-1.
SEMI-FINALS: O’Sullivan beat Lancastle 3-2, Parsons beat Bodman 3-1.
FINAL: O’Sullivan beat Parsons 3-0.
Knox grabs opportunity during testing times
A WOKING teenager took a break from revising for his GCSEs to pass the biggest test of his snooker career.
Daniel Knox revealed that preparations for the next day’s geography and history exams almost forced him to miss the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour Championship.
Perhaps the winner’s trophy will placate his mother.
The 16-year-old rankings runner-up was the only man left standing after the last-16 play-off at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
AYLESBURY snooker ace Sonnie O’Sullivan praised his “brilliant” coach after securing his second regional title in two years.
National glory is now the teenager’s aim – and perhaps to follow his namesake Ronnie onto the professional circuit.
O’Sullivan was crowned Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour champion during finals day at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
Last season’s Silver Tour champion stepped up a level and defeated home player Ollie Parsons 3-0 in the top-tier final.
“I didn’t play that well,” admitted the 16-year-old, whose practice base is the Liberal Club in High Wycombe.
“It was quite close. I potted pressure balls and kept my nerve in the final stages.”
O’Sullivan added that the final result and his 3-0 last-eight win against Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) “didn’t really reflect the scorelines”.
And he described his 3-2 semi-final success over rankings winner Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) as “quite a battle”.
This season has been key in the youngster’s snooker career.
He started his debut campaign on the Gold Tour slowly, but finished fourth in the rankings. And he entered the EASB (English Association of Snooker & Billiards) Regional Junior Tour, but only competed in two of the five legs.
Then he bumped into World Snooker coach David Mumford at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club. Goals have now been set and a plan has been drawn up.
“He’s a brilliant coach,” declared O’Sullivan. “We’ve had two sessions and already I’ve had an improvement.”
“If you want to get anywhere, you need to go through (the EASB junior tours). You need to be playing the best players in the country.”
O’Sullivan is now focused on a top three position next season and promotion to the EASB Premier Junior Tour.
RESULTS (BREAKS)
QUARTER-FINALS: Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) beat Ryan Gavin (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 3-1, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) 3-0, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon) beat Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury) 3-1, Ollie Parsons (Jesters, Swindon) beat Stuart Scott (Romford SC) 3-1.
SEMI-FINALS: O’Sullivan beat Lancastle 3-2, Parsons beat Bodman 3-1.
FINAL: O’Sullivan beat Parsons 3-0.
Knox grabs opportunity during testing times
A WOKING teenager took a break from revising for his GCSEs to pass the biggest test of his snooker career.
Daniel Knox revealed that preparations for the next day’s geography and history exams almost forced him to miss the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour Championship.
Perhaps the winner’s trophy will placate his mother.
The 16-year-old rankings runner-up was the only man left standing after the last-16 play-off at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
“I almost didn’t come today,” he said. “But it’s a good thing I did.
“I was playing really well in practice and I convinced my mum.”
Knox admitted he was “terrified” as rankings winner Mark Lloyd pictured left (Stoke SC, Gosport) extracted the penalty points from the required snookers in the third and deciding frame of the final.
But he won an epic safety battle on the brown and cleared to the pink to “just” prevail 2-1.
“In the last few (ranking) events, Mark has beaten me by quite a way so it was quite nice to win today,” said Knox, who is based at Woking Snooker Centre.
Earlier, he had survived “really close” encounters with Connor McLean and Dan Carr. He edged both lads from the Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex, 2-1.
And with the success comes promotion to the Gold Tour.
“It should be good,” he said. “Hopefully I can improve over the summer – I need to, a little bit.”
Immediately after his victory, Knox was given a glimpse of the standard he needs to be aiming for when he took on special guest Ben Harrison, a former Cuestars member and now one of England’s leading amateurs, in an exhibition frame.
Harrison produced a 106 clearance and Knox didn’t pot a ball.
BREAKS
Mark Lloyd: 32.
James Budd: 32.
RESULTS (BREAKS)
LAST-16: Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Lewis Parnham (SWSA, Gloucester) 2-0, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Olly Clark (Chandler’s Ford SC) 2-1, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) 2-0, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC) 2-1, Dan Carr (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex) beat Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-1, Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon) beat Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) 2-0, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex) beat Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC) 2-0. Bye: Daniel Knox (Woking SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: Lloyd beat Farmer 2-1, Budd beat Holt 2-0, Carr beat Hall 2-0, Knox beat McLean 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS: Lloyd beat Budd 2-1, Knox beat Carr 2-1.
FINAL: Knox beat Lloyd 2-1.
Carefree champion reveals caring side
HIS carefree attitude with a cue in his hands is in stark contrast to his compassion for others.
Six-time world champion Steve Davis could have had Mickey Joyce in mind when he famously said: “If you can play as if it means nothing when it means everything, then you are hard to beat.”
Just under two weeks after his tenth birthday, Joyce slammed in a long brown in his trademark cavalier style to clinch the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour Championship.
But despite his devil-may-care attitude on the table (which frustrates his coach immensely), the spikey-haired Basingstoke potter immediately switched his thoughts to others.
Clutching his trophy outside Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon, he said: “I dedicate this to my grandad Johnny because he’s not been very well.”
Joyce, who is based at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club, defeated Thomas Holton (Woking SC) 2-0 in the final.
In the semi-finals, he edged his 11-year-old clubmate Luke Beebe 2-1. But there was no bragging.
Joyce – who says he gets his supreme confidence from his dad, Eamon – said: “My hardest match was against Luke Beebe because I was 1-0 down and I came back and won 2-1. When I won, I felt really sorry because he’s from my club.”
As a reward, the youngster – with more raw, natural talent than you can shake a stick at – spent the following day at Thorpe Park.
RESULTS (BREAKS)
LAST-16: Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC) beat Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-1, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC) beat Ben Hatch (Eastleigh) 2-1, Thomas Holton (Woking SC) beat Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) 2-1, Luke Beebe (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC) 2-0, Matt Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon) 2-1, Edward James (Woking SC) beat Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) 2-0, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Jordan Lee (Woking SC) 2-0. Bye: Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon)
QUARTER-FINALS: Flanagan beat Petty 2-1, Holton beat McDonald 2-1, Beebe beat Gillon 2-0, Joyce beat James 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS: Joyce beat Beebe 2-1, Holton beat Flanagan 2-1.
FINAL: Joyce beat Holton 2-0.
Bournemouth pair claim Family Doubles title
BRADLEY Cowdroy and dad, Jim, edged Jasmine Bolsover and dad, Gavin, 2-1 on the final pink to claim the Cuestars Family Doubles title.
Both youngsters had been knocked out in the last-16 of the Silver Tour championship play-off at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
Eleven-year-old Bradley, who is based at Greenbaize, Bournemouth, lost 2-0 to James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport) while 13-year-old Jasmine, from Woking Snooker Centre, was beaten 2-1 by Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).
Jasmine is ranked a remarkable 17th on the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association circuit.
The pair were both promoted from the Bronze Tour at the end of the 2011/12 season. Bradley ended the eight-leg Silver Tour in 12th place, four points in front of Jasmine, in 13th.
FAMILY DOUBLES (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
LAST-32: Eggars beat Balls, Bennings beat Parnhams.
LAST-16: Bolsovers beat Farmers, Comptons (Scott Compton 55 break) beat Pettys, McLeans beat Joyces, Bennings beat Eggars, Kitchen & Heath beat Holtons, Cowdroys beat Pollards, Holts beat Budd & Rowland, Tillisons beat Hatchs.
QUARTER-FINALS: Bolsovers beat Comptons, McLeans beat Bennings, Cowdroys beat Kitchen & Heath, Holts beat Tillisons.
SEMI-FINALS: Bolsovers beat McLeans, Cowdroys beat Holts.
FINAL: Cowdroys beat Bolsovers 2-1.
Pots of fun with star guests Bill and Ben
TROPHY winners at the Cuestars Finals Day were entertained by Bill and Ben.
Top amateurs Billy Castle and Ben Harrison, dubbed the Powerpot Men, were booked as special guests for the end-of-season jamboree at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
The England internationals, who have competed on the Cuestars circuit for many years, played more than 20 frames against Section winners, rankings winners and Gold, Silver and Bronze Tour champions.
Gold Tour player Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) managed to beat Castle on the final black while Gold champion Sonnie O’Sullivan left Harrison chasing snookers in vain on the final green.
Castle, 20, a quarter-finalist at the 2012 IBSF World Championship in Bulgaria, smacked in a 115 against Bronze Tour player Jordan Lee (Woking SC).
And 21-year-old Harrison, two wins short of turning professional at Q School last month, fired in a 106 against Silver Champion Daniel Knox (Woking Snooker Centre).
It’s worth repeating at this point that Cuestars director John Hunter has denied claims that Andy Pandy, Looby Loo and Teddy are lined up for next year’s Finals Day.
Ryan’s day – eventually
TWO Cuestars championship trophies will be on display in High Wycombe’s Liberal Club.
Following Sonnie O’Sullivan’s success in the Gold Tour championship, Ryan Gavin claimed the Six-Reds title.
The 20-year-old prevailed 2-1 in the final against Joshua Lee, who was playing on home tables at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
Gavin, who lost 2-0 to O’Sullivan in last season’s Silver Tour final, finished 14th in his debut season on the Gold Tour. He entered three of the eight legs but has yet to progress from the group stages at the higher level.
Earlier in the day, Gavin was beaten 3-1 by rankings winner Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol) in the last-16 of the Gold Tour championship.
SIX-REDS CHAMPIONSHIP (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
LAST-16: Karl Eggar (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat O Heath, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon) beat Jordan Lee (Woking SC), Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Ben Hatch (Eastleigh), Edward James (Woking SC) beat Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport), Ryan Gavin (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) beat Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth), Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) beat Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC), Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon) beat Lewis Parnham (SWSA, Gloucester). Bye: Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
QUARTER-FINALS: Lee beat Eggar, Cowdroy beat Compton, Gavin beat James, Benning beat Ball.
SEMI-FINALS: Lee beat Cowdroy, Gavin beat Benning.
FINAL: Gavin beat Lee 2-1.
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Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)