Joy of six for Hunter
RANKINGS champion John Hunter ended the Cuestars Masters Tour season with a sixth tournament success.
The 58-year-old from Andover pocketed £70 in prize money after beating Mark Thomas (Chorleywood) 2-0 in the final of the ninth and final leg at The Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury.
Earlier, Thomas achieved the day’s most notable win, holding his nerve to record a 2-1 victory in the last-eight against Karl Townsend (Northolt), who has won three events this season on the Snooker Hub-sponsored midweek circuit for players aged 55 and over.
Rankings runner-up Phil Butler (Bournemouth) took the day’s high-break honours with an “out of the blue” 60 against Pat Patel (Newbury).
Hunter said his toughest match was his 2-1 round-robin group-stage win against Masters debutant Mark Evans (Bagshot).
Organisers thanked Masters stalwart Dennis Tristram (Croxley Green, Herts) for sponsoring the event.
And Salisbury pair Paul Burt and Malcolm Slark were impressed with the club’s offer on unlimited cups of tea!
To find out more the amateur game, visit snookerhub.co.uk.
BREAKS
Phil Butler: 60, 40.
Karl Townsend: 48.
John Hunter: 45, 44, 40.
Dennis Tristram: 40.
RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, John Hunter (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Mark Thomas (Shots, Watford); 3rd, Mark Evans (Crucible, Reading); 4th, Malcolm Slark (Salisbury SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Phil Butler (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Steve Ashton (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Ray Grall (Hayes WMC); joint 4th, Pat Patel (Crucible, Newbury) & Andy Darken (Feltham Constitutional).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Karl Townsend (Rickmansworth RBL); 2nd, Dennis Tristram (Shots, Watford); 3rd, Mark Burrell (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Paul Burt (Salisbury SC); 5th, Jeff Payne (West Byfleet Social Club).
QUARTER-FINALS (10 pts): Hunter 2-1 Grall, Tristram 2-1 Ashton, Butler w/o Burrell, Thomas 2-1 Townsend.
SEMI-FINALS (£15, 15 pts): Hunter 2-0 Tristram, Thomas 2-1 Butler.
FINAL (£70/£40, 25/18 pts): Hunter 2-0 Thomas.
Picture: Mark Thomas (left) and John Hunter