Lloyd’s battle with tricky car park tied at 1-1
MARK Lloyd successfully negotiated the hazards of the car park at the Greenbaize Snooker Club in Bournemouth clutching yet another winner’s trophy.
The Gosport teenager (pictured) vowed to be more careful this time after claiming the third leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.
Following a 3-2 victory over home player Brad Chappell in the corresponding event last season, Lloyd fell over in the car park and damaged his silverware.
“It’s a bit bent,” he admitted.
The 15-year-old, based at Stoke Snooker Club, defeated Chappell 3-0 in their latest encounter to pocket £50 prize money.
“We both weren’t playing too well,” he said. “It wasn’t the best of finals. We’ve had better matches.”
The sharp-shooting pair shared the rankings title in 2013/14. Chappell leads this season by three points from Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC) and Lloyd in joint second.
Playing on the national stage has sharpened Lloyd’s game. He is already up to 24th in his debut season on the EASB Premier Junior Tour, which is restricted to the best 49 under-21s in the country. And he has qualified for the last-16 of the English Under-16 Championship.
That class told in Bournemouth as Lloyd dropped only one frame out of 14 all day, to Sam Storey (Thatcham SC) in the last-eight. In the semi-finals, he accounted for Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC), who has also booked a place in the next stage of the national under-16 championship.
It was the first time that Mutch had progressed past the group stages.
Chappell beat leg-two winner Rice in the second semi.
The fourth leg of eight is at Woking Snooker Centre on Sunday, January 4.
BREAKS
Mark Lloyd: 56
Rikki Moore: 45, 39.
James Budd: 44.
Bradley Cowdroy: 42.
Anthony Rice: 39.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Rikki Moore (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC); 3rd, Mark Wells (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 4th, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC); 2nd, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Mutch beat Cowdroy 2-1, Rice beat Farmer 2-0, Lloyd beat Storey 2-1, Chappell beat Budd 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Lloyd beat Mutch 2-0, Chappell beat Rice 2-0.
FINAL (£50/£25 25/18 points): Lloyd beat Chappell 3-0.
Report and picture by Tim Dunkley.