No rest for Gold Tour rankings winner
NEXT on the agenda is “practice, practice, practice” for snooker champion Thomas Lancastle.
The Bristol teenager clinched the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour rankings title with one of the eight legs still to play.
Lancastle, who finished third on the second tier tour last season, said: “This time a year ago, I was happy to have got to the upper levels on the Silver Tour.
“So I’m delighted and over the moon to have accomplished this position.
“I don’t think that I played to the best of my abilities in all the tournaments. But I’m obviously happy with the outcome.”
And the 16-year-old with the Rolls-Royce cue action paid tribute to second-placed Ollie Parsons, from Jester Snooker Hall, Swindon, “who kept me on my toes”.
Lancastle, who is based at Eastville Snooker Club, claimed two tournament wins this season. And reaching the semi-finals in the seventh leg in Swindon was enough to build an insurmountable lead.
He insisted that nothing would have been possible without the help of dad Bob, mum Jules (“for all the early starts and countless miles covered in taking me to and from all of the tournaments”), coach Frank Adamson (“who has worked tirelessly with me over the year”) and Cuestars’ unsung heroes John Hunter and Paul Rose.
“What’s next?” he added. “Practice, practice, practice.”
Gloucester’s Ben Fortey beat Rikki Moore (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) 3-0 in the final of the penultimate event at Jesters.
It means Fortey has won both tournaments that he’s played in this season. Last month he took advantage of home tables at the South West Snooker Academy.
The eighth and final leg is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, May 5.
BREAKS
Ben Fortey: 75, 56, 47, 46.
Rikki Moore: 75.
Sonnie O’Sullivan: 53.
Oliver Parsons: 52.
GOLD RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Ben Fortey (SWSA, Gloucester); 2nd, Rikki Moore (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 3rd, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 5th, Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st Ollie Parsons (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol); 3rd, Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Ryan Gavin (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Moore beat Parsons 3-2, Fortey beat Lancastle 3-0.
FINAL (25/18 points): Fortey beat Moore 3-0.
Lloyd has one hand on Silver trophy
GOSPORT teenage Mark Lloyd has one hand on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour rankings trophy after picking up his third tournament win of the season.
The 13-year-old, who is based at Stoke Snooker Club, just needs to qualify for the knockout in the eighth and final leg at Salisbury Snooker Club next month to be certain of claiming his second title.
Aged just nine, Lloyd was crowned Cuestars Under-12 Champion in 2009.
Lloyd defeated Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex) 2-0 in the final of the penultimate leg at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
Earlier, in the quarter-finals, he beat title-rival Daniel Knox (Woking Snooker Centre) 2-0. At the start of the day, Knox had been just one point behind Lloyd in the rankings.
“If I played like I did in the knockout stages, I could win the title,” said Lloyd. “But I’ve got to go there and do it first.”
The champion elect, who actually lost 2-0 to McLean in the round-robin group stages, accounted for Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth) 2-1 in the semi-finals.
“I didn’t play well in the groups but I managed to scrape through,” admitted Lloyd. “I played well in the knockout rounds, especially the semis and final.
“I was pleased with today as I now have a 14-point lead going into the last event. Hopefully I can grab my second Cuestars title. But I know I have to play well to get it.”
The eighth and final leg is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, May 5.
BREAKS
Mark Lloyd: 46, 37, 33, 31.
James Budd: 38.
Daniel Knox: 33.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 2nd, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Daniel Carr (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 4th, Cameron Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Stewart Ball (Greenbaize SC, Bournemouth); 3rd, Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC); 4th, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 4th, Lewis Parnham (SWSA, Gloucester).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Dan Knox (Woking SC); 2nd, Grant Black (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): McLean beat Black 2-0, Budd beat Farmer 2-0, Ball beat Holt 2-1, Lloyd beat Knox 2-0.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): McLean beat Budd 2-1, Lloyd beat ball 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Lloyd beat McLean 2-0.
Dan’s the man
PORTSMOUTH potter Daniel Compton displayed “maturity and calmness” beyond his years to claim the seventh leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.
The 13-year-old responded in the best possible way after failing to qualify from the group stages for the first time this season in February’s tournament at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club.
Compton, who missed the trip to Gloucester last month, collected his second winner’s trophy of the campaign after battling back from 1-0 down to edge Thomas Holton (Woking Snooker Centre) 2-1 on the final black at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
Proud dad Scott, who helps run the junior section at Copnor Snooker Club, said: “Daniel showed the qualities of a mature snooker player. His safety play and potting was at a high level, especially being one nil down in the final and coming back in style to take the next two (frames).
“His maturity and calmness around the table was also good. Some players of Daniel’s age may have crumbled. But Daniel showed some bottle, especially at the end of the frames by killing them off when he needed to.”
Mum Sarah, who had been waiting “anxiously” at home, said: “Scott was a very proud dad when he got home and Daniel was chuffed to bits.”
Rankings leader Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon), unbeaten in the group stages, takes a 13-point lead into the final leg after suffering a 2-0 quarter-final defeat by Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon).
And it was “a bad day at the office” for title contender Mickey Joyce. Twice a tournament winner this season, the second-placed nine-year-old from Chandler’s Ford SC failed to make the knockout for the first time in this campaign.
The eighth and final leg is at Salisbury Snooker Club on Sunday, May 5.
BRONZE RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Conor Flanagan (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Ben Hatch (Eastleigh); joint 4th, Karan Chadda (Chandler’s Ford SC), Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport), Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Callum McDonald (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Matt Gillon (Stoke SC, Gosport); 3rd, Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC); 4th, Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth); 5th, Jordan Lee (Woking SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Thomas Holton (Woking SC); 2nd, Daniel Compton (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 3rd, Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC); 4th, Mickey Joyce (Chandler’s Ford SC).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Jamie Wilson (Chandler’s Ford SC); 2nd, Canberk Benning (147 SC, Swindon); 3rd, Edward James (Woking SC); 4th, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS (12 points): Benning beat Flanagan 2-0, Compton beat McDonald 2-1, Holton beat Gillon 2-0, Wilson beat Hatch 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (15 points): Compton beat Benning 2-0, Holton beat Wilson 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Compton beat Holton 2-1.
Fourth Plate success for Bodman
IF IT carries on like this, Cuestars may have to change the name of the competition for those not qualifying for the knockout to the Bodman Plate.
For the fourth time this season, Troy Bodman has claimed the consolation trophy.
The Jesters cueman beat 14-year-old Dan Sykes 2-1 in the final.
Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC), who matched his high break of 25 in the match, said: “I was extremely happy to get to the final of the Plate and win a trophy.”
PLATE RESULTS (ONE-FRAME MATCHES)
PRELIM: Joe Kitchen (Stoke SC, Gosport) beat Lewis Parnham (SWSA, Gloucester).
LAST-16: Jasmine Bolsover (Woking SC) beat Kitchen, Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC) beat Josh Lee (Jesters, Swindon), Daniel Carr (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex) beat Sonnie O’Sullivan (Liberal Club, High Wycombe), Sam Storey (Crucible, Newbury) beat Edward James (Woking SC), Daniel Hall (Jesters, Swindon) beat Kaine Petty (Salisbury SC), Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon) beat Ally Pollard (Salisbury SC), Ben Tillison (Copnor SC, Portsmouth) beat Karan Chadda (Chandler’s Ford SC).
QUARTER-FINALS: Sykes beat Bolsover, Storey beat Carr, Bodman beat Hall, Tillison beat Nat Kidner (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
SEMI-FINALS: Sykes beat Storey, Bodman beat Tillison.
FINAL: Bodman beat Sykes 2-1.
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Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)