Richards hits top spot

WELSH wizard Chris Richards conjured up a remarkable recovery to claim success on the second leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.

Richards, based at Roath Labour Club, defeated Chandler’s Ford’s Daniel Woods 3-2 from 2-0 down in the final at Jesters Snooker Club in Swindon.

And with victory came the number one spot in the rankings.

Despite being nearly 40 points down in the third frame, Richards dug deep and produced a clearance to pull one back.

In the decider, he clinched victory on the pink after Woods had laid the two snookers he required.

Woods, who saw off Salisbury’s James Bolton 2-1 in the last-four, climbs to second place.

Richards, who had lost 3-2 to Bolton in the group stages, defeated Adam King (The New Arches SC) 2-0 in the second semi.

The third leg of the eight-tournament series is at Copnor SC, Portsmouth, on December 12.

BREAKS

Bradley Chappell: 46, 44, 40, 37, 33.
James Bolton: 42, 40.

GOLD RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, James Bolton (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Chris Richards (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 3rd, Lee Roling (The Academy, Eastleigh); 4th, Lee Warner (Stoke SC, Gosport).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Daniel Woods (Chandler’s Ford); 2nd, Adam King (The New Arches SC); 3rd, James Facey (Roath Labour Club, Cardiff); 4th, Liam Burnet (The Academy, Eastleigh).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Bradley Chappell (Green Baize, Bournemouth); 2nd, Daniel Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Kevin Impett (Chandler’s Ford); 4th, Ben Tanner (The Academy, Eastleigh).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Lee Bell (The Academy, Eastleigh); 2nd, Craig Drury (147 SC, Swindon); 3rd, Ollie Kendrick (Whitmore Reans Cons Club, Wolverhampton).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Bolton beat Drury 3-2, Woods beat Tallentire 3-2, King beat Chappell 3-1, Richards beat Bell 3-0.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Woods beat Bolton 2-1, Richards beat King 2-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Richards beat Woods 3-2.

Sensational debut for Inglis

MIDLANDS raider James Inglis has made a sensational debut on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour.

Inglis smashed in his highest match break of 52 in a 3-2 victory over Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club) in the final at Jesters Snooker Club in Swindon.

The teenager from Rileys in Worcester racked up ten unanswered frames to reach the final.

After three victories to top his round-robin group, Inglis defeated event-one winner Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury) 2-0 in the quarter-finals and he accounted for Eastleigh’s Bradley Hatch by the same score in the last-four.

Matthews, who saw off Carl Sidey (The Academy, Basingstoke) 2-0 to reach the final, climbed to second place behind Winfield. Inglis is third.

Winfield’s run of 56 in his quarter-final defeat was the day’s highest break.

The third leg of the eight-tournament series is at Copnor SC, Portsmouth, on December 12.

BREAKS

Daniel Winfield: 56.
James Inglis: 52, 46, 45, 35.
Dean Matthews: 38, 31.
Thomas Lancastle: 22.

SILVER RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Keynsham SC); 2nd, Carl Sidey (The Academy, Basingstoke); 3rd, Jodie Symes (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Jordan Wallace (Thatcham SC).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, James Inglis (Rileys, Worcester); 2nd, Dean Matthews (Ivy Leaf Club); 3rd, Rob Henley (The Academy, Eastleigh); 4th, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Oliver Parsons (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Daniel Winfield (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Ryan Gavin (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Jamie Perry (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Bradley Hatch (The Academy, Eastleigh); 3rd, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Hatch beat Lancastle 2-1, Inglis beat Winfield 2-0, Matthews beat Parsons 2-0, Sidey beat Perry 2-1.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Inglis beat Hatch 2-0, Matthews beat Sidey 2-0.

FINAL (25/18 points): Inglis beat Matthews 3-2.

Second helpings for Probets

EVENT-one winner Connor Probets has made it two out of two on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.

In the second leg at his home club, Jesters in Swindon, Probets defeated Westbury’s Callum Browne 2-0 in the final to take a 24-point lead in the rankings.

Despite losing 2-1 to Sam Storey (Thatcham SC) in the group stages, Probets qualified for the knockout where he beat club-mates Derrick Volante 2-1 and Troy Bodman 2-0.

Second-placed Browne defeated Group B winner Robert Harding (Sovereign SC, Farnborough) in his semi-final.

Bodman knocked in the day’s highest break of 34, in the group stages.

The third leg of the eight-tournament series is at Copnor SC, Portsmouth, on December 12.

BREAKS:

Troy Bodman: 34.

BRONZE RESULTS:

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury); 3rd, Matthew Bellinger (Jesters, Swindon); 4th, Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport); 5th, Corrie Tallentire (Player’s, Westbury).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Robert Harding (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 2nd, Derrick Volante (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, Oliver Clark (Stoke SC, Gosport); 5th, Austen Petty (Chandler’s Ford).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC); 2nd, Connor Probets (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, David Edwards (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 4th, Mike Trigg (Chandler’s Ford).

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Andy Dyer (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Spike Hull (Chandler’s Ford); 3rd, Charlie Gray (Chandler’s Ford); 4th, Joshua Hughes (Suzy Q’s, Worcester).

QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Bodman beat Hull 2-0, Probets beat Volante 2-1, Harding beat Storey 2-0, Browne beat Dyer 2-1.

SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Probets beat Bodman 2-0, Browne beat Harding.

FINAL (25/18 points): Probets beat Browne 2-0.

Burnet makes it two Plates out of two for Eastleigh

FOR the second tournament running on the Cuestars Under-21 Tours, a player from The Academy, Eastleigh, has triumphed in the Plate competition.

Liam Burnet followed up Bradley Hatch’s success at Salisbury Snooker Club last month with victory at Jesters, Swindon.

Burnet, who finished fourth in Group B on the Gold Tour event, emerged victorious from a 19-strong field in the consolation competition for those who did not qualify for the knockouts.

The 16-year-old defeated home player Matthew Bellinger in the semis but received a walkover against Ben Tanner, also from The Academy, Eastleigh, who had already left the building.

PLATE RESULTS

LAST-32: Liam Burnet beat Rob Henley, Oliver Clark beat Nathan Farmer, Corrie Tallentire beat Charlie Gray

LAST-16: Burnet beat Mark Lloyd, Jodie Symes beat Lee Warner, Tallentire beat Clark, Matthew Bellinger beat James Facey, David Edwards beat Joshua Hughes, Ben Tanner beat Jordan Wallace, Joshua Lee beat Cameron Holt, Ryan Gavin beat Lee Roling.

QUARTER-FINALS: Burnet beat Symes, Bellinger beat Tallentire, Tanner beat Edwards, Gavin beat Lee.

SEMI-FINALS: Burnet beat Bellinger, Tanner beat Gavin.

FINAL: Burnet w/o Tanner.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Cuestars director John Hunter has announced that any players taking part in all eight under-21 events will receive free entry to the end-of-season Finals and Presentation Day.

Have you got any snooker news?

It doesn’t have to be from a Cuestars tournament. E-mail me details or contact me via Facebook and you could be on the Cuestars website and in your local newspaper. E-mail: [email protected]

Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)

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