Ryan’s down and up day

RYAN Spratt overcame a shaky start in Wiltshire to claim victory AND top spot on the Cuestars Under-21 Gold Tour.

A hard-fought 2-0 success over Noah Gartell in the final of the second leg at Salisbury Snooker Club earned the 17-year-old from Southampton a £150 payday.

Spratt, who seven days previously recorded a new high break of 106 in the Sunday evening Roll-Up at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club, won the first frame on a re-spotted black.

Earlier, he lost to Jack Squires and Henry Argent in the group stages and slipped through to the knockout as one of the two best thirds.

But he didn’t drop a frame for the rest of the day, beating Tom McEvoy and Lennon Savage both 2-0 to set up the clash with Gartell.

Spratt said: “At the start, it wasn’t so good but I played into the tournament.

“I’m really glad I won it because now I may be able to go to the Pink Ribbon tournament next weekend.

“I’ve been knocking in some really big breaks recently, very consistent. Even though I didn’t knock in many breaks today, my matchplay was even better. I was very pleased with the result.

“Thanks to my sponsor Rocket Ronnie’s (in Southampton) and thanks to everyone who has helped me out recently.”

Gartell and defending rankings champion John Donovan are joint second in the rankings.

Two newly-promoted players are proving they can compete at this level. Vincent Callender, who jumped straight from Bronze to Gold, made the quarter-finals for a second time and last season’s Silver champion Savage made the semi-finals.

The event was sponsored by Salisbury Snooker Club (salisburysnookerclub.co.uk).

Results and ranking lists are on snookerscores.net.

Waterlooville Sports Bar hosts the third leg of nine on Sunday, November 8. Silver and Bronze will be at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club.