Dunlop on the road to success

REIGNING Scottish under-14 champion Campbell Dunlop chalked up a seventh ranking event win out of nine at the home club of his hero Stephen Hendry.

World champion John Higgins, left, Campbell Dunlop and Scottish legend Stephen Hendry

Dunlop, 13, avenged his defeat by Greg Ritchie in the event-two final at the Creamery, Falkirk, with a 3-2 victory at Spencer’s SC, Stirling. The Kilmarnock cueman leads the rankings with five to play.

Having started on a small table, aged three, Dunlop took some convincing when he attended pre-school that red was actually a colour.

Dunlop had to survive a third-frame black-ball decider against Ross Muir (Musselburgh) in the last-eight before seeing off Lee Mein (Edinburgh) 2-0 in the semis.

Ritchie, 12, from Musselburgh beat Anthony Nardone (East Kilbride) in a third-frame decider in the other semi.

RESULTS:

LAST 16: Greg Ritchie (Musselburgh) w/o Declan Sweeney (Glasgow), Anthony Nardone (East Kilbride) bt Declan Lilley (Glasgow) 2-0, Tony McNally (Kilmarnock) w/o James Turner, Ross Muir (Musselburgh) bt Thomas McLeod (Rosyth) 2-1, Campbell Dunlop (Kilmarnock) w/o Edward Traynor Jnr (Glasgow), Dylan Craig (Glasgow) bt Aaron Cameron (Bathgate) 2-1, Lee Mein (Edinburgh) bt Rhys Clark (Stonehouse) 2-0.

QUARTER-FINALS: Ritchie w/o Joanne Baillie (Uddingston), Nardone bt McNally 2-0, Dunlop bt Ross Muir 2-1, Mein bt Craig 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS: Ritchie bt Anthony Nardone 2-1, Dunlop bt Mein 2-0.

FINAL: Dunlop bt Ritchie 3-2.

Picture by Robert Dunlop