Matt shines in Swindon

HIGH Wycombe snooker star Matt Wilson emerged victorious from a 44-strong field in the first leg of the Cuestars South of England Championship Tour.

Swindon champion Matt Wilson (left) and finalist Ben Harrison (right).

Wilson, one of the south’s most respected players, pocketed £150 after edging out Trowbridge’s Ben Harrison 2-1 in the final at Jesters SC, Swindon.

Eight undefeated frames in the round-robin group stages saw the 26-year-old safely through to the last 16.

In the semi-finals, Wilson overcame Neil Craycraft (Wantage) 2-0 while Harrison, finalist in the 2008 EASB Under-19 national championship, disposed of Sebastian Worrall (Swindon) by the same score.

A high-quality field, chasing £520 prize money, chalked up 29 breaks of 50 or more, which included an impressive four centuries.

Eleven-year-old England international Shane Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC) posted a 102 – his fourth competitive ton. Wilson and Harrison both knocked in 103. Craycraft’s 112 was the day’s highest.

Among the famous names in the line-up was Portsmouth’s Emma Bonney, the four-time World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association world billiards champion.

The scratch tournament, brilliantly run by the home club’s Paul Rose, was the first in a series of eight across the south using a round-robin format leading to a knockout.

Southampton Town Champion Mike Finn, a quarter-final casualty, described it as a “good step forward” for Cuestars and spoke for many of the top players in welcoming the abolition of handicaps.

“Finally,” said the 23-year-old. “A structured tournament off a level playing field providing amateur snooker players with a tournament that provides good standard of competition, a good day of snooker and the chance to play towards something that actually means something in terms if a ranking list.

“It doesn’t surprise me that the eradication of handicaps drew some players that used to support the tournaments out of the woodwork.”

Cuestars director John Hunter revealed the huge turnout means he will be forced to introduce a booking system for the next event in Salisbury on November 15.

Hunter added: “This is a very nice problem to have, though.”

BREAKS:

Neil Craycraft: 112, 64, 57, 56, 50.
Ben Harrison: 103, 79, 67, 67, 66, 66, 61, 59, 51, 51, 50.
Matt Wilson: 103, 70, 66.
Shane Castle: 102.
Phil Wildman: 82.
Mike Finn: 78.
Zac Richardson: 58, 50.
Alex O’Donoghue: 57.
Liam Tinne: 52.
Ryan Mears: 91, 62, 57.

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS:

GROUP A: 1st, Ian Bell (Ambassador SC, Poole); 2nd, Shane Castle (Chandler’s Ford SC); 3rd, James Sumner (Ambassador SC, Bournemouth); 4th, Zack Richardson (Sussex); 5th, Jack Lander (Sussex); 6th, Dennis Hushley (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).

GROUP B: 1st, Mike Finn (Woolston Conservative Club); 2nd, Phil Wildman (Colours SC, Reading); 3rd, Richard Clarke (Swindon); 4th, Marc Harman (The Royal Surrey Poker & Snooker Club); 5th, James Bolton (Salisbury SC); 6th, Davis Hui (Southampton).

GROUP C: 1st, Neil Craycraft (147 SC, Swindon); 2nd, Nick Birney (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Ollie Kendrick (West Midlands); 4th, Alan Grainger (High Wycombe); 5th, Ron Ellis (Burgh Heath, Surrey); 6th, Fred Pearce (Burgh Heath, Surrey).

GROUP D: 1st, Ben Harrison (Player’s, Westbury); 2nd, Mark McLean (Churchills, Eastleigh); 3rd, Lewis Miles (Jesters SC, Swindon); 4th, Kevin Ward (Sussex); 5th, Kennedy Brown (Swindon); 6th, Chris Winbourne (C/Ford).

GROUP E: 1st, Adam Nash (Woolston Conservative Club); 2nd, Kieran Gell (London); 3rd, Liam O’Shea (Jesters SC, Swindon); 4th, Christian Chislett (Sussex); 5th, Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).

GROUP F: 1st, Sebastian Worrall (Swindon SC); 2nd, Troy Paul (Swindon); 3rd, Wayne Townsend (Uxbridge); 4th, Drew Farminer (Woolston Conservative Club); 5th, Liam Tinne (Salisbury SC).

GROUP G: 1st, Matt Wilson (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Alex O’Donoghue (Swindon); 3rd, Ryan Mears (Rileys, Aldershot); 4th, Sam Jefferson (Jesters SC, Swindon); 5th, Bradley Chappell (Green Baize, Bournemouth).

GROUP H: 1st, Richard Samauro (Northolt); 2nd, Jordan Winbourne (C/Ford); 3rd, Emma Bonney (Copnor SC, Portsmouth); 4th, Dean Matthews (Rileys, Reading); 5th, Cameron Holt (Rileys, Reading).

KNOCKOUT:

LAST-16 (£15): Wildman beat Bell 3-0, Craycraft beat McLean 3-0, Nash beat Paul 3-0, Wilson beat J Winbourne 3-1, Finn beat Castle 3-2, Harrison beat Birney 3-0, Worrall beat Gell 3-0, O’Donoghue beat Samauro 3-2.

QUARTER-FINALS (£25): Craycraft beat Wildman 3-1, Wilson beat Nash 3-1, Harrison beat Finn 3-1, Worrall beat O’Donoghue 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS (£40): Wilson beat Craycraft 2-0, Harrison beat Worrall 2-0.

FINAL (£150/£70): Wilson beat Harrison 2-1.

About Cuestars

Founded 16 years ago by director John Hunter, Cuestars runs grass-root snooker tournaments across the South of England and South Wales.

Competitions take place on Sundays between October and June, and cater for players aged eight to 80 - and in some cases even older!

All Cuestars tournaments, apart from the Team Challenge, are played off scratch. There are no handicaps. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.

The Cuestars ‘South of England’ Championship Tour, which has no age limit, consists of eight tournaments. The top-16 ranked players will be invited to the end-of-season play-off for the title of Cuestars ‘South of England’ Champion. And the top eight aged 50 and over will play off to find the Cuestars ‘South of England’ Masters Champion.

There are three under-21 tours. Gold is for players with a high break of 60 or more, Silver is for players with a high break between 40-59 and Bronze is for players with a high break of less than 40. After eight tournaments, the top-eight ranked players from each tour will be invited to the end-of-season play-offs to find the Gold, Silver and Bronze ‘South of England’ Junior Champions.

Website: cuestars.uk.com. E-mail John Hunter: john@cuestars.uk.com