Window cleaner shines in seniors tournament

WATERLOOVILLE window cleaner Colin Norton polished off the opposition at the Cuestars South of England Senior Championship at Salisbury Snooker Club.

The 43-year-old pocketed the £80 top prize after seeing off Paul Burt 2-0 in the final.

After topping his round-robin group, Norton defeated Roy Danyluk, Cuestars Section organiser at High Wycombe’s Liberal Club, 2-0 in the semi-finals. 

Burt beat billiards expert Trevor Thorn, from Basingstoke, in the second semi.

Norton, Pontin’s Autumn Masters champion in 2008 and EASB Seniors runner-up in 2009, chalked up four half-century breaks during the day’s play.

A 16-strong field attended the inaugural event for players aged 40 or over.

Cuestars director John Hunter was delighted with the “relaxed atmosphere” and pledged to “look into” staging more seniors’ tournaments.

BREAKS:

Colin Norton: 58, 52, 51, 50

ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS:

GROUP A: 1st, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club); 2nd, Roy Danyluk (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Gary Hart (Stonehenge SC); 4th, Neil Carroll (Stonehenge SC).

GROUP B: 1st, Paul Burt; 2nd, Trevor Pitman; 3rd, Alan Childs (Salisbury SC; 4th, Mark Dennis.

GROUP C: 1st, Colin Norton (Waterlooville); 2nd, Richard Arnold (Salisbury SC); 3rd, Stuart Dreyer (Salisbury SC); 4th, Mick Carlton.

GROUP D: 1st, Steve Cole (Park Gate RBL); 2nd, Ray Mears (Aldershot); 3rd, Rick Dady (Basingstoke); 4th, Chris Bone (Basingstoke).

KNOCKOUT:

QUARTER-FINALS: Thorn beat Mears 2-0, Burt beat Arnold 2-0, Norton beat Pitman 2-0, Danyluk beat Cole 2-1.

SEMI-FINALS (£20): Burt beat Thorn 2-0, Norton beat Danyluk 2-0.

FINAL (£80/£40): Norton beat Burt 2-0.

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