MAX MAGIC FROM THOMPSON
Thirty-Three
year old Darren Thompson from Newbridge wrote himself into the Welsh
snooker record books when he compiled a 147 in the Last 16 of the
Newport Town Championship. It's the first maximum break compiled in
League competition in Wales, also Thompson's first competitive max,
although it came hot on the heels of his first 147 in a practice
game the week before. Thompson, who has won the Newport League Town
Championship three times, has now progressed to the quarter finals.
Thompson's previous best breaks had been 145 in practice and a 137
made in the 2002 Pontins Open. And Thompson, a Welsh senior
international, carried his good form into Wales' qualifying event
for the European Championship, beating two times Welsh Champion
David Mills on his way to the quarter final stages, well on course
for a place on the Welsh team to travel to Austria in May to defend
the title won for the past two years by David John for Wales.
DIDN’T DANIEL DO WELL
Fifteen
year old Daniel Wells, from Neath, won his first Welsh Under 16
ranking event at the Trecenydd Club on Sunday beating Wales’ leading
junior Jamie Jones 3-0 in the final.
Wells, who plays at the Empire
Club in Neath came through the hardest section of the draw and his
long overdue victory was hard earned.
He set out with a 2-0 win
against Newport’s Perry Foster, who had reached the semi final of the
first two events. His next victim was Newport’s Alex Fussell, who also
went down 2-0, and Wells clinched a deciding frame victory against his
fellow former Under 14 international Daryl Wilson from Newport in the
quarter finals.
In the semi finals Wells faced
his club mate, twelve year old hot shot Michael White and inflicted a
rare defeat on White, winning 2-0, before going on to seal victory
against yet another Empire player, Jones, in the final.
Wells, who recently made his
first century break, cemented the form he’d shown in the recent Under
19 event, where he knocked in a string of breaks, including a run of
92, in reaching the semi finals.
The high scoring on this
occasion came from Jamie Jones who compiled breaks of 71, 102 and 60
in reaching the final; and from Michael White who made a break of 92
on his way to the semi final.
Jones was lucky to scrape past
Lisvane’s Mitchell Black in their quarter final. At 1-1 on the
colours, Black was caught in a tight snooker and gave away twenty
points in fouls, which turned the balance in Jones’ favour.
In the semi final Jones beat
Nathan Collins 2-0, but it was a remarkable performance from
Abertillery’s Collins, who reached the semi finals in his first event.
Winner of the last event and
joint top of the rankings, White was pushed to final frame wins by
both Tomas Moss from Abergavenny, and Huw Carpenter from Caerphilly,
before losing to Wells.
Wells’ victory moves him up to
third in the rankings, behind White and Jones, and well in contention
for a place on the Welsh Team for the International events later in
the year. Perry Foster is in fourth place and tied in fifth are
Matthew Laver, Mat Williams and Luke Vokes.
Caerphilly’s Dwayne Edwards
(pictured right) won the Plate, beating Swansea’s Dale Lawrence in the
final.
RESULTS
Quarter Finals
Jamie Jones beat Mitchell Black
2-1
Nathan Collins beat Rhys Morgan
2-1
Daniel Wells beat Daryl Wilson
2-1
Michael White beat Huw Carpenter
2-1
Semi Finals
Jamie Jones beat Nathan Collins
2-0
Daniel Wells beat Michael White
2-0
Final
Daniel Wells beat Jamie Jones
3-0
High Break 102 Jamie Jones
JONES WRAPS UP A FEAST OF
SNOOKER
Jamie
Jones led the way on a fabulous day of snooker, winning the second
Welsh Under 19 ranking event and compiling two out of five centuries
made on a record-breaking day at Snooker World Ammanford.
Fifteen year old Jones (left),
from Neath, compiled a match-winning 89 break in the deciding frame of
the final against his twelve year old club mate Michael White (right),
who contributed a break of 57 to a quality final, which swung to and
fro until Jones produced the killer punch.
An indication that it was going
to be a very special day in Welsh snooker history came in the very
first frame of the day. Newport’s Allan Williams (below right)
strolled to the table and calmly compiled a break of 108 against Carl
Roberts, who contributed an effort of 48 of his own, but still lost
2-0.
On a neighbouring table
Llanelli’s Stephen Ellis was tuning up with a quick fire 70 as he beat
Rhys Thorn 2-0.
Seeded
into the second round, Jamie Jones set out his stall with runs of 47
and 107 against Scott Evans. And the breaks kept coming as Neath’s
Daniel Wells smacked in a run of 92, his highest in a junior event,
beating Mike Gagliardi 2-0.
Jones took the back seat in
round three, doing enough to beat Maura Zaraschi 2-0, while the breaks
flew in on neighbouring tables. Cardiff’s Nathan Biggs (left) stroked
in 102 to beat Llanelli’s Nick Hunt 2-0 and the cheers grew louder as
twelve year old Michael White plundered a break of 105 on the way to a
2-1 win over Llanelli’s Ricky Jones.
Allan Williams chipped in 59 to
beat Bridgend’s Aled Brothers and Stephen Ellis added a further 44
against Shaun Wicks, while Cardiff’s Craig Davis compiled 47 as he
beat Luke Vokes 2-0.
Jones and Biggs dished up a
treat in their quarter final clash. Biggs took the opener with the
help of a 63 break. Jones made 62 to level and Biggs held the upper
hand in the decider after an opening 43, but as the game came down to
the black, Biggs missed his chance and Jones sneaked through.
Daniel Wells whistled in a run
of 61 as he flew past Allan Williams 2-0 in double quick time. A run
of 47 was enough to help Michael White to a 2-1 win over Stephen
Ellis, but the talking point of the match came when an attempted shot
from Ellis sent a red up onto the rail, where it ran for a while
before coming to a halt. Referees were hastily called to confirm that,
sadly for Ellis, it was a foul shot.
Bridgend’s John Williams was the
last quarter final winner, continuing quiet but steady progress
through the draw with a 2-0 win over Cardiff’s Craig Davis.
Wells started off like a train
against Jones in their semi final, but you can’t give Jones a glimmer
of a chance. Wells did and Jones responded to take the opener with a
75 clearance. And then he stepped up through the gears to run in a
superb 122 to sweep through to the final.
John Williams battled hard to
prevent another all-Neath final, but runs of 50 and 33 from Michael
White were enough to secure a 2-1 win.
Adam Jones won the plate event,
beating Carl Roberts in the final.
A wider Welsh audience will soon
get the chance to see the fabulous talents of Jamie Jones and Michael
White, who have been invited by the WPBSA to compete in an
International Challenge Match against two of England’s leading
juniors. The event will be staged on the match tables at the Welsh
Institute of Sport on 24 and 25 January before the semi finals and
final of the Welsh Open.
Jones and White are both well
used to the attentions of the television cameras. On his tv debut at
Swansea in 2001 Jones compiled a break of 69 to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan
in an exhibition match and Michael White’s reputation preceded him,
when still only ten years old, he was invited to parade his skills at
the Crucible Theatre Sheffield in front of the BBC cameras. Shaking
his head in wonderment John Parrott commented “It’s time I retired”!
RESULTS
Final: Jamie Jones 3-2 Michael
White
Semi Finals: Jones 2-0 Daniel
Wells; White 2-1 John Williams
Quarter Finals: Jones 2-1 Nathan
Biggs; Wells 2-0 Allan Williams
White 2-1 Stephen Ellis; J.
Williams 2-0 Craig Davis.
Plate: Adam Jones 2-1 Carl
Roberts
High Breaks:
122, 107 Jamie Jones
108 Allan Williams
105 Michael White
102 Nathan Biggs
TOMKINS IS RIGHT ON CUE IN WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP
The
highlight of round two was a superb performance by former
professional and coach Neil Tomkins against another former pro
Norman Maher.
Tomkins thumped in breaks of 100, the day's
highest, 75, 59 and 53, while Maher contributed 45 to a thoroughly
entertaining match.
Seventeen year old Aled Brothers returned to form after being laid
low with glandular fever. A break of 61 helped the Bridgend lad to a
4-2 win over Jason Tucker.
David Mills, twice the former Welsh champion, cantered to a
comfortable 4-0 win, with a break of 75, over Rhydian Richards.
Meanwhile Mills' Neath club mate, fifteen year
old Jamie Jones reinforced his status as Wales' leading junior with
a sparkling 4-0 win over former junior international Allan Williams.
Jones, in unstoppable form compiled breaks of 66, 59, 49 and 46.
Defending champion Elfed Evans qualified from the North Wales
section, along with fellow senior international Gareth Coppack.
The 32 qualifiers go into the hat for the third round draw and
matches will be staged on 8th February 2004 at the Scala Club,
Merthyr.
2003-4 Welsh Championship Round Two
Tim English 4-1, Stephen Beynon
Derek Hadigate 4-3 Joel Bullen
Andrew Rosser 1-4 John Payne
Adam Hollidge 1-4 Nick Hunt
Anthony Krysa 4-2 Daniel Wells
Paul Davies 3-4 Ivor Tilley
Alun Squire 4-1 Alan Watkins
Allan Morgan 4-3 Michael White
Nathan Biggs 4-3 Stephen Ellis
Byron Sage 3-4 Ian Davies
Robert Harrhy 4-3 Chris Collins
Lewis Hurrell 2-4 Craig Davis
John Williams 2-4 Simon Williams
Andrew Rogers 4-2 Kristian Phillips
Mathew Farrant w/o Michael Dodd
Marcel Price 4-0 Ross Jones
Neil Tomkins 4-1 Norman Maher
Gavin Pantall 4-1 Jonathan Vaughan
Jamie Jones 4-0 Allan Williams
Gavin Lewis 4-2 James Matthewman
John Bevan 4-0 Carmine Gagliardi
Darren Thompson 4-1 Del Morgan
Aled Brothers 4-2 Jason Tucker
Byron Phillips 4-1 Peter Hughes
Mike Hodge w/o Chris Batchelor
James Harry w/o Andrew Pagett
Mark Tucker 4-0 Rhys Morgan
Paul Thomas 4-1 Alan Tanner
Andrew Isitt 4-1 Michael Gagliardi
David Mills 4-0 Rhydian Richards
Breaks:
100, 75, 59, 53 Neil Tomkins
66, 59, 49, 46 Jamie Jones
55 Gavin Pantall
45 Norman Maher
61 Aled Brothers
54 Del Morgan
65, 54 Darren Thompson
75 David Mills
PANTALL TOPPLES ENGLISH IN THE WELSH
Llanelli’s
Gavin Pantall secured a hard fought victory in the second Welsh
ranking event of the season, beating Tim English 3-1 in the final.
Coming through the hardest section of the draw Pantall beat Derick
Hadigate 3-1, running in breaks of 40 and 59 and then he was pushed
all the way by reigning Welsh champion Elfed Evans, before breaks of
60 and 46 helped him to a 3-2 win in the semi final.
And there was no respite in the final as Pantall faced Wales’ number
one Tim English.
Pantall took the opener with a run of 55, to which English responded
with 98 to take the second. The Llanelli man kept the next two
frames under his control and breaks of 43 and 45 were enough to
secure him victory.
English had to overcome a doughty fight by Rhydian Richards in their
quarter final, before edging through 3-2. He stepped up several
gears in the semis, smashing in clearances of 105 and 72, and adding
a run of 41 to beat Lewis Hurrell, who at just seventeen, reached
his first semi final and compiled a break of 52 in the frame he won.
Hurrell beat fellow junior, sixteen year old Stephen Ellis from
Gorseinon, 3-1 in their quarter final, contributing useful breaks of
35, 32, 31 and 35.
Pantall moves up to second in the rankings, behind English, with
David Mills third and the North Walian pair Elfed Evans and Gareth
Coppack fourth and fifth. Matthew Farrant and Marcel Price are tied
in sixth place with Lewis Hurrell.
Tim English claimed the highest break, 128, made in the first
qualifying round.
Pantall and English now set their sights on the second WSA Challenge
Tour event, in which there is more than usual at stake. The players
reaching the last sixteen of the event have the chance to play in
the qualifiers for “The Masters”, the hugely prestigious invitation
event held at Wembley in February. The title is currently held by
another Welshman, the World No. 1 Mark Williams. But it will be a
long road with only one winner. The sixteen Challenge Tour hopefuls
will join the WSA Main Tour players, barring the top sixteen who
gain an automatic invite to Wembley, and one winner will go forward
to take his place in the line up.
English will have high hopes, having reached the semi finals of the
first event and Pantall is in a rich vein of form, not only winning
the Welsh event, but also mounting a successful raiding party into
England and coming home as winner from a pro-am in Swindon.
Welsh Senior Ranking Event 2
Quarter Finals
Tim English bt Rhydian Richards 3-2
Lewis Hurrell bt Stephen Ellis 3-1
Gavin Pantall bt Derrick Hadigate 3-1
Elfed Evans bt Robert Harrhy 3-2
Semi Finals
English bt Hurrell 3-0
Pantall bt Evans 3-2
Final
Pantall bt English 3-1
High break 128 Tim English
FOSTER'S TOPS IN JUNIOR SNOOKER
Newport's
multi-talented thirteen year old Perry Foster was right on cue with
a thrilling performance in the Welsh Junior Snooker Academy Under 14
ranking event, reaching the final and compiling the event's high
break, a superb 92 in the semi final.
There seems to be nothing Foster can't do with a cue in his hand.
In the summer he was crowned the World Junior 8-ball Singles
Champion in Bridlington, beating the best players in the World along
the way. Foster counted three young English lads amongst his victims
before completing a thrilling 5-3 win over Ireland's David Healy to
clinch his title.
Back on the snooker table Foster, originally from Caerphilly, but
now living in Newport, was selected at the tender age of eleven to
don the red waistcoat of the Welsh Junior Team. And he helped his
Under 14 team mates to a stunning victory in the Junior Nations Cup,
sweeping aside the best that Northern Ireland, Scotland and Republic
of Ireland could throw at them.
And Foster's latest break through came at the Snooker World Club in
Morriston, when he beat Ryan Kelleher, Thomas Clarke and Mathew
Laver to reach the semi finals of the Under 14 event.
In that semi final, after a flurry of safety shots in the first
frame, Foster slotted a long red and from a seemingly unpromising
position set about clearing the balls with a display of mature break
building. Nothing looked easy but Foster took a string of hard shots
in his stride as the points tally mounted.
Having taken the last red, Foster landed a touch
too straight on the black, which made position for the yellow very
hard. He thumped the black in, attempting to follow through round
the angles, but the white came to rest under the side cushion
leaving a near impossible shot on the yellow. And so it proved, the
yellow wobbled tantalisingly in the jaws of the corner pocket, but
stayed there and Foster's superb run of 92 came to an end.
But he went on to complete a 2-0 victory over Robert Ford from
Mountain Ash, to reach the final, which proved to be against Wales'
leading junior starlet, twelve year old Michael White from Neath.
Winner of the first event of the season and already a quarter
finalist in a senior event, White cracked in breaks of 50 and 42 to
win the final 3-0 and reinforce his position at the top of the
rankings.
But Foster could be well satisfied with his performance and he holds
second place in the rankings, virtually assured of a place in Wales'
Under 14 team, which will tackle England in a "friendly"
international match next summer.
RESULTS - Welsh Under 14 Ranking Event No. 2
Final
Michael White (Neath) 2-0 Perry Foster (Newport)
Semi Finals
Foster 2-0 Robert Ford (Mountain Ash)
White 2-0 Twm Sion Jones (Cardiff)
Quarter Finals
White 2-0 Alex Fussell (Newport)
Jones 2-1 Luke Pitman
Foster 2-0 Mathew Laver (Barry)
Ford 2-0 Craig Loxton (Barry)
RYAN SEES REDZ
Ryan
Day claimed victory in the second Maxximum Pro-Am defeating fellow
Welshman Lee Walker in the final at REDZ Snooker Centre in Cwmbran.
The 22 year-old from Bridgend made breaks of 101, 64 and 56 on his
way to a three frames to one win against the 26 year old from
Newbridge.
Day, the world number 53 lifted the £400 first prize after wins
against Alun Squire (3-0), Andrew Rogers (3-1), Darren Thompson
(3-1) and Bristol’s highly rated Andrew Norman by three frames to
two in a hard fought semi-final.
Walker, who reached the last 16 of last month’s LG Cup on BBC,
defeated Abertillery’s Jason Tucker on the final black in his first
round match, before dropping only one frame against Newport’s
promising teenager Allan Williams (3-0), Michael Hodge (3-1), and
14-year-old Jamie Jones from Neath in the semi-final.
Defending Champion, James Reynolds suffered a shock defeat in the
opening round against 12-year-old Michael White from Neath. The
precocious youngster adding to his growing list of big name victims
with a deciding frame win.
The experience of Cwmbran’s Jeff Haines proved too much in the next
round for White as he lost three frames to one. Haines said “Michael
is an exceptional talent, I can’t keep up with these youngsters in a
potting competition, so I don’t even try to anymore, I just make it
as difficult for them as I can and hope for the best. They don’t
like playing all the shots from the bottom cushion”.
Day scored heavily and consistently throughout the day and shared
the highest break prize with Exeter’s Mike King with a run of 101.
The event, the second in a series of events to be held at REDZ
Snooker Club in Cwmbran, has attracted competitors from Thailand,
China, Australia and Holland as well as many from England and Wales.
The very best in junior talent was on display, with Bristol’s Judd
Trump claiming victory in the plate event with a two frames to nil
win against Taunton’s Gregg Batten.
The 14-year-old, who has been compared favourably to Ronnie
O’Sullivan at the same age lost his opening match against his
practice partner, Andrew Norman before showing his true class by
dropping only one frame in winning four matches.
The next event takes place at Redz in Cwmbran in the new year on a
date to be confirmed.
Anyone wishing to enter must register their
details with Maxximum on 07930 527752.
Last 16
Ryan Day (Bridgend) 3 Andrew Rogers (Newport) 1
Darren Thompson (Newport) 3 David John (Bridgend) 2
Andrew Norman (Bristol) 3 Tim English (Church Village) 1
Nathan Williams (Southampton) 3 Mike King (Exeter) 0
Michael Hodge (Newport) 3 Nathan Biggs (Cardiff) 0
Lee Walker (Newbridge) 3 Allan Williams (Newport) 0
Jamie Jones (Neath) 3 David Donovan (Cwmbran) 0
Jeff Haines (Pontypool) 3 Michael White (Neath) 1
Quarter-Finals
Day 3 Thompson 1
Norman 3 Williams 2
Walker 3 Hodge 1
Jones 3 Haines 1
Semi-Finals
Day 3 Norman 2
Walker 3 Jones 0
Final
Day 3 Walker 1
Report by Neil Tomkins
WHITE LIGHTNING
Michael White stormed to victory in the second
Welsh Under 16 ranking event of the season, at Redz Club Cwmbran,
beating Neath club mate and rival Jamie Jones 3-1 in the final.
White added this victory to his
win in first Under 14 event,
a final appearance in the first Under 16,
and a quarter final placing in the first Welsh Senior event.
The precocious twelve
year old set out with a 2-1 last 32 win over Huw Carpenter. He then
plundered a 61 break in a 2-1 win over fellow
twelve year old, Tom Moss from
the home club, and followed that up with
a run of 67 in another 2-1 victory, this time over the rapidly
improving Luke Vokes.
Empire club mate Daniel Wells sat out a 2-0 semi
final defeat before White gained a rare tournament win over Jones.
Fifteen year old Jones smacked in breaks of 59 and
73 in his first match, beating Morriston's Matthew Thomas 2-0. Thomas
took some consolation from reaching the final of the plate event,
losing 2-1 to Rhys Morgan from Haverfordwest.
Jones continued on his run to final, during which
he didn't drop a single frame, with wins over Daryl Wilson, Mat
Williams, against whom he made a break of 68, and finally a semi final
win over Caerphilly's World Junior 8-ball champion, Perry Foster.
Results
Final: Michael White (Neath) 3-1 Jamie Jones
(Neath)
Semi Finals: White 2-0 Daniel Wells (Neath),
Jones 2-0 Perry Foster (Caerphilly)
Quarter Finals: White 2-1 Luke Vokes
(Aberbargoed), Wells 2-0 Alex Fussell (Newport),
Foster 2-0 Matthew Laver (Barry),
Jones 2-0 Matthew Williams (Neath)
High Break: 73 Jamie Jones
ENGLISH IS WELSH WINNER
Tim
English won the first Welsh senior snooker ranking event to reinforce
his status as the number one player in the country.
English, from Church Village,
completed a 3-1 victory over Neath’s former Welsh champion David
Mills.
Breaks of 88, 40 and 67 flowed
from English’s cue, while Mills contributed a run of 51 in a high
quality match.
In the quarter finals English
produced the highlight of the event, a magnificent 130 clearance, and
he added runs of 32 and 39 in a 3-0 win over Cardiff’s Nathan Biggs.
Seventeen year old Biggs, along
with eleven year old Michael White, of Neath, emphasised the rising
standard in Welsh junior snooker, both reaching the quarter finals and
posing a serious challenge to their senior colleagues.
The precocious Michael White
only narrowly lost out to Swansea’s Marcel Price, his break of 38 was
countered by runs of 47 and 40 as Price edged through 3-2.
David Mills and Wrexham’s Gareth
Coppack produced the match of the round and Mills prevailed 3-2. In a
stunning display of snooker Mills ran in breaks of 72, 32, 51 and 30,
while Coppack produced a break of 122 and added 31 and 27.
Mills went on to take a deciding
frame victory over Marcel Price in their semi final, the highlight
here being a break of 92 by Mills in another quick scoring game. Mills
also made a 39, while Price contributed 36, 33 and 59.
English reached the final with a
solid 3-0 win over Bridgend’s Matthew Farrant; Farrant having
previously beaten Darren Thomson 3-1 to reach the semis, despite an
excellent break of 96 form former international Thompson.
RESULTS – Welsh Senior
Ranking Event No. 1
Final: Tim English (Church
Village) (88,40,67) 3-1 (51) David Mills (Neath)
Semi Finals: Tim English (68)
3-0 Matthew Farrant (Bridgend)
David Mills (92,39) 3-2
(36,33,58) Marcel Price (Gorseinon)
Quarter Finals:
Matthew Farrant 3-1 (96) Darren
Thompson (Newbridge)
Tim English (130cl) 3-0 Nathan
Biggs (Cardiff)
Marcel Price (47,40) 3-2 (38)
Michael White (Neath)
David Mills (75,51) 3-2 (122)
Gareth Coppack (Wrexham)
REYNOLDS REIGNS AT REDZ
James
Reynolds claimed victory over former world under-21 champion, Ricky
Walden in the final of the first REDZ Pro-Am in Cwmbran.
The 26 year-old from Pontypridd lifted the £500 first prize after
breaks of 118 and 51 helped him to a three frames to one victory over
Walden.
Reynolds was the man in form throughout the day making three centuries
in all, including the days highest a magnificent 139 total clearance.
This performance came in the third frame of his opening match against
Cwmbran’s David Parker, earning him a £100 bonus.
The event, the first in a series of monthly events to be held at REDZ
Snooker Club in Cwmbran, attracted competitors from Thailand, China,
Australia and Holland as well as many from England and Wales.
Jason Coughllin, manager of REDZ said, “the event has been a huge
success and REDZ are delighted to be associated with an event which
attracts such a high quality field and we look forward to the second
event in November”.
Robert Milkins (Gloucester) and Dominic Dale (Neath) both ranked in
the world’s top 32 failed to make any significant impact. Milkins lost
to Llanelli’s Gavin Pantall three frames to nil whilst Dale lost a
deciding frame against Reynolds
The biggest upset of the day was the three frames to two defeat of
Barry’s Anthony Davies, ranked number 31 in the world by Cwmbran’s
Kane Bishop. “That was best win of my life” said a delighted Bishop
afterwards.
Thailand professional Atthasit Mahitthi reached the semi-final after
claiming a 3-2 over world number 67 Ryan Day from Bridgend. Mahitthi,
who is based in the UK at a purpose built snooker academy in
Northampton, eventually lost a deciding frame against Reynolds.
In the second semi-final, Walden overcame Exeter’s Mike King by three
frames to one after the first two frames were shared.
The event was organised by Maxximum, the company run by former Newport
professional, Neil Tomkins. He was delighted with the response to the
first event and said, “I have been listening to the views of players
for a while and it was clear that they felt there was a lack of
quality events outside of World Snooker’s Main and Challenge Tours.
It is great to see so many good players enter the tournament and I am
confident that it will grow in reputation with future events planned”.
The next event takes place at Redz in Cwmbran on Tuesday November
25th.
Anyone wishing to enter must
register their details with Maxximum by November 18th on 07930 527752.
Report by Neil Tomkins
JONES MAINTAINS HIS SUPREMACY
Neath's
Jamie Jones beat Cardiff's Craig Davis 3-0 to win the first Welsh
Under 19 ranking event at Trecenydd Snooker Club, Caerphilly on
Sunday.
Fifteen year old Jamie Jones from the Empire Club Neath beat his
fellow Welsh Junior International Craig Davis to take an early lead in
the Under 19 rankings.
The Top three players at the end of the season will qualify to
represent Wales in the European Under 19 championships and competition
promises to be fierce amongst the talented Welsh Juniors.
Such is the standard that there were early shock defeats for two of
Wales winning Home Internationals team, as first Michael White from
Neath lost out 2-0 to Neath's Kristian Phillips and then Gorseinon's
Stephen Ellis bowed out to Risca's Lewis Hurrell.
White took some consolation from winning the Plate event beating
Swansea's Jordan Stiens in the final.
Jamie Jones had no such problems as he set out his stall with a
fabulous break of 106 in his first match, Jon Scott-Davies being the
unfortunate spectator.
A break of 69 helped to overcome his Neath club mate Daniel Wells in
the last 16 and further breaks of 69 and 57 flowed from Jones' cue in
the quarter finals, as he beat Lewis Hurrell 2-0. A run of 49 was
enough to overcome yet another Neath lad, James Matthewman, in the
semi finals. There were no heroics in the final as Jones came through
a convincing 3-0 winner.
Davis, the Welsh Junior team captain, turned his attention away from
the table, joining his Junior International team mates to make a
'thank you' presentation to Junior team manager John Dobson. Newport's
Dobson declared himself "well chuffed" with the boys' thoughtfulness
and reiterated that seeing the lads win the Junior Home Internationals
was "the biggest thrill of his career", even surpassing the day he
helped the Welsh Senior team win the Home Internationals title in
1996.
It was back to business then for Davis, who progressed with wins over
Dale Lawrence and Mat Williams to reach the quarters.
There he got the better of Aled Brothers, despite a break of 52 from
the Bridgend player. He squeaked past Llanelli's Ricky Jones in the
semi final, helped by a bit of luck. Snookered on the last red in the
decider, Davis fluked the pot from his attempted escape and cleared up
the colours to win.
RESULTS
Final
Jamie Jones (Neath 3-0 Craig Davis (Cardiff)
Semi Finals
Jamie Jones (49) 2-0 James Matthewman (Neath)
Craig Davis 2-1 Ricky Jones (Llanelli)
Quarter Finals
Ricky Jones (49) 2-0 Nathan Biggs (Cardiff)
Craig Davis 2-1 (57) Aled Brothers (Bridgend)
Jamie Jones (69, 57) 2-0 Lewis Hurrell (Risca)
James Matthewman 2-0 Kyle Stiens (Swansea)
Last 16
Nathan Biggs (49) 2-1 Nick Hunt (Gorseinon)
Ricky Jones (52) 2-1 John Williams (Bridgend)
Aled Brothers 2-0 Mat Williams (Neath)
Craig Davis 2-1 Kristian Phillips (Neath)
Jamie Jones (69) 2-0 Daniel Wells (Neath)
Lewis Hurrell (59) 2-0 Stephen Bailey (Cardiff)
Kyle Stiens 2-0 Robert Evans (Cardiff)
James Matthewman 2-0 Daryl Wilson (Merthyr Tydfil)
Last 32
Nick Hunt 2-0 Allan Williams (Cardiff)
Nathan Biggs 2-0 Patrick Price (Pontardawe)
John Williams 2-0 Rhys Morgan (Haverfordwest)
Ricky Jones 2-0 Michael Gagliardi (Newport)
Aled Brothers 2-0 Mauro Zeraschi (Barry)
Mat Williams w/o Jason Ryan (Cwmbran)
Craig Davis 2-1 Dale Lawrence (Swansea)
Kristian Phillips 2-0 Michael White (Neath)
Jamie Jones (106) 2-0 Jon Scott-Davies (Merthyr Tydfil)
Daniel Wells 2-1 Luke Vokes (Aberbargoed)
Lewis Hurrell 2-0 Stephen Ellis (Gorseinon)
Stephen Bailey 2-1 Karl Roberts (Newport)
Kyle Stiens w/o Frank Ellis (Gorseinon)
Robert Evans 2-1 Liam Kenvyn (Newport)
Daryl Wilson 2-0 Adam Jones (Merthyr Tydfil)
James Matthewman 2-1 James Harry (Swansea)
Plate: Michael White (Neath) 2-0 Jordan Stiens (Swansea)
High Break: 106 Jamie Jones
THE EMPIRE STRIKES AGAIN
The
Welsh Junior Snooker Academy season kicked off with the first Under 16
event in Snooker World Morriston. Much in evidence the players from
the Empire Club in Neath. The Quartet of Jamie Jones, Michael White
(pictured), Daniel Wells and Mathew Williams all made their mark on
the tournament.
Jamie Jones was the player of the day recording breaks of 77& 94 on
his way to the final where he met team mate Michael White. In the
Final Jones recorded 77 & 80 breaks in a close 3 frames to 2 win over
White. The defeated semi finalists were Daniel Wells (Neath) and Perry
Foster (Newport), Perry being the current Junior 8 Ball Pool World
Champion.
It was nice to see a fit Daryl Wilson (Newport) winning the Plate
against local boy Dale Lawrence by 2 frames to 0. Daryl had a
horrendous accident in the summer breaking his leg just before the
Wales vs England match, nice to see he’s recovered and in fine form.
The Under 14’s got their season under way at Snooker World Ammanford,
many thanks go to the owner Mr Allan James for the use of the clubs.
Pre-season favourite was Michael White as he is the current Under 14
Champion and in fine form. He conformed his superiority by cruising to
the Final where he beat Cardiff’s Robert Ford, appearing in his first
WJSA tournament.
White compiled breaks of 69, 48 throughout the day and 61 & 69 in the
Final.
While the Under 16’s featured mainly Neath players Cardiff and Newport
featured strongly with Newport’s Perry Foster, Twm Sion Jones from
Cardiff and Mathew Laver from Barry all making their mark.
The Plate tournament was won by Alex Fussell (Newport) again another
debutant who beat Morriston’s Dale Lawrence in the Plate Final. Dale
for the second week in a row came Runner Up in the Plate competition.
Report by Stephen Price
ARE THE JUNIORS TAKING OVER?
There
are some very talented players competing in Welsh Senior snooker and
on the first Ranking Event of the new 2003/4 season they showed that
they mean business.
All the players from the victorious Under 16 Home International team
took part on Sunday Oct 5th with the youngest player Michael White
(Neath) causing quite a few eyebrows to be raised as he beat Andrew
Rosser (Neath), John Payne (Newport) and Aled Brothers (Bridgend) on
the way to qualifying for the Finals on Nov 2nd.
Cardiff’s Nathan Biggs also sealed his place in the Finals beating
Gavin Lewis, the fourth ranked seed 3 frames to 0, Byron Sage
(Rhondda) 3 frames to 1 and another of the under 16 team Neath’s Jamie
Jones in a tough match 3 frames to 2.
The older players are well represented as well with Reigning Welsh No
1 Tim English (Church Village) Marcel Price (Swansea) and David Mills
(Neath) all qualifying from the Romilly Club in Barry.
The other qualifiers from the Merthyr venue were Darren Thompson and
Matthew Farrant while Gareth Coppack is the sole representative from
North Wales.
The AGM of the Welsh Billiards & Snooker Association was also held
recently in Cardiff and the following Officers have been elected:
Ray Eeles (Chairman); Deryck Brown (Vice Chairman) Gordon Pantall
(Treasurer) and Stephen Price (Secretary).
Any information about the WBSA or Entry Forms for
their competitions can be obtained from Stephen Price (Secretary) by
telephoning 01792-844770.
Report by Stephen Price
