Picture by Kevin Legg
ANDOVER’S John Hunter piled the pressure on the leader of the Cuestars South of England Seniors (40+) Tour with a second tournament win on the trot.
In a repeat of last month’s final in Newbury, the 46-year-old defeated title-rival Nick Birney 2-0 in the fifth-leg final at Jesters Snooker Hall, Swindon.
But Hunter, who is based at Salisbury Snooker Club, reckoned his “toughest” match of the day was his first group-stage game against the home club’s Paul Rose.
After securing the third frame with a rare century, Hunter said: “My first match of the day was my toughest.
“Paul made a brilliant 33 break from behind to win the first frame. And after winning a nervy second frame to draw level, I made 108 to win the match, missing the green with a 133 on.”
That was the only frame Hunter dropped in four round-robin matches. He defeated Group B runner-up Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club) 2-0 in the last-four.
Birney (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) accounted for Neil Carroll (Salisbury SC) 2-0 in the second semi to maintain his 100 per cent record this season of reaching the final.
The fifth of the six legs is on Sunday, April 15, at Fareham Snooker Club.
BREAKS
John Hunter: 108, 87, 68, 60, 53.
Paul Rose: 33.
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP POSITIONS
GROUP A: 1st, John Hunter (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Nick Birney (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Martin Wallace (Colours, Reading); 4th, Paul Rose (Jesters, Swindon); 5th, Alan Thomas (Jesters, Swindon).
GROUP B: 1st, Neil Carroll (Salisbury SC); 2nd, Trevor Thorn (Basingstoke Conservative Club); 3rd, Gary Hart (Salisbury SC); 4th, Ray Mears (Sovereign SC, Farnborough); 5th, Alan Childs (Salisbury SC).
KNOCKOUT
SEMI-FINALS (12 points, £10): Hunter beat Thorn 2-0, Birney beat Carroll 2-0.
FINAL (25/18 points, £55/£25): Hunter beat Birney 2-0.
About Cuestars
Founded 18 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 are played off scratch. There are no handicaps. Cuestars uses a round-robin format leading to a knockout.
Competitions for 2011/12 include: South of England Championship Tour; Under-21 Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours; Weekend Junior Section Rankings and Seniors Tour (40+).
Website: cuestars.uk.com. E-mail John Hunter: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.