BRISTOL teenager Thomas Lancastle punched the air in delight after clinching a first ever Cuestars tournament win.
The 15-year-old with the Rolls-Royce cue-action edged Joshua Lee 2-1 in the final of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour fifth leg at Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club, near Southampton.
With 18 points on in the decider, Lancastle admitted he fluked a snooker from a snookered position - but the shot was always on.
Lee (Jesters, Swindon) failed to connect and his opponent slotted in blue and pink.
The match ended at 9.20pm, a near 11-hour day for the finalists.
Lancastle, who is based at Eastville SC and has spent nearly two years working with Ronnie O’Sullivan’s coach Frank Adamson, remains third in the rankings behind second-placed Lee.
Runaway rankings leader Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon) had lost only two of his 24 matches in the four previous tournaments. At Chandler’s Ford, he won one out of three.
Bodman was beaten in the group stages 2-1 by Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) and was knocked out in the quarter-finals 2-0 by Lancastle.
Lancastle made his Silver Tour debut at Salisbury on October 17, 2010. He has now played in 11 events and been runner-up twice.
He dropped just one frame out of seven to qualify for the knockout top of Group A. And he saw off Group C runner-up Sam Storey (Thatcham SC) 2-0 in the last-four.
Earlier, Storey, 16, had recorded his first ever Silver Tour knockout victory, beating Group B winner Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport) 2-1 on the final black.
In the other quarter-final matches, Lee saw off Group B runner-up Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe) 2-1 and Ives accounted for Group A runner-up Daniel Knox (Woking SC). Lee ended Ives’ run with a 2-1 victory in the semi-finals.
The sixth of the eight legs is at the South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester, on Sunday, March 4.
BREAKS
Thomas Lancastle: 34, 31.
SILVER RESULTS
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP A: 1st, Thomas Lancastle (Eastville SC, Bristol); 2nd, Daniel Knox (Woking SC); 3rd, Connor McLean (Hailsham Memorial Institute, East Sussex); 4th, Joshua Brooker (Liberal Club, High Wycombe).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP B: 1st, Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport); 2nd, Cameron Holt (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 3rd, Robert Henley (The Academy, Eastleigh).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP C: 1st, Joshua Lee (Jesters, Swindon); 2nd, Sam Storey (Thatcham SC); 3rd, Callum Browne (Player’s, Westbury).
ROUND-ROBIN GROUP D: 1st, Paul Ives (Liberal Club, High Wycombe); 2nd, Troy Bodman (Jesters, Swindon); 3rd, Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).
QUARTER-FINALS (8 points): Lancastle beat Bodman 2-0, Storey beat Lloyd 2-1, Lee beat Holt 2-1, Ives beat Knox 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS (12 points): Lancastle beat Storey 2-0, Lee beat Ives 2-1.
FINAL (25/18 points): Lancastle beat Lee 2-1.
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, apart from the Team Championship, 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 Masters 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.