The English Amateur Under 16´s Championship
Sunday 14th November - Various Locations
Robin Wilson and Matthew Sutton have dominated the U-16 Championships for so many years that it is almost a surprise not to see their names featured in the line-up this year. Both, of course, are now excluded by limitation of age, and therefore we can be certain that a new champion will emerge from the current contest.
Three regional centres were used, located at Teesside, Lincolnshire, and in the Eastern Counties area. All games were played on Sunday 14th November and were of 1 hour duration. The qualifiers from these regional events will make up the eight players for the Competition Proper.
TEESSIDE
The newly opened Riley's Pool and Snooker Centre in Middlesbrough provided an excellent venue for the event which saw 22 entries competing for the four places in the final stages. Unusually for Snooker Centres, the tables at Riley's were not over-generous with the cut of the pockets, and this, combined with the now ubiquitous "heavy-duty" cloth found all over Teesside, made break-building especially difficult for the youngsters.
Nevertheless, there were some good performances, with Craig Murphy looking particularly impressive as he swept aside Matthew Peaker and Andrew Fairley to qualify with some ease. Both Peaker and Fairley had also looked a cut above the rest of the field and must have felt aggrieved that a more fortunate draw would surely have seen them into the competition proper.
Those who did make it through with Murphy were Stephen Bingham, Jason Thomas and that seemingly perennial qualifier, Billy Bousfield. Coming from Huddersfield, Matthew Peaker was the only player in attendance who was from outside the Teesside area. It is rare these days to come across a young player of such obvious ability who does not reside within the national "hot-spots" of boys' billiards. It is understood that some of his knowledge may be attributed to Leeds professional Ian Williamson, who has been giving him some coaching.
| Billy Bousfield | 211 | Scott Casey | 158 | ||
| Tony Lodge | 199 | Dean Richardson | 173 | ||
| Matthew Peaker | 212 | Paul Close | 81 | ||
| Andrew Fairley | 317 | Mark Holmes | 100 | ||
| Jason Thomas | 188 | Liam O'Neill | 181 | ||
| Rob Wright | w/o | Michael Bracey | scr. |
| Billy Bousfield | w/o | Craig Evans | scr. | ||
| Tony Lodge | 139 | Stephen Woodall | 117 | ||
| Craig Murphy | 251 | Matthew Peaker | 181 | ||
| Andrew Fairley | 214 | Dominic Mulhall | 126 | ||
| Jason Thomas | 226 | Phil Dales | 156 | ||
| Paul McLone | 133 | Rob Wright | 106 | ||
| Stephen Bingham | 165 | Anthony O'Brien | 86 | ||
| Anthony Peacock | 155 | Mark Coates | 124 |
| Billy Bousfield | 199 | Tony Lodge | 101 | ||
| Stephen Bingham | 150 | Anthony Peacock | 136 | ||
| Craig Murphy | 270 | Andrew Fairley | 197 | ||
| Jason Thomas | 188 | Paul McLone | 95 |
EASTERN COUNTIES
Gavin Lewis was the outstanding player from the Eastern section which was played at the Pot Black SC in Fakenham. Calvin Daws had two very close matches with Nathan Mann and Arron Spencer, but came through them both to take the second qualifying place.
| Calvin Daws | 195 | Nathan Mann | 181 | ||
| Gavin Lewis 32 | 216 | James Roberts | 138 |
| Calvin Daws | 203 | Arron Spencer | 192 | ||
| Gavin Lewis 30 | 202 | Jamie Edwards | 129 |
LINCOLNSHIRE
As the draw brought together Allan Taylor and Steven Welsby, and both were based in the Liverpool area, special arrangements had been made for their match to be played at the George Scott Club on 13th November to minimise travelling. Even so, Taylor managed to arrive three minutes after the appointed time and the match supervisor Bob Williams, imposed a 12 point penalty and reduced the match time to 57 minutes. Even with this handicap, Taylor made it through by a narrow 22 points, assisted by a break of 39.
The remainder of the field met at the Breaks SC in Lincoln where Peter Gamblin made a series of useful breaks to take the second qualifying place with ease.
| Peter Gamblin 39, 37 | 249 | Robert Hall | 101 | ||
| Matthew Bavin | 177 | Neil Hall | 119 |
| Peter Gamblin 41, 35, 33 | 304 | Matthew Bavin | 101 | ||
| Allan Taylor 39 | 246 | Steven Welsby | 224 |
The eight qualifiers from the three regions will now travel to the Breaks Snooker Centre, Lincoln on Sunday 27th February where the event will be played to a conclusion.