JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Competition Proper

Breaks SC Lincoln - Sunday 16th February 2003

The closing stages of both the under-16 and under-19 Championships took place at the Breaks Snooker Club in Lincoln on 16th February with the promise that both of these events would see a new name on the trophies.

English Under-16 Championship

Jamie Edwards won the Under-16 title and reached the final of the Under-19 Championship.

The first casualty of the under-16 championship was Stephen Bingham, who failed to arrive on time and was disqualified. Bingham, who had been delayed on the journey, had additional difficulty in locating the club. Knowing that he was enroute, the 10.00am start was delayed by 15 minutes, but this proved insufficient as he eventually arrived 10 minutes after the quarterfinal matches had commenced.

The draw had brought together two of the pre-championship favourites, Jamie Edwards and Dominic Mulhall, in the opening round, and it was Edwards with a series of good breaks who proved a comfortable winner. His success included a run of 63 which would be the best of the day in either of the competitions.

Luke Reeve, who had been the beneficiary of Stephen Bingham's disqualification, could not produce an effective challenge and was overwhelmed by Edwards in the semifinal.

Callum Robinson, who is beginning to make a significant impact in the senior Leagues in his native Teesside, also reached the final with an equally convincing win over Ricky Easter.

The final was more closely fought than the score might suggest, with Robinson being within 10 points of his opponent entering the last ten minutes. At this stage however, Edwards, who had generally been favoured by the better running throughout the match, managed to pull clear and take his first title with a 253-181 victory.

Players in the Under-16 Championship. L-R: Ben Lewis, Ricky Easter, Robert Crisp (back), Luke Reeve, Jamie Edwards (back), Callum Robinson, Dominic Mulhall.

English Under-19 Championship

Thirteen year-old Dominic Mulhall became one of the youngest winners of the Under-19 Championship.

Dominic Mulhall and Jamie Edwards led the assault of the younger players for the under-19 title and both successfully came through the field to contest the final.

Edwards had a comfortable semifinal win against Billy Bousfield who was considered by many to be the most likely to inherit Robin Wilson's title. The consistent scoring of Edwards was sufficient to disturb the composure of Bousfield, who was consequently unable to produce his usual form, finishing a distant 123 points behind the new star from Norfolk.

Mulhall was given a much sterner test in his semi-final against Gavin Lewis, emerging from a tough match with a relatively narrow 278-248 victory.

Having been comprehensively defeated by Edwards earlier in the day, Mulhall could have been forgiven for feeling a little daunted at the prospect of meeting him again in the Championship match. Instead, he displayed his qualities of determination, and with application to the task in hand he achieved what no other player on the day had managed, and inflicted the first defeat on Edwards. This denied the Norfolk youngster what would have been a wonderful "double" and ensured that the under-19 title remained in Teesside.

Just thirteen years-old, Mulhall became the second-youngest player to have won the under-19 title. Robin Wilson who was also 13 at the time of his first victory in 1997 retains this record by just four months.

Under-19 competitors. L-R: Calvin Daws, Matthew Peaker, Gavin Lewis, Jamie Edwards, Robert Hall, Billy Bousfield, Dominic Mulhall, Kyle Cunningham.