15th September 2007

The West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation Silver Waistcoat Tour got underway this week at the Victoria Snooker Centre, Plymouth. The tour is now in its fourth year, and is now confirmed as the premier junior U21 tour in the southwest. Event 1 saw a slightly reduced field, as a large number of players were away on International duty, representing England in the Home Internationals. Nevertheless, the standard of snooker displayed certainly proves that there is strength in depth within the West of England.

The final saw the 2005 Silver Waistcoat Champion Grant Cole, Plymouth come up against a two times Bronze Waistcoat Champion Dale Branton, also from Plymouth. With ‘revenge’ in mind, Branton started the strongest, winning the first frame 81-26, making a 47 break to win. Cole looked like he was heading for defeat before capitalising on a mistake by Branton to snatch the second frame to level at 1-1. In the deciding frame Cole opened up an early lead whilst Branton found it hard to obtain a good position, making scoring difficult. Cole went on to pot freely to take the frame, and win the match 2-1. Both players demonstrated that consistency throughout the day reaps it’s rewards. They were by far the most consistent players posting a string of breaks right up until the final. Both Cole and Branton won 2-0 in the semi-finals. Cole beat the improving Mark Green from Salisbury whilst Branton made short work of Chris Batey (Plymouth), stringing a series of 20 & 30 breaks to romp over the line.

The round robin stages got off to a flying start early in the day, with two current Devon Champions coming head to head. Mitchell Grinsted, Plymouth the U19 Champion versus Branton the U16 Champion. Grinsted played solidly in the first frame winning comfortably. Branton won the next two frames with the aid of 67 breaks in both frames, Branton went on to win a tense 4th frame to win the match 3-1.

Tom Vanstone from Plymouth, although suffering from a neck injury, showed courage to complete all his frames throughout the day. In obvious pain he competed strongly in his first match against Green who was flattered in victory by three very close frames that went in his favour to win 3-0. Cole’s first match saw him go 1-0 down against Tom Kevern from Plymouth after a 35 break. Cole showed some tenacity in the remaining frames to win 3-1. Grinsted, for the second time went 1-0 up against Green, only to see a repeat of his previous match, by losing the next three frames to go down 1-3. Branton made short work of Vanstone, winning 3-0. Branton opened the first frame strongly. On a break of 46 he potted the black, only to see the cue ball knock a red into the middle pocket for a foul. Putting this disappointment behind him he went on to pot a superb long red to romp home with a 60 clearance. Kevern was involved in a mammoth battle against Tom Casey, Plymouth. After going 2-0 up Casey was resign to the sidelines as Kevern stole the match by taking the next three frames to win 3-2. Vanstone, again showed real determination in his match against Grinsted. After sharing the first 4 frames the match went to a deciding frame on the colours. Vanstone, expression said it all as Grinsted snatched a 3-2 win. An excellent tussle saw Green against Batey. Green raced to a 2-0 lead, making a 40 break along the way. Looking dead and buried, Batey came through a scrappy third frame to make it 2-1. This seem to spark Batey into a potting frenzy, winning the next two frames at a canter to win 3-2.

Without a doubt, the match of the day came early on in these qualifying stages between the eventual finalists Cole and Branton. Branton opened up a 1-0 lead with a superb 61 break. He won the next to take him to 2-0. Cole then got into his stride taking the next three frames, making breaks of 80, 61 & 51 to snatch a well earned win. Cole followed this with another match that went the distance, against Green. With the match at 2-1 in favour of Cole, Green levelled at 2-2 with a fine 70 break. Cole quickly settled himself to win the decider comfortably, to seal a 3-2 win. The highest break of the day came in Cole’s next match against Grinsted. Cole was soon 2-0 up in the match and in no mood to let another go the distance. Early in the third frame he seized the imitative by potting a long opening red followed by excellent cue ball control before the break finally broke down on 104. In the last of the group games, Vanstone was 2-0 down against Casey and looking dejected, with determination he hauled himself back into the match to level at 2-2. In a tense decider Vanstone was again just off the pace as Casey snatched the match 3-2.

The Tournament Director reported "Even though the standard of snooker and the relentless determination to win demonstrated by these players never ceases to amaze me, the spirit and level of sportsmanship with which the matches are played is a credit to themselves and the Foundation they represent". Anyone interested in becoming a member of the WEBSF, or even entering the tournaments can find all the details on the WEBSF website www.websf.co.uk The next event will be held at the Rileys Snooker Club, Plymouth on Saturday 17th November 2007.

Details of this tour and other tournaments which are organised by the West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation can be found on websf.co.uk or by contacting Roger Cole Mobile 07850882770.

Report by Wayne Branton