12th January 2008
The West of England Billiard & Snooker Foundations U21 Silver Waistcoat tour rolled in to the Victoria Snooker Club, Plymouth and resulted in yet another different winner causing the ranking points table to become congested at the top. The latest player to stake their claim as a contender for the overall title is 16 year old Mitchell Grinsted from Plymouth. Grinsted defeated Grant Cole also from Plymouth 2-1 in the final to put gain maximum points and elevate him to third spot in the rankings. Fatigue played a big part in the final, and never really ignited into a free flowing After a long day’s snooker fatigue set in to both players which produced a close fought contest. Both players shared the opening two frames before Grinsted came through in the decider to take his first Silver victory.

Cole started the day in second place in the rankings and despite losing the final still he leap frogged Dale Branton (Plymouth) to take top spot. Branton stumbled in the semis, losing 2-0 to Cole in a match closer than the score line suggests. In the other semi final Grinsted avenged an earlier defeat at the hands of Mark Green (Salisbury) beating him 2-1 to book his place in the final. The highlight of the day came in a quarter final match between Ben Holley (Taunton) and Green. During a 2-0 nil victory over Holley Green set a personal best break of 98, the highest of the day, well done Mark! Branton came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 in his quarter final match against Tom Casey. Cole and Grinsted both eased through their matches with 2-0 wins over Tom Vanstone (Plymouth) and Matt Atasoy (Taunton) respectively.

In the group stages, Cole eased passed his first three matches, racking up three 3-0 wins over Casey, Holley and Chris Batey (Plymouth), posting breaks of 64,57,54,47 & 42 along the way. Things got a little tougher, being taken all the way in his final two matches. He shown character to come back from 2-1 down against Branton to win 3-2, and 2-0 down against Tom Kevern to win 3-2. This ensured him of top spot with 5 wins. Second spot went to Branton after 3-0 victories over Kevern & Batey, and 3-2 victories over Casey & Holley. Branton making breaks of 67, 57 & 46. Third spot went to Holley, with wins over Batey & Kevern; a 43 break was his best of the day. Fourth place was between Casey and Kevern, with Casey needing to win his last match against Holley, failure would see Kevern progress to the knockout stages. The match was a gruelling encounter, especially for Kevern watching in the wings. With Holley leading 2-1 and having a 47 point lead in the fourth, Kevern looked favourite to progress with only 58 points available. However, Casey was working to another script and kept chipping away eventually winning the frame by rolling the final black down the rail to level at 2-2, he celebrated this great effort with a Peter Ebdon like cheer of satisfaction. With Casey’s confidence growing and Kevern’s fingernails diminishing, Casey eventually snatched a 3-2 win to oust Kevern out of the competition on frame difference.

Group B proved very close with positions being decided on frame difference, Grinsted secured top spot opening up with a solid 3-0 win over Plymouth team mate Vanstone. He followed on with another 3-0 over the ever improving youngster Haydon Pinhey (Plymouth). Atasoy also fell to Grinsted, losing 3-1. Grinsted’s only defeat in the group was to Green 3-1. Grinsted, normally a polished break builder had to resort to grinding out wins, his best break of the day was a modest clearance of 40. Second spot went to Green, also with three wins. He opened the day with a 3-1 win over Pinhey & Grinsted. His Green’s only defeat against Atasoy, losing 3-1. Third place went to Atasoy, again winning three matches. Vanstone took the remaining qualification spot, securing it with a 3-1 win over Pinhey.

The Tournament Director reported "With Grinsted the third player to win an event this season it looks like the overall title may not be decided until the last event. This helps keep the tournament intense both for players and spectators alike. It’s also good to see players like Pinhey who is just 11 years old mixing it with better players in order to improve their game and gain invaluable experience. He also mange to take a couple of frames today that hasn’t gone unnoticed. Anyone interested in entering should contact the WEBSF via the website www.websf.co.uk".The next event will be held at Rileys, Plymouth on Saturday 15th March 2008.

Report by Wayne Branton