English Junior Ranking Series

Riley’s, Stockton-on-Tees. Sunday 2nd February 2003

There are a crop of excellent young players developing in the current
junior ranks, especially in the Teesside area. Proof of this was again
given in the Junior Ranking event at Stockton where most senior players
would have struggled to win a match. Century breaks were made by
Billy Bousfield (104) and Michael Donnelly (100), this pair meeting in
the final round where Donnelly put together runs of 61, 56 and four
more over forty, to win 471-215 in the one-hour match.

Craig Brown made breaks of 76 and 57 to win his opening match 493-
260, which was the highest one-hour total on the day. He may well
have progressed further, but came up against Michael Donnelly at the
quarter-final stage who needed a century break to put him out.

In the semi-finals, Donnelly defeated Callum Robinson who was
appearing at this stage of a ranking tournament for the first time.

Robinson’s rapidly improving form over the current season is beginning
to attract attention and like many of these Junior players he is proving
a valuable asset to the local senior Leagues in Teesside. In the other
semi-final, Billy Bousfield had overcome Robert Hall (Lincoln), one of
only two players who had ventured from outside the Teesside area, the
other being Jamie Barker.

Craig Murphy picked up some extra ranking points by winning the
Plate competition, defeating Kyle Cunningham 367-270 in the final.

Woodside Snooker Centre, Norwich. Sunday 13th April, 2003

The fifth and final Junior Ranking Event of the season was held at the
Woodside Snooker Centre, Norwich, on Sunday 13th April. The event
would determine which of the leading contenders would qualify for
selection for next season’s English Junior Team.

The field of 23 included a small contingent of five players from Teesside,
three of which survived to contest the semi-finals. These were Billy
Bousfield, Kyle Cunningham and Craig Murphy, who were joined at
this stage by Lincoln’s Robert Hall.

Robert Hall had produced the highest one-hour aggregate of the day
when he defeated Bruce Welham 578-95 but came off second-best to
Kyle Cunningham in their semi-final match. Craig Murphy also
progressed to the final by defeating Billy Bousfield 322-283 in a match
which featured breaks of 54, 52 and 46 by Murphy against runs of 48
and 40 by Bousfield.

With both players appearing in their first final, it was anticipated that
it would be a nervous affair. The match was close for the first 40
minutes, but Murphy used his experience over his younger opponent
to gradually pull away, and sealed a 305-206 victory.

A number of good breaks were produced by the youngsters, a 79 by
Robert Hall being the best of these. He also had additional runs of 78
and 56. However, John Hall (77), Billy Bousfield (73 & 70), Craig
Murphy (66, 54 & 52) and Paul Snowden (58) were not far behind,
again demonstrating the strength in depth of the junior game.

The event also saw the appearance of the first female contestant in 11
year-old Danielle Maud, who might have received an easier introduction
to the circuit than to draw Kyle Cunningham in the first round.