Ullah Secures Under-21 Tour Event Title

Lewis Ullah (pictured on the left) won event four of this season’s EPSB Under-21 Premier Development Tour last weekend at Levels in Huddersfield. 

Twenty-eight of England’s top junior players came together at the West Yorkshire venue for the crucial penultimate stop on the 2019/20 series which determined the remaining qualifying spots for the upcoming EBSA European Amateur Championships in Portugal.

Ullah began his weekend by finishing top of Group G. Harry Andrew Gosney, Mark Lloyd, Ryan Davies, Oliver Sykes, Marcos Dayao and Isa Ishtiaq also won their groups; all seven players each picked up 50 ranking points for doing so.

In Sunday’s knockout phase, after receiving a bye in the last 32 due to his performance the day before, Ullah defeated Gosney 3-0, Lewis George Harper 3-0 and Hayden Staniland 3-1 to reach the final.

His opponent there was Luke Pinches (pictured on the right), who after finishing bottom of his group recovered well to eliminate Jenson Kendrick 3-2, Connor Benzey 3-1, Ryan Davies 3-2 and Brandon Hall 3-2.

Pinches claimed the opening frame of the final, but Ullah responded with a run of 83 to level up and then take the third to move in front. The tie was forced to a decider by Pinches with the help of a 51, but Ullah came through to triumph 3-2 and collect the title.

Evidence of how competitive this season’s tour is, the first four events have yielded eight different finalists. Ullah started event four in 12th position – outside the qualification criteria for both the European under-18 and 21 championships – but after accumulating the maximum 150 ranking points in Huddersfield, he jumped up into second on the rankings list and now makes both continental competitions. This shows how close it was amongst so many players – before the weekend Pinches was 14th on the list, but he only narrowly missed out on gatecrashing the qualification party. 

Four centuries crafted across the tournament; amazingly, all of them were exactly 100. Two of those were made by Manasawin Phetmalaikul and one each from Staniland and Kayden Brierley.

Thank you to Levels in Huddersfield for hosting the event and all our officials for their hard work there.

European Qualification

With the ranking points now added up, the standings after event four are:

Mark Lloyd     335 

Lewis Ullah     310 

Connor Benzey     310 

Hayden Staniland     265 

Jack Harris     260 

Jenson Kendrick     260 

Harry Andrew Gosney     255 

Luke Pinches     240 

Ryan Davies     240 

Brandon Hall     240 

Manasawin Phetmalaikul     235 

Kayden Brierley     225 

Oliver Sykes     210 

Joe Fenton     210 

Sean McAllister     195 

Liam Pullen     185 

Callum Beresford     180 

Jamie Wilson     170 

Sean Maddocks     160 

Aidan Murphy     140 

Jed Mann     140 

Hamim Hussain     135 

Marcus Dayao     130 

Isa Ishtiaq     130 

Lewis George Harper     125 

Mickey Joyce     115 

Paul Deaville     105 

Bradley Cowdroy     85 

Sam Dexter     75 

Kaif Shazad     30 

For players on level points, point 15 (Rankings) from the EPSB Standard Conditions of Entry is applied.

Therefore, those representing England for the junior events at the 2020 EBSA European Amateur Championships are: 

Under-18: Paul Deaville, Stanley Moody, Jack Haley, Halim Hussain, Lewis Ullah, Connor Benzey 

Under-21: Mark Lloyd, Lewis Ullah, Connor Benzey, Hayden Staniland, Jack Harris, Jenson Kendrick 

Congratulations to the players who qualified and commiserations to those who missed out.

The fifth and final u-21 tour event of 2019/20 takes place on the 22nd and 23rd February at Frames Sports Bar in Coulsdon.