In 2023: Cuestars Stars to Cue Up In Junior 900 on 18th November…

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TOP SIXTEEN CUESTARS STARS from the Under-21 tour will showcase their skills in the 900 Junior Edition, similar to Junior Pot Black in the 80s.

The fortunate entrants will take to the baize on the 18th of November, a few days before the 900 main event is showcased on the 22nd in Reading with the final 8 who were unveiled on Wednesday one who will take away a prize pot of £10,000.

It will be the same format as the main event, with the lucky entrants receiving their fifteen minutes of experience under the TV lights.

John Hunter played in the main 900 event and has organised with Jason Francis a junior 900…

John Hunter told SnookerZone:

“A couple of weeks ago, I messaged Jason about the 900 being a great format for juniors. I told him about the fantastic players we had in the area. Amazingly, he said he would like to use the 900 Arena and facilities to hold an event.”

He added: “I snapped his hands off! What a great opportunity to showcase our Under-21s. Hopefully, it will attract a lot of interest. Can’t wait to see how our juniors go.”

The winner of the Junior 900 will scoop a trophy to parade on the Grand Finals night of the main event on the 22nd, but there is at the moment, according to Hunter, no prize money.

Hunter, 57, added that Francis said the winner could also be given a place in Season 3 of the 900.

The players are as follows. Some have been interviewed already by SnookerZone.

1 William Thomson
2 O’Shay Scott
3 Asten Sahota
4 Riley Ellis
5 Ryan Spratt
6 Zain Jeraj
7 Evan Plummer
8 Harry Wyatt
9 Ronnie Sullivan
10 Jacob Boyle
11 Will Hurley
12 Simon Bubb
13 Will Forster
14 Adam Abbas
15 Mason Wilson
16 Donnie Gola
First reserve: Thomas McEvoy

It’s a straight knockout using the 900 format of one 15-minute frame. The event will be live-streamed on the Snooker Legends Facebook page, which has 184,000 followers, and shown on the Cuestars YouTube channel.

On the 900 this week on week 8, John Hunter, the founder of the successful Cuestars tours in the south, interviewed by Rachel Casey, which gives opportunities for a wide range of players and abilities, said that it was a great opportunity for the Juniors to showcase their talents on TV and that he thanked Jason Francis for the opportunity for the Juniors to get the experience on TV.

Really looking forward to partnering with John Hunter and his @snookercuestars for the first Junior 900 which will be shown live on our Facebook page on Saturday 18th November with the winner getting interviewed on tv during our grand final. The 900 is a great way to get juniors… pic.twitter.com/OQgPxKpmAZ

— Snooker Legends (@Snookerlegends) November 10, 2023

Simon Bubb, 20, who played in Week 5 of the main 900 event and was recently a quarter-finalist at the recent WPBSA Open Series Event held at Woking Snooker Centre where the MARQUEE PLAYER World No 15 Jasmine Bolsover from the World Women’s Tour plays. Bolsover also played in the Open Series, and also in Week Five of the 900 and gave it a good go getting into the semi-finals.

Bubb, according to Hunter has now been replaced by the reserve player Thomas McEvoy.

The winner of the junior 900 will get a spot in season 3 subject to being over 18.

There are no girls in the line-up for the junior 900 which would have been good publicity for the women’s game.

From Cuestars website back in the day…

Back in the day,, the now 23-year-old, described then as a WOKING starlet, Bolsover struck another blow for girl power in the mainly male-dominated world of snooker (which it still is).

The then 13-year-old was the first female player to win a Cuestars South of England Under-21 Silver Tour leg.

Bolsover, the only girl in a 16-strong field, claimed her first winner’s trophy on home tables at Woking Snooker Centre.

A hard-fought 2-1 victory over Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport) in the final ended a ten-hour day for the player ranked 14th on the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association circuit.

Bolsover took a break from snooker to study at University and then returned a couple of years ago or so to resume the snooker on the World Women’s Tour and has now reached World No 15.

There are no girls in the line-up for the Junior 900, which would have been good for the women’s game to showcase the talent coming through.

SnookerZone asked Hunter why there were no girls in the line-up, and he said: “I picked the top 16 from the Cuestars Under-21 rankings. Unfortunately, only Ellise plays regularly in the events and she just missed out.”

Ellise Scott was one of a handful of young girl future stars who attended the Woking Snooker Coaching Day for Under-18s earlier this year, and she scooped the £50 first prize in the small tournament which SnookerZone reported on.

Hunter added of Ellise: “It’s a shame Ellise missed an event as she would have made the top 16.”

Woking Snooker Centre now runs a Sunday Junior Coaching Day with Woking C League player Peter Butler, which has been running successfully for a few weeks now.

Bolsover, who has made a recorded 147, was one of a handful of MARQUEE WOMEN PLAYERS to take to the baize in the 900 for the two seasons, helping to promote the Women’s game.

Her appearance also included World no 7 Emma Parker, who has been fearlessly showcasing and promoting women’s snooker at Exhibitions, and the three-time world Champion Ng On Yee, who made a steely 108 in the main event of the 900 on TV.

And the former World no 1 Maria Catalano, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s cousin, who actually won a Connie Gough Memorial trophy at Woking Snooker Centre back in the day in 2013, and she beat EMMA BONNEY in the final.

Bolsover back then was in the last 16 of the event.

The Eden Women’s Masters takes to Coulsdon in a few days’ time, the final event of the women’s season for 2023.

2023 also saw the Women’s Coaching Day held at Woking Snooker Centre.