Wilson basks in glory of clinching his maiden tournament

The Havant ace clinched the third leg of the EASB Regional Junior Tour South event at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club.

He defeated Oliver Sykes 2-0 in the final.

Wilson missed a straightforward penultimate red on 92 in the first frame as spectators were anticipating his maiden century break.

And he cleared the colours to the black in the second.

The fledgling star said: ‘I’m so happy that I won my first major event.

‘I’m delighted with it.’

Coach Tim Dunkley has been working with Wilson at Waterlooville Sports Bar since January and was ecstatic for the young potter.

He said: ‘I know what this means to Jamie and his parents, Suzie and Steve.

‘It was a privilege to actually be there and watch Jamie cross the winning line for the first time.

‘He has worked so hard over the past 10 months.

‘But he does need to improve his game management and curb his desire to pot every ball on the table.’

Wilson won all three of his group-stage matches and came from behind to defeat leg-two winner and rankings leader Bradley Cowdroy 2-1.

The 14-year-old chalked a 71 break in the second frame of what he described as a ‘really tough match’.

Wilson overcame Charlie Pringle, another Chandler’s Ford player in the quarter-finals.

Again, he was forced to battle back after losing the opening frame to reach the last four.

Pringle lost the second frame after failing to hit a colour from a horrendous position three times when there was a clear path from the cue ball to the black.

Wilson, who has been competing in the Saturday morning junior leagues at Chandlers Ford for six years, climbed to third place in the rankings at the halfway stage of the season on the feeder circuit for the national under-21 tour.

He made his Cuestars South of England under-21 Bronze Tour debut just before his eighth birthday.

But Wilson has never won a tournament despite a rapid rise to the Gold Tour.

And he had never won a regional or national event before.

Gosport’s Olly Gibbs was knocked out in the quarter-finals after suffering a 2-1 defeat to leg-one winner Alex Clenshaw.

Chloe White, currently the women’s world number 30 from Havant, made a group-stage exit on her Regional Junior Tour debut.