Talented teenager Donnie Gola
ANOTHER skilled snooker player from the Gone2Pot stable is lighting up the tables this season with Donnie Gola topping the Cuestars Under-21s Bronze Tour rankings after collecting his first winner’s trophy in south London.
The talented teenager, who lives in Barnsbury, Islington, beat Casey Turner from Haywards Heath in West Sussex 2-1 in front of an appreciative crowd at Frames Sports Bar in Coulsdon at the start of this month.
Gola broke the back of the deciding frame against Turner with the day’s highest break of 32.
Reflecting on his big win, the 14-year-old, who practises at the Mildmay Club in Newington Green, said: “It feels great to win but it was nerve-racking. Casey played very well.
“It’s been good playing on the Cuestars Tour, and just having fun playing snooker. It’s a great experience.”
Having reached the quarter-finals in his first event of the season in Salisbury in September, Gola added: “My goal is to win the Bronze Tour.”
The Cuestars Tour is aimed at giving grassroots snooker players the chance to perfect their game by competing in 10 tournaments across the south of England each season.
Gola is the latest player to emerge from Gone2Pot, a children’s snooker club based at the Hurricane Room in King’s Cross.
He is following in the footsteps of John Donovan from Somers Town, who has previously won both the Bronze and Silver Tours. Playing out of Cousins Snooker Club in Holloway, Islington, Donovan reached the semi-finals of his first ever Gold Tour event in September and the quarter-finals of his second event this month.
Fellow Gone2Pot talent Lee Whaley, from Marylebone, Westminster, is also trying to carve out a career in the sport and is currently competing in the English Partnership of Snooker and Billiards (EPSB) Regional Tour.
Coach and Gone2Pot founder John Woods said: “Donnie is a very natural talent. From the second he joined our junior club you could see he was obviously a natural snooker player.
“He’s a great potter and has a very good temperament. He’s also a real gutsy player with good fighting qualities, and always puts in the work on the practice table.”
Gola and Donovan will be back at the table on Sunday, November 6 when Chandlers Ford Snooker Club in Eastleigh hosts the third leg of 10-fixture tours.
For more information on Gone2Pot, and to find out about their Saturday kids’ sessions, call coach John Woods on 07511 916 346 or email john@gone2pot.net
