A 20-YEAR-OLD from Fordingbridge has ended his first season of competitive snooker with a winner’s trophy.

David Rice, who decided to take the game more seriously just ten months ago, defeated Connor Benzey 2-0 in the final of the eighth and last leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Bronze Tour.

Rice took the first frame at Salisbury Snooker Club on a re-spotted black and clawed back a sizeable deficit to leave his 13-year-old opponent from Eastleigh needing snookers on the pink.

“I played well during the whole day,” he said. “Connor hammered me in the first (group stage) game but I got my revenge in the end.

“It was a nice day. Hopefully, there will be more to come next year. If I keep playing like that, there should be.

“Connor played well but in the last frame I don’t know what happened. He let slip like a 30-point lead. Somehow, I came back and won.”

Rice reached the semi-finals on his Cuestars debut last December and later that month finished second amongst the Bronze players and third overall in the Cuestars Skills Challenge in Salisbury.

In January, he lost to Steven Hughes in the final in Woking and in February won the Plate in Swindon.

Rice, who climbed to fifth place in the rankings, added: “Today I was really aiming to win it. When I played Steven in the final, I had nothing left in the tank. But I prepared better for today.”