AT 4pm this afternoon south-coast wonderkids Shane Castle and Adam Bobat will shake hands in the World Snooker Academy in the English Institute of Sport Sheffield.
The good friends will then do battle for the title of EASB Under-14 Champion.
Shane is still only 12 – the age Adam was when he reached the final in 2008. And Adam defeated Shane 3-0 in the last-16 that year.
The pair first met for real in the 2007 Pontin’s Star of the Future Under-12 final. Adam beat Shane 2-1 after surviving a meningitis scare hours before the clash in Prestatyn, North Wales.
That week, we snooker dads sat in the bar at Pontin’s watching Shane, Adam and Jordan Winbourne running around the arcade and wondering how far those three pint-sized potters would go in the game.
Three years on we have not been disappointed. Indeed, it’s fair to say that all three have far exceeded all expectations.
(Jordan, 14, was beaten by Shane in the semi-finals of this season’s EASB Under-14 Championship.)
This season all three played in the same Chandler’s Ford SC team in the Winchester City & District Snooker League.
They live just 25 miles apart. Shane hails from Marchwood, Jordan from Hedge End and Adam from Fareham.
Whatever the outcome this afternoon, the region will have a national champion to be proud of.
Good luck lads.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here