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Ullah is Junior Number 1; Hussain and Brierley Claim Final U21 Prem Tour Titles
Lewis Ullah has finished the season as England’s number one ranked junior after the final two events of the 2021/22 EPSB Under-21 Premier Development Tour were completed last weekend.
Hamim Hussain and Kayden Brierley were the final event winners of the season at The Winchester in Leicester.
Hussain went one better than his runner-up finish at Event 1 in Leeds earlier this campaign to push himself up the rankings with the Event 5 title.
The 20-year-old from Birmingham top scored with an 89 as he defeated Steven Hughes in round one before breaks of 78 and 66 helped him win the final two frames to get past Callum Beresford 3-2 in the last 16.
Hussain defeated Luke Pinches 3-1 in the quarter-finals and then denied younger brother, Halim, 4-1 in the last four.
In the final he faced 17-year-old Aidan Murphy – who is through to the final of the English under-18 championship which will be played later this year. Murphy had eliminated EPSB Open Series rankings leader Ryan Davies in the last 8 and come through a trio of deciding frames, including a 4-3 win over Ullah in the semi-finals, to appear in the title tie.
However, Hussain was too strong in the final, as he top scored with a 58 in a 4-0 victory.
The following day, Brierley would end his season on a high as he claimed Event 6.
Prior to this event – despite missing Events 3 and 4 in Coulsdon – Brierley hadn’t won a match on the Tour all season, but he put an end to that unwanted streak in style.
He made a 58 break as he defeated Michael Roberts 3-1 in round one, before 3-2 deciding frame victories over Hamim Hussain – coming back from 2-1 down and top scoring with 80 – in the last 16 and Liam Pullen (65 break) in the quarter-finals.
Brierley survived another decider as he crafted an effort of 63 on his way to defeating Murphy 4-3 in the semi-finals.
His opponent in the final was Event 3 winner Paul Deaville who had made two century breaks on his way and had got the better of Ullah 4-0 in the last four.
Brierley, though, would be the sixth different winner in as many events this season as he ran out a 4-2 victor, highlighted with efforts of 48 and 51.
Ullah is England’s Number One
Ullah’s two semi-final finishes during the weekend saw him top the rankings.
In all six events this term, Ullah had reached at least the quarter-finals. As well as three semi-final appearances, he also won Event 4 and ended on 320 points, 40 points ahead of second placed Stan Moody (Event 2 winner) who came into the weekend as the leader.
Deaville finished third (275), Hussain came fourth (265) and Event 1 winner Jenson Kendrick completed the top five (245).
The EPSB would like to thank everyone who has participated in and contributed to this season’s tour.
