Country's best snooker prospects head to Midlands for memorial tournament
Top junior snooker players from around the country are heading to Walsall Wood this Sunday for a tournament organised in memory of a former Midlands professional.
The inaugural David Buskin Memorial Tournament has been organised by family and friends to mark what would have been his 50th birthday.
Buskin was one of the most promising young players of the early 1990s, regularly competing against the likes of fellow rising stars Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan on the professional circuit.
But his life was tragically cut short in 1995 when he was involved in a car accident in which his younger brother, Dan, also a professional player, was injured.
Dan left the sport for more than a decade but now coaches youngsters at QBar, which will host Sunday’s tournament.
“The tournament was the idea of David Buskin Sr, who wanted to bring junior players together in order to celebrate what would have been his son’s 50th birthday,” explained QBar owner, Fay Tapper.
“We really had no idea how popular it was going to be. The response we have had really has been fantastic. Players are coming from Wales, from Newcastle, from all over the country to play.”
The tournament will follow a similar format to the 1990 Star of the Future competition, which was won by a 15-year-old David at Pontins.
Entries have been capped at 32, though Tapper revealed more than double that number applied to play. The field will be split into groups, with those finishing top heading into the knockout stages, while those at the bottom will drop into a secondary Plate competition.
Donations from family and friends of the Buskin family together with sponsors have contributed to a prize pot which stands at more than £1,000.
Several of those competing are from QBar, which has 75 juniors on its books and can lay claim to being the largest snooker academy in the country.
Dan, a WSPBA level two coach, is heavily involved. The family-run club, which recently celebrated its 40th birthday, also has former Wolverhampton pro Andrew Highfield, a level three coach, on its staff.
“Dan has a full-time job as an accountant but when he is not doing that, he’s here coaching the youngsters,” said Fay.
“We run a lot of trips to professional tournaments and the kids are always amazed how many of the older pros still know him from his playing days.
“As a club we host a lot of events but this is a really special one for us. We know how much it means to the Buskin family.”
