JUSTIN Astley has given himself five years to make snooker's top 128.

If he hasn't made it by the time he's turned 21 he'll turn his back on the game - as so many other fine young players have done in recent years.

"There are a lot of good youngsters out there," he says.

"There's not a lot between them. It just depends who's hungriest, I suppose."

Justin has one big advantage over many youngsters; he started to play the game seriously when he was barely 13 while other promising lads have often been 15 or 16 before they began to think about a future in the game.

Justin who lives at Heyfold, Darwen, is one of the most promising young players ever in East Lancashire. And his father Pete Astley has spent thousands in giving him every chance of getting to the top.

A garage alongside their home has been extended and turned into a superb snooker room. The table, which used to be in former professional Alphonso Bellusci's home just along Greenway Street, has recently been renovated by another local former pro, John Harrop who now runs a snooker company in Blackpool.

Both John and Alf were very good players, but they failed to get to the top of what has become in recent years a really tough profession. And when the bubble bursts the game often holds little attraction.

John is beginning to enjoy playing again in local competitions although he has to give away plenty of "weight". He still knocks in his 100 breaks but the intense pressure is long gone. Little Alf hasn't much interest nowadays in a game he graced with cool detachment for several years. Will young Justin, five months short of his 17th birthday, make it third time lucky for Darwen hopefuls?

His practice partner and mentor Dave Houghton has no doubt, though perhaps, at 16, Justin is still lacking that "killer instinct."

"There are a lot of stoppers, safety players who are never going to make it, " says Dave. "If you aren't regularly knocking in 60 and 70 breaks you are going nowhere. You are wasting your time; just getting in the way.

"Justin can knock in big breaks right, left and centre. But he's got to learn to win. He has to learn a bit of patience. It's not easy when you are 16 and not frightened of anybody."

Dave gave an example; a recent 4-3 pro-am defeat. Justin won the three with a trio of cracking breaks of 80 plus; but the other four frames were scrappy affairs and he was edged out in them all.

"I lost a bit of interest," he admitted. "I wanted to smack in more big breaks."

Impatience, coupled with inexperience, often holds back good young players, but not many lads have the break-building ability to almost make up for those drawbacks. Justin has that ability - nearly 20 centuries already in tournament play, including a 136 in a Manchester pro-am.

Young would-be professionals have to take part in UK Tour events - there are Northern and Southern sections - and the top players on a points basis move into the rankings. In two events so far this season, Justin has lost out to more experienced players such as Lee Spick from Mansfield and David Craggs from Newcastle. Two more UK events are in his diary for February and March while most weekends he is in action in pro-am events in Leeds, Preston and Manchester and as far away as Wolverhampton and Leicester. The Leeds Under-16s championship is a hard school but he won that last season, winning 35 of his 36 matches and now has bigger fish to batter.

He has done well and can boast wins over established professionals such as Ian McCullough, Ian Brundy, Peter Lines and Nick Dyson.

Says Dave Houghton: "Often it's just a matter of who gets in first. But Jud isn't afraid of anyone. With two blacks start he'll play anyone for a few bob. He's very cool; nothing bothers him."

Surely he's just a bit nervous before a big game? He shrugs - a favourite expression. "No. It never bothers me," he says. "I get a bit fed up with a cagey, boring frame, but I'm never nervous. I'm confident; that's all."

Justin is certainly putting in the time. He's on his practice table by 9 o'clock every morning when he hasn't got a tournament, and often travels to Nelson to practise with local professional Steve Ormerod on the match table at the Alexandra Snooker Centre - 30 frames a day is par for the course. Justin was a very promising footballer at Darwen Vale High School but that's all in the past now. The only recreation he allows himself is a Tuesday night out playing with his dad and Dave for the Punch in the Darwen Hotels Small Table League where already this season he has hit breaks of 96, 94 and a league-best 104 in just a handful of games and, of course, from just 10 reds.

Will he make it to the top within five years? Dad Peter is quietly confident.

"He has the ability. No doubt about that. And he'll get even better and tougher. If he doesn't lose interest I'm sure he'll do very well."

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