EUROPEAN eight-ball pool title hopes were ended at the semi-final stage for two Channel Islands teams this morning.

The men’s B, all Jersey cueists, squandered a 5-1 lead to lose 8-6 to Wales while the Juniors, who clawed their way back from 7-5 down, were beaten 8-7, also by Wales.B Team captain Alan Humphreys said: ‘We were in a fantastic position but the match turned against us in the eighth frame, when we were 5-2 up.

David Snell lost position on a straight black and his cueball then went across the table twice to go in-off.

We then lost two more frames and then we contributed a bit to our downfall by playing a few silly shots.’I suppose it was the sense of the occasion as well, as we were playing in the semis for the first time.

However, it’s been a fantastic week.

The team has been awesome in some of their performances and they can be extremely proud of themselves.’England won the other semi-final 8-3 against Belgium.The Juniors, who were playing in the semis for the third time, had one foot in the final before disaster struck.

Clive De Sousa cut the last ball towards a corner pocket only for it to be stopped by the cueball as it went round the table.

The cueball left Welsh opponent David Sergeant with a straight-forward black and he sank it to win the match.