DORSET’S Brad Chappell believes starting a new job in a supermarket bakery helped him clinch a hat-trick of tournament wins.

The 19-year-old from Poole quit his previous position because it left him no time to practice. And, with the co-operation of his new employers, he is on a roll after claiming a third successive winner’s trophy on the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour.

“I quit my job to play snooker,” said Chappell. “Now I’m in a new job working mornings with the rest of the day to practice. It’s going to improve my snooker.”

Chappell followed up victories in Chandler’s Ford and Swindon by seeing off first-time finalist James Budd 3-1 to take the seventh leg at Fareham Snooker Club.

But he again struggled to progress from the round-robin group stage, winning just one match out of four and nicking the fourth qualifying spot.

“It was a battle,” he said. “I scraped through the group stages by the skin of my teeth and came good in the semi-final and final.”

Chappell, who is based at the Greenbaize Snooker Club in Bournemouth, is seven points clear of Mark Lloyd and Budd. One of these three will win the rankings title at the eighth and final leg at Salisbury Snooker Club on May 4.