• Harrison makes marathon maximum effort

    Ben Harrison from Westbury, England, completed a 24 hour charity marathon and made a maximum break.

    Ben Harrison, of Hawkeridge, believes he has raised about £1,300 for Macmillan Cancer Support, when he played snooker against 21 people over the 24-hour period at his home club - Players in Westbury.

    The up and coming English junior started the challenge at noon and finished the same time the next day after what he described as some very tiring hours playing the game.

    The 18-year-old shattered his £1,000 target thanks to a £700 donation from Sean May, a family friend and co-owner of Westbury Country Club.

    Harrison chalked up his  maximum break against girlfriend Sunti Rossi.

    “My girlfriend stayed with me for 17 hours and my mum (Mandy) came down at 7am to keep me going.”

    Harrison survived on crisps, noodles, oranges and a welcome sausage sandwich at 5am.

    Club-mate Thyas Evans, aged ten, provided the opposition through the night.

    In all, Harrison, currently third on the Cuestars South of England Championship tour, played 21 different people and made 11 centuries. 

    He said: “It was very hard in the early hours of the morning, between 3am and 7am is ‘nowhere time’ really.

    “I had a few Red Bulls to keep me going and a few people from my village bought me a Sambucca to drink at about 2am, so I had that, but that was the only one I did have.

    “I was relieved when it was coming to an end, but I didn’t feel that tired in the last hour. Between 7am and 10am there were more people coming in and after that, I think the adrenaline just kept me going.

    “While I was doing it someone looked up the world record for the longest amount of continuous snooker on their phone.

    “The world record is 51 hours. I don’t think I could manage doing more than that on my own but I might be able to with other people, so that is something to consider next.”

    Mr Harrison chose the charity because the disease has touched the lives of many of his loved ones including his girlfriend’s mum, his mum’s best friend and his grandmother.