Warwick Workmen’s Club player Steven Tucker is walking tall after pulling off a major upset to win the prestigious Tony DeSilva Memorial Cup at the first attempt on Easter Sunday.

Against great odds, the tournament’s lowest-ranked player upstaged firm favourite Keino Zuill 4-2 in the final on his competition debut at Watford Sports Club.

It was a remarkable feat that exceeded Tucker’s expectations after he entered the handicap tournament simply to “make up numbers”.

“Warwick called me as a sort of fill-in for them and I put my name in the tournament to make up numbers, so I didn’t expect to go this far,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“I’ve only played three league games this year and lost all of them, so I didn’t expect to get this far because of the competition in this tournament.

“I went through a few players that have played for a number of years and I am brand new at this. I played Zane DeSilva, Martin Siese, John Nicol and then Keino Zuill and it went in my favour. God’s hand was on me, I guess.

“I learnt from each of the individuals I played, picked up a lot from them and have been encouraged.”

Tucker won the first two frames 60-20 and 69 -30 to seize early control before Zuill came storming back to take the third 85-42 to halt his rival’s momentum and get his title bid on track.

But the swung pendulum swung back in favour of former Warwick United and Southampton Rangers footballer Tucker, who won the fourth frame 56-38 to regain control and move to the brink of clinching the first-to-four frames final.

Zuill won the fifth frame 61-34 to delay Tucker’s celebrations, which finally erupted after the latter prevailed 52-25 in the next frame to seal one of the biggest upsets in recent memory on his opponent’s home table.

“I had never played on that table before but snooker is snooker; you just put your head down and get to it,” Tucker said.

“I’ve seen Keino shoot before and I think maybe he would say he was off, but he made some amazing shots.

“Sometimes people can become complacent when they are playing someone lesser known. That’s a possibility but I took advantage and never took my foot off the pedal.

“I just played my game and concentrated because it’s a game of concentration and strategy and I enjoyed it.

“Rangers taught me to be a good defender and I like to defend now. In my younger years I was an attacker with Warwick but I learnt to defend pretty good, so I use that in my snooker now, constantly defending.”

The 71-year-old is honoured to win the prestigious competition and is looking forward to competing in other events going forward.

“I never knew Tony DeSilva personally, ut I’ve gotten some information on him and I am glad to put my name on his cup and looking forward to playing in other tournaments,” he said.

“I don’t know how far I am going to go in this as I am getting up in age. But the congratulations have been coming in from all sectors, and I am hoping to encourage younger players to get into the league to help it to grow because that’s very important.”