POPPLETON'S Richard Moss won the Stiga 3 Star Junior Grand Prix tournament at Accrington.

He beat Nottingham's Richard Wesley 11-9 10-12 11-9 11-7 in a five-set thriller.

The tournament was the fourth in a series of seven events and Moss has won the last two to take the overall lead.

He had eased through the earlier rounds before beating Ben Barlow (Rotherham), who then led the GP standings.

Barlow got within one point of victory in the fourth set but Moss fought back to win 11-5 10-12, 6-11 14-12 11-1 to set up his final showdown with Wesley.

Also competing at Accrington were Hayley Smith (Sessions) and Stephen Robinson (York RI), whose efforts saw them move on to the national rankings lists for the first time - Smith at 121 in the Junior Girls and Robinson at 221 in the Cadet Boys.

RI's 12-year-old James Parker competed in his first major open at Accrington.

Updated: 12:35 Thursday, December 12, 2002