Barry Stark had a terrific win in round 1 of the EASB Pro-Ticket event 4 at Willie Thorne's, Leicester. He beat the current leader of the Pontin's International Open Series, Kuldesh Johal of Huddersfield 4-2, making breaks of 73 and 57 in the process.
Johal sits at the top of the PIOS rankings thanks to wins in events 2 and 6 of the series. The top 8 ranked players at the end of the series will be promoted to the professional main tour next season.
Stark is now placed 81st in the Pro-Ticket rankings, one place above Mansfield's Andrew Diacopoulos who did not take part in the event. The top 32 ranked players at the end of the season will compete in the Pro-Ticket Play-offs, with the overall winner securing a place on the Professional Main Tour next season.