TOP 10 WAIKATO SNOOKER PLAYERS
These are the top 10 Waikato Snooker Players of all time as ranked by Graeme Tocker, the players had to have lived and played in Waikato at some stage of their lives. Also included is Murt O’Donoghue who was born in Waikato (Tirau) and whose world record feats made him impossible to leave out even though he lived in Australia for most of his life. It is always difficult comparing sports people of different eras and snooker is no exception as changes in technology such as the newer better balls and undercut pockets have led to players consistently making higher and more breaks in snooker than say in the 1960’s and 1970’s. To try and overcome these challenges, the players have been basically ranked on their best ever Tournament result and some will argue that “one swallow doesn’t make a summer” but then this is why everyone has an opinion. We will update this list if any additional corroborated info comes to hand and consider any omissions or future major performances by players.
1 - E J “Murt” O’Donoghue
(Born in Tirau on 20th August 1900)
First Professional to make 100 break at Snooker in 1919.
134 snooker total clearance on May 1st 1929 in Auckland, the break was claimed as a World Record for the highest break and also for the first 15 red total clearance.
Murt made his first 1,000 break at Billiards in 1930, several other players had already achieved this feat.
The first player in the World to achieve the maximum break of 147 at snooker at Griffiths, New South Wales, Australia on 26 Sep 1934. This made Murt the first person in the World to make a 147 at snooker and a break of 1,000 at billiards.
First player to make 3 consecutive 100 breaks at snooker.
19 Breaks over 1,000 at Billiards during his career.
529 Billiards break on his 80th birthday.
( These feats were almost certainly performed using the new composite Crystalate Balls that replaced the Elephant Ivory balls, the Crystalate balls were used for the first time in the Professional game in England in the 1928 / 1929 season although they had been around since approx. 1902. )
2 - Steve Robertson
1987 NZ Snooker Champion.
1988 NZ Snooker Champion.
1989 NZ Snooker Champion.
1996 Oceania Snooker Champion.
6 Times North Island Snooker Champion.
13 Times Waikato A Grade Snooker Champion.
3 - Winston Hill
1971 Runner-up NZ Snooker Championship.
1973 NZ Snooker Champion.
1974 Last 8 at World Amateur Snooker Championship in Dublin, Ireland , this is still the best performance of any NZ PLayer to date (2022).
12 Times Waikato A Grade Snooker Champion.
Multiple Open & Invitation Snooker Tournament Winner.
4 - Chris McBreen
1996 NZ Snooker Champion.
1999 Runner-up NZ Snooker Championship.
2002 NZ Snooker Champion.
2006 NZ Snooker Champion.
2007 NZ Snooker Champion.
2008 Runner-up Oceania Snooker Championship.
(Played Pro Events in Europe with last 64 & 96 being best results)
5 - Dale Kwok
1976 NZ Snooker Champion.
1978 World Amateur Snooker Championship in Malta, placed ninth.
1981 NZ Snooker Champion.
1982 NZ Snooker Champion.
1983 NZ Snooker Champion.
6 - Dick Flutey
1967 NZ Snooker Champion.
1968 North Island Billiards Champion.
1970 Runner-up NZ Snooker Championship.
1971 North Island Snooker Champion.
1974 Runner Up North Island Snooker.
1975 North Island Snooker Champion.
10 Times Waikato A Grade Billiards Champion.
Multiple Open & Invitation Snooker Tournament Winner.
7 - Glenn Kwok
1981 NZ Snooker Champion
1984 NZ Snooker Champion
Multiple Open & Invitation Snooker Tournament Winner.
8 - Barry Moore
North Island Snooker Champion.
1993 Last 16 World Amateur Snooker
Championship (Karachi, Pakistan).
Multiple Open & Invitation Snooker Tournament Winner.
9 - Matt Scarborough
2016 Runner-Up NZ Snooker Championship.
2017 Runner-Up NZ Snooker Championship.
2019 Runner-Up NZ Snooker Championship.
2023 North Island Snooker Champion
7 Times Waikato A Grade Snooker Champion.
10 – Don Barnes
1973 North Island Snooker Champion
1978 Semi-finalist NZ Snooker Championship.
Multiple Open & Invitation Snooker Tournament Winner.