NZBSA Waikato

Monteiths Open Handicap Pairs Snooker 2022

Congratulations to Darren Taylor and Denise Wilkinson on taking out this year’s Monteiths Open Handicap Snooker Championship held at the Hamilton Cossie Club on Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th October. It was great to see so many women playing in the tournament and three out of the four players in the Main Final were women. A great effort by all the ladies and hopefully it will encourage others as the nature of the handicap event gives everyone a chance. The standout player of the tournament was Denise Wilkinson who partnered Darren Taylor to win the event and she had great breaks of 45 & 43, this venue seems a "happy hunting groud" for Denise as she won the Waikato Womans Snooker Championships here back in May. Results as follows:

MAIN EVENT

Quarter Finals Heihera Rehu-Brown and Rita Toamanau-Rangiua d Jim Anderson and Tom Mainwaring, Graeme Tocker and John Barraclough d Dennis Trotter and John

Rehman, Suzi Hart and Maria Paul-Bennett d Joseph Conchie and Dave Conchie, Darren Taylor and Denise Wilkinson d Stephen Cain and Peter Bouzaid.

Semi-finals Rehu-Brown and Toamanau-Rangiuia d Tocker and Barraclough 2 - 1, Taylor and Wilkinson d Hart and Paul-Bennett 2 - 0

Final Darren Taylor and Denise Wilkinson defeated Heihera Rehu-Brown and Rita Toamanau-Rangiua 2- 0

PLATE Bob Chester and Heather Nixon bye. Graham Hills and Mark Palmer d Chris Skilling and Trevor Wootton, Dennis Gates and Chris Hick d Mike Watson and Roy

O’Connor, Alan Dower and Trevor Heist d Lou Goodwin and Merry Willz.

Final Alan Dower and Trevor Heist defeated Bob Chester and Heather Nixon.

FLIGHT

Quarter Finals Anderson & Mainwaring bye, Skilling & Wootten d Trotter & Rehman, Watson & O’Connor d Conchie & Conchie, Goodwin & Willz d Cain & Bouzaid.

Semi-finals Skilling & Wootton d Anderson & Mainwaring, Goodwin & Willz d Watson & O’Connor.

Final Chris Skilling and Trevor Wootton defeated Lou Goodwin and Merry Willz.

High breaks 53 Joe Conchie

53 Denise Wilkinson (45 plus 8) highest break with handicap

( A special thanks to Hamilton Cossie Club, Staff & Kitchen Staff for hosting our Tournament )

A Grade Billiards 2022

Darren Taylor has won the Waikato A grade billiards championship for the fifth time beating another former title holder (three times), Adesh Shekatkar, in the final 399-293. The plate was won by Kevin Crighton defeating Graham Hills 337-266.

Due to Covid, the competition moved away from its traditional home of the Matamata Club and the 49th edition was held at the Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club on April 2-3.

The field was made up of a good spread of experienced players and billiards youth as three of the B Grade participants dipped their toes in the water with five of the top 12 ranked players in the country.

The eight-man field played a round robin of 75 minute matches with the top four progressing to the main championship and the final four contesting the plate. All post section matches were 90 minutes.

At the end of round robin play Darren Taylor (7 wins) was drawn against current Waikato B Grade champion Brian Roebeck (4 wins) and Adesh Shekatkar (6 wins) was to clash cues with Andrew Draper (5 wins). Things were a little tighter in the plate division with three players ending with two wins apiece. The final qualifying positions were decided on points differential. After the numbers were crunched Graham Hills had the best differential and he played Chris Hick. The remaining match was against two ex-NZ B Grade champions Kevin Crighton and Mark Taylor, with Taylor being a previous winner of this competition too.

In the championship Taylor 412 d Roebeck 326 and Shekatkar 312 d Draper 297. Draper had lead for the majority of the match and just missed out on making his second A Grade final when Shekatkar finished with a wet sail to pip him on the line.

The championship final was between two ex-champions Taylor (4 times) and Shekatkar (3 times) and these two always have great tussles. An example of which, just a few hours earlier in round robin play, saw Taylor score an unfinished break of 43 to win by just 10 points when the bell rung. In the final there was nothing in it most of the way until Taylor made a few small contributions that stretched the gap out to 60-80. Such a margin is never comfortable against Shekatkar as he has many sizeable breaks that could eradicate a lead of that size in one visit. However, no such break flowed from the Rotorua cueist and it was Taylor who secured the victory 399-293.

In the Plate Hills 270 d Hick 118 and Crighton 306 d Taylor 261. In the final Crighton put his billiards knowledge into action to defeat Hills 337-266.

Highest break was shared for the weekend with Adesh Shekatkar and Darren Taylor, scoring 62 . (Finalists pictured below)

The next NZBSA ranking event is the North Island Billiards Championships – May 28-29 at Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club.

Upcoming Events in the Waikato in 2022

This year is quite a busy year for the region with many events being organised and we all hope that Covid plays ball and doesn't interfere. Along with our usual Chick Boden Memorial Interclub league there are many tournaments you can enter. Some are run through the association and entry can be done locally, whilst others are National ranking events and entry details can be found at www.nzbsa.org.nz.

Please follow the instructions and prompts for all tournaments you wish to enter.

All Waikato tournaments will be held at the Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club unless otherwise stated:

21st-22nd May Waikato Women's Open Snooker

24th-25th May Clubs NZ National Billiards (Tokoroa Club)

27th-29th May Clubs NZ National Snooker (Tokoroa Club)

28th-29th May North Island Billiards Championships

25th - 26th Jun Waikato 'B' Grade Snooker

13th-14th Jul National 'B' Grade Billiards Championships

15th-17th Jul National Billiards Championships

3rd Sept Waikato 'A' Grade Snooker

21st-22nd Sept Hamilton Billiards Open (World Ranking Event)

22nd Sept NZBSA Billiards Champion of Champions (Invitation Event)

23rd-25th Sept New Zealand Billiards Open (World Ranking Event)

4th-6th Nov Waikato Billiards Open (Matamata Club)

3rd-4th Dec Waikato Snooker Open

For any enquiries please direct them to the contact on the entry form.

2022 Waikato Women's Open Snooker

Well recognised pool player Denise Wilkinson (Hamilton) was an emphatic winner of the 2022 Waikato Women’s Open Snooker championship held at Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club, May 21-22.

She defeated Kimberley Cullen 2-0 in a final that took less than 50 minutes.

Wilkinson has only recently turned her attention to snooker with encouragement and guidance from a former work colleague and billiards/snooker enthusiast Darren Taylor.

While the final clearly demonstrated Wilkinson’s ability (she also recorded the highest break, 47, in section play) she didn’t have it all her own way. As an unranked player, she went through to win her section of five without dropping a frame.

However, she met sterner opposition in post section winning her quarter final 2-1 against Heihera Rehu-Brown and the same score in the semi -final against Temple Geayley. Both opponents had their chances to eliminate Wilkinson but this was not to be.

In the final game of the semi, Wilkinson trailed by a few points going into the colours – and then potted all colours in one break to win the match.

The plate was won by Agnes Kimura who defeated Lucretia Goodwin 2-0

Championship

Quarter-finals: Kimberley Cullen 2 bt Tatum Manning 1. Suzanne Hart 2 bt Maria Paul-Bennett 0. Temple Geayley 2 bt Maureen Woods 0.

Denise Wilkinson 2 bt Heihera Rehu-Brown 1.

Semi-finals: Cullen 2 bt Hart. Wilkinson 2 bt Geayley 1.

Final: Wilkinson 2 bt K. Cullen 0.

Plate

Quarter-finals: Lucretia Goodwin bye. Jade Cullen 2 bt Michaela Bowden 0. Agnes Kimura 2 bt Rita Toamau-Ragiuia 0. Aroha Te Haara bye.

Semi-finals: Goodwin 2 bt Cullen 0. Kimura 2 bt Te Haara 0.

Final: Kumura 2 bt Goodwin 0.

Waikato B Grade Billiards 2022

Brian Roebeck (Tokoroa - left) won the 2022 Waikato B Grade Billiards championship, defeating Dennis McCaughan (Mt Maunganui - right) in the final. Finalists pictured below.

Tournament organisers were pleased this event attracted a field of eight who were ranked following a round of section play. Thanks are extended to Kevin Crighton (Matamata) who assisted with refereeing on the day.

Quarter finals: McCaughan d Mark Palmer, Chris Hick d Kevin Whynn, Graham Hills d Paul Phillips, Roebeck d Sonny Ah Hing. Semi finals: McCaughan d Hick 137-130, Roebeck d Hills 209-187. Final, Roebeck d McCaughan 240-113.

Plate semi final. Whynn d Palmer 147-118, Ah Hing d Phillips 185-121. Final, Ah Hing d Wynn 193-149.

Waikato B Grade Open Snooker 2022

Congratulations to John Williams (Tokoroa), pictured below, who won the 2022 Waikato B Grade Open Snooker, defeating Jono Healion (Hamilton Cossie) 2-1 in a final that went down to the last black.

We had a field of 16 and were able to play the whole competition in one day, finishing about 9pm.

Main Quarter Finals: Paul Folwell 2 bt Chris Hick 1. John Williams 2 bt Ajit Singh 1. Darryl Jensen 2 bt Chris Skelling 1. Jono Healion 2 bt Nick King 1.

Semi Finals: Wlliams 2 bt Folwell 0. Healion 2 bt Jensen 0.

Final: Williams 2 bt Healion 1

Plate Quarter Finals: Hiehera Rehu-Brown 2 bt Merry Willz 0. Tom Mainwaring 2 bt Kevin Turnbull 1. Paul Phillips 2 bt Trevor Wootten 0. Dave Willetts 2 bt Aroha Te Haara 0.

Semi Finals: Mainwaring 2 bt Rehu-Brown 0. Willetts 2 bt Phillips 0.

Final: Willetts 2 bt Mainwaring 0.

WBSA Handicap Pairs Results

Roy and Diane Clark won Waikato’s inaugural handicap pairs snooker tournament held at the Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club on July 4-5. The result rested on the last black in the fifth and final frame.

Despite perceived anomalies in the allocation of handicaps (a difficult task) many games were decided on the last 2-3 colours with all but one team out of 29 winning at least three games in section play. The inference from that can be if a team can win one frame (in a three-frame match) then it is quite reasonable to believe they were capable of winning two or three. They just didn’t play as well as they could have! The team that won only one frame in section play went on to win their first two rounds in the plate competition.

All matters considered, the consensus of opinion is this was a very successful tournament and plans are to repeat it next year.

Detailed results from last 8: Roy & Diane Clark d Pat Lynch & Don Highet, Alex & Kathy van den Einden d Ginger Ropoama & Chris Hick, Arvinder Singh & Danny Estocopio d Paul Phillips & Gloria Rawiri, Eamonn Hill & Greg Crighton d Moinesh Shamy & Baljeet Singh. Clarks d van den Eindens, Singh & Estocopio d Hill & Crighton. Clarks d Singh & Estocopio.

Plate: Darren Taylor & Adesh Shekatkar d Vinny Gounder & Marino Hapi, Graeme Tocker & John Hoyle d Dennis Trotter & John Rehman, Depak Bala & Sudeep Prasad d Kevin Greaves & Peter Phipps, Sani Roberts & Fred Winterstein d Allan Dower & John Mutch. Tocker & Hoyle d Taylor & Shekatkar, Bala & Prasad d Roberts & Winterstein. Bala & Prasad d Tocker & Hoyle.

A Grade Snooker 2022

Congratulations to Matt Scarborough on taking out this year’s Waikato A Grade Snooker Championship by defeating Steve Thomas in the Final at the Hamilton Cossie Club on Saturday, Matt defended the Trophy from last year and this win brought up his 7th win in this event. The 3 - 0 win by Matt did not reflect how close the Final games were, with Steve missing a good chance on the “black to win” in frame one and then going in off the “black to win” in frame two when attempting to play safe on the black.

The two finalists actually played their best matches in the Semi Finals, with Steve producing some critical long pots to win the deciding frame to beat Joe Conchie 3 – 2. Joe earlier in the match had showed his threat with breaks of 40 & 58. Matt proved to be in unstoppable form against Graeme Tocker and this combined with a few slices of bad luck for Tocker resulted in a 3 – 0 win to Matt. In the first frame, Matt capitalised on a slice of great positional luck to end up in perfect position on the black by going on to make an outstanding break of 89, a slightly overhit brown meant that he ended on the “wrong side of the blue” for position on the pink and the break ended rather unluckily when the hard hit blue jumped out of the centre pocket with a possible 107 clearance on.

The highly competitive Plate final was won 2 -0 by Dennis Trotter over Bernie Leadbeater, the final frame was very close, and Dennis potted the “black to win” to take the victory. Well done, Dennis, and Bernie for his recent Matamata Club Championship win over Winston Hill who won our Waikato A grade Snooker a remarkable 12 times.

A special thanks to the Hamilton Cossie Club and Staff for hosting us.

JOE CONCHIE IS RUNNER UP IN AUCKLAND WESTERN OPEN SNOOKER

Joe narrowly lost the final against Deepak Bala by 4 frames to 3 in the Auckland Western Open Snooker Championships played at Henderson RSA on 1^st & 2^nd October. A great effort by Joe in the tournament despite losing the final.

Joe led the final 3 – 0 only for Deepak to fight back and win the next four frames to take the title. Whilst losing the final in this way is no doubt disappointing for Joe, as a young player, he can take heart that he can compete well at this level and with more experience and improvement more success will come his way. 

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 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 20^th August 1900)

First Professional to make 100 break at Snooker in 1919.

134 snooker total clearance on May 1^st 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 80^th 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.