REPORT ON 2010 BERRI RESORT HOTEL OPEN 8-BALL SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS HELD ON SATURDAY JULY 24TH & SUNDAY JULY 25TH
Ballarat based player Jake McCartney defeated Brenton Collier from Adelaide by 4 frames to 1 in the final in front of an appreciative audience of over 200 spectators.
Competitors were playing for $15,000 in prize-money.
For his efforts, Jake took home $3,500.00 in prize-money, together with a replica of the Perpetual trophy and also the much treasured distinction of having his name engraved on the Perpetual trophy. Jake is now the fifth dual winner in the 23 year history of this event of this event, previously winning the event as a seventeen year old in 2007. Other dual winners are Russell Youlten (2002 & 2003), Mick Delahunty (1991 & 2001), Phil Reilly (1998 & 2000) and Alec Evreniadis (1989 & 1997).
Brenton would have been the fifth dual winner if he was crowned champion, as he won the title in 2008. Brenton collected $1,700.00 plus a trophy, for being Runner-up in this prestigious event.
The Grand Final began with Jake breaking and potting out. In what was a pivotal moment in the final, in the second frame, Brenton while playing his last ball into the top pocket with reasonable force to obtain position on the black, much to the amazement of spectators, umpires and players, the ball spat out of the pocket. This resulted in Jake winning the frame to take a 2-0 lead in the race to 4 frames. The third frame saw Brenton miss a very gettable black, which resulted in Jake taking a 3-0 lead. Brenton broke the fourth frame and cleared the table to keep the final alive and trail 1-3. Jake played a steady fifth frame and potted out to take the title.
For the first time in the 23 year history of the event, all semi finalists were previous winners of the event, with defeated semi finalist being Paul Hancock (2005) and Alec Evreniadis, attempting to becoming the first player to win the event for a third time.
Quarter Final results were:
Jake McCartney (Ballarat) defeated Nathan Nemes (Adelaide) 4/3
Paul Hancock (Adelaide) defeated Ricky Emery (Adelaide) 4/1
Alec Evreniadis (Adelaide) defeated Gary Wilcox (Adelaide) 4/1
Brenton Collier (Adelaide) defeated Nick Howie (Bendigo) 4/1
Semi Final results were:
Brenton Collier defeated Alec Evreniadis 4/0
Jake McCartney defeated Paul Hancock 4/0
Three hundred and fifty seven players nominated in this year’s tournament, which was slightly down on the 363 players that entered the 2009 event. The event consisted of players being divided up into 36 sections, with the sectional play being held at various Clubs and Hotels in the Riverland. At the conclusion of play on Saturday, 144 players had qualified for the finals on the Sunday.
In keeping with the reputation of this event being the biggest and best Open 8-Ball Singles event in Australia, entries were received from South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and New Zealand.
The Friday night restricted knock-out competitions resulted in Rob Wood defeating Ross Poole and Andy Ripley defeating Damian Walsh. The Friday night Invitational knock-out No. 1 resulted in Paul Hancock defeat Alec Evreniadis in the final. The Friday night Invitational knock-out No. 2 resulted in Jake McCartney defeat Gary Wilcox in the final.
The Under 18 knock-out resulted in Michael Cacciola defeat Jarrod Bennett in the final. 17 Under 18 players competed in this competition and the skills shown by all players were exceptional.
The Saturday night Pot out competition was won by Alec Evreniadis. Fifty seven entries were received for the Saturday night Ladies competition, which is always keenly contested, resulted in Carol Nunn defeat De’arne Tibbles in the final. The “Could have been Champions” knock-out on Sunday for non qualifiers and Round 1 losers saw James Delahunty defeat Dale Bolton in the final.
All 36 tables used in the event were manufactured by event sponsor Beta Billiards. The excellent standard of tables supplied was appreciated by all of the players competing.
At the Official Presentation, Berri Resort Hotel’s Assistant Manager Darren Baker assisted in the handing out of the major prizes. Darren thanked all players for competing and invited them to come back next year. He also thanked all staff at the Berri Resort Hotel who worked over the week-end to cater for the needs of the players.
I wish to mention the work done by the Riverland 8-Ball Association. President Daryl and his committee spent many hours over the week-end to make sure that everything ran smoothly.
I also would like to thank Aaron Court from Court’s Amusements who supplied and serviced the 20 tables used at the Berri Resort Hotel.
Neil Lemmey
Tournament Director
