Beginners and old hands show their cue skills

Going for the pockets: Secondary school students try their hand at 8-ball pool. Ravyn Coburn (Lytton High School) Pictures by Paul Rickard

POOL/SNOOKER

A SIX-WEEK course of coaching culminated in the inaugural Tairawhiti Secondary Schools 8-ball Pool Invitational Singles Tournament at Gisborne Cosmopolitan Club this week.

Campion College students Rusty Jones and Michael Johansen contested the final, Jones taking the victory.

Dane Berry, also from Campion, beat Lytton High School’s Ravyn Coburn in the playoff for third.

Students played at the Cosmopolitan Club each Wednesday under the guidance of Phil Thompson, who provided coaching.

Eleven students contested the tournament, splitting into two pools for round-robin, single-frame play. Four players advanced to the semifinals, from which the finalists were found.

Sport Gisborne regional sports co-ordinator Wade Manson said the students enjoyed gaining skills in a new sport and some were keen to try snooker.

Tournament winner Jones said he enjoyed “hanging out” with friends and getting good coaching, while another Campion student, Robert Paterson, said he enjoyed the pace of 8-ball, and the challenge of a sport that required skill and dedication.

Manson said the programme tapped into the social contexts of why people liked being active.

It also challenged the students’ understanding of game play through a sport more focused on strategy and tactics than physical prowess.

Meanwhile, Wayne Tautau and Alex Nanai have won Gisborne Cosmopolitan Snooker Club’s Ray Swann Championship Pairs.

They defeated John Berry and Phil Thompson in the final, two frames to nil.

Tautau and Nanai beat John Warren and Tom Cook 2-1 in one semifinal, and Berry and Thompson beat Rex Kennedy and Rip Morgan 2-1 in the other.

Ten pairs contested the championship tournament, which was held last Saturday.

Coming up next month are the Poverty Bay B Grade championship on Saturday, July 7, and the Poverty Bay A and C grade championships on Saturday, July 21. All three tournaments will be held at Gisborne Cosmopolitan Club.