Bill Raggett ruled on his home Cossie Club tables at the Gisborne Masters Snooker tournament, renamed the Gisborne Masters Rex Kennedy Memorial in honour of the NZ Masters Snooker co-founder and local man who died last month. Photo / Paul Rickard
Bill Raggett ruled on his home Cossie Club tables at the Gisborne Masters Snooker tournament, renamed the Gisborne Masters Rex Kennedy Memorial in honour of the NZ Masters Snooker co-founder and local man who died last month. Photo / Paul Rickard
Local players let their cues pay tribute to a fallen snooker comrade at the Gisborne Masters tournament on the Cosmopolitan Club tables.
The 2025 edition of the handicap tournament was renamed the Gisborne Masters Rex Kennedy Memorial in honour of the long-time snooker stalwart who died in May at theage of 84.
Kennedy was a life member and co-founder of NZ Masters Snooker.
He was celebrated at the tournament and on the Masters Snooker and Gisborne Cosmopolitan Club Facebook pages, where he was described as “a snooker icon”.
It was fitting that the Gisborne Masters Championship 16 was won by a home-tables player, Bill Raggett.
Playing off a 19-handicap, Raggett defeated Darren Manthey (Tokoroa), off 39, 2-1 in the best-of-three-frames final.
Tokoroa's Darren Manthey lines up a shot at the Rex Kennedy Memorial Gisborne Snooker Masters. Manthey lost 2-1 to Gisborne's Bill Raggett in the championship final. Photo / Paul Rickard
Raggett finished second in section play with two wins from three games to qualify for the championship 16.
He beat fellow Gisborne player TeRina Hawkins (46 handicap) in the round of 16, Phil Blackshaw (Palmerston North, -1) in the quarter-finals, and Mark I’Anson (Morrinsville, 13) in the semifinals.
As well as Raggett and Hawkins, Gisborne players Kasi Lelea (11), John Berry (14) and Dave Duffy (38) made the championship 16.
Berry beat Duffy 2-1 in the round of 16, but lost 2-1 to I’Anson in the quarters. Lelea beat Sean Grant (Taradale, 5) 2-1 in the round of 16, but fell 2-0 to Keith Crow (Manurewa, 44) in the quarters.
After her elimination from the championship 16, Hawkins went on to win the Flight, defeating Grant 2-1 in the final.
Teena Bull (Waipukurau, 37) beat Alex Stevenson (Mount RSA, 21) 2-0 in the Plate final. Bull had earlier knocked out Gisborne’s Larry Robinson (30), who was unable to repeat the heroics of his recent championship victory at the Papakura Masters.
Rob Elvin (Taupō, -22) beat John Gilies (Porirua, 32) 2-0 in the Consolation Plate final.
The Gisborne Masters is part of a circuit of several venues in the North Island. It featured 32 players.
