Snooker: Generation gap, clients catalysts for victory

Bayden Jackson shows the gritty edge that clinched the North Island title.

When Bayden Jackson looked across the table last night during the North Island Snooker Championship final he knew he had to have a cutting edge to vent fury on the felt.

The 39-year-old barber did just that, reaching for the right implements as he powered to a 3-0 victory over teenager Louis Chand, of Auckland, at the Havelock North Club.

"I've played more finals than him but he'll be the next best in New Zealand in another five years if he keeps improving. He's class," Jackson said, appreciating the support from his Ladz & Dadz Shop clients as well the club members.

The former England eight-ball representative said the quarter-final and semifinal didn't do much justice to Chand.

"He played brilliantly in the semifinal, coming back from 2-0 down to beat Steve Robertson [Waikato, 3-1] who is classy and one of the best in New Zealand."

Jackson felt his own effort wasn't brilliant, although he wasn't struggling.

Watching Chand scoring and potting long-range balls, the champion reminded himself "the final is the final, isn't it?"

That is tantamount to letting his young opponent know who is stamping his authority on the table, even though Jackson's game wasn't always up to his high standards.

"Young people don't know fear, you do as older people.

"The key to any game is to be able to handle the pressure.

"It's us who talk ourselves out of shots and pressure situations. The young don't know what fear is," he said as a matter of fact.

Playing for the first time at the champs on his doorstep, Jackson relished the friendly faces in the room, which enabled him to release the pressure valve a little and "left me buzzing".

The first player to win the New Zealand Open and national snooker titles in the same year in 2011 revealed he first won the North Island crown in Wellington five years ago but didn't enter that arena again until this year because of work and family commitments.

In fact Jackson organised the weekend tournament and, consequently, considered it a no-brainer to compete too.

The exposure to numerous one-day knockout tourneys in England, as opposed to the section-play formats here, had sharpened his mental fortitude.

Yesterday he qualified third, losing two matches in section play to make the last 16, but delivered the KO punches "when it mattered most".

"That's when I get my mongrel going and come into my own.

"If I had lost today it would have been to a great player."

Jackson, who collected $500 and then doubled his takings in a pokie machine, thanked the many Bay sponsors.