Alistair Stewart had to pull off a couple of tricky shots, but is happy with how the 8- and 9-ball pool competitions went at the Downer New Zealand Masters Games.
When Christmas was approaching, Stewart was worried about how many people would be competing in the event having received only 28 entries.
However, a post-Christmas flurry resulted in a total of 52 competitors who started playing in Barracks Bar on Sunday and finished on Tuesday.
Players ventured to Whanganui from as far away as Dunedin to be a part of the 30th Masters Games, competing in 40+ and 56+ age groups.
"There were more competitors than I anticipated. The rush from Christmas through until this weekend was really good," Stewart said.
"It was a very competitive event, but social too. You're out to win your game, but quite a few players didn't really know the rules, so the opposition were helping them out."
Stewart has organised pool at the last three Masters Games events, which requires finding the right venue to host it and the funding for things like extra tables.
This was something Stewart struggled with in 2019 as he was unable to raise sponsorship for extra tables once the number of competitors increased.
Six tables was fine for 28 players, but not ideal for 52.
"With the extra players that came in, it made for some long days and long nights, but everyone enjoyed themselves and we had the perfect venue," Stewart said.
"One of the requirements of course is to have water available and we had plenty of that and other beverages."
Back at Barracks Bar today is the Wanganui 8-Ball Open, with up to 80 entrants set to duke it out across the tables.
The event runs all weekend and will draw a different type of player to the River City with a prize pool of $2000 on offer.
Stewart hopes to see some more supporters show up at the event after what he described was a bit of a disappointing turnout at the Masters Games.
"There were a few there, but not a lot. This one this weekend is definitely worth going to, you'll get some really top New Zealand players there," he said.
"At the games in two years time it would be nice if people say 'right, we're not going to play in it, but we'll go in and show a bit of support'".
Results from the 8- and 9-ball competitions at the Masters Games can be found on page 21.