Hinga and Heaslip keep hold of pairs crown

The Wanganui 8-Ball Pool Association season got under way with an open pairs tournament at the RSA Club at the weekend.

Twenty-two pairs from Bulls, Marton and Wanganui competed in section play on Sunday morning to find those who would contest the knockout rounds in the afternoon.

A feature of the morning's play was the performance of the young Bulls pair - Jess Trethewey and Coen Bligh - who qualified for the last eight.

The final was an "all-Castlecliff" affair, with last year's winners, Nick Hinga and Alton Heaslip, playing Sam Haapu and John Rerekura.

As he so often does, Hinga dominated the match to ensure he and his partner retained their title with a comfortable 2-0 victory.

The association's interclub competition gets under way on May 10 with Bulls playing Marton in Marton, Commercial against Castlecliff at Castlecliff, Wanganui East Red vs Wanganui East Gold, Cosmopolitan A vs Cosmopolitan B and RSA Awa Gold vs RSA 8-Ball.

All matches are scheduled to start at 7pm.