Marlow wins SI eight-ball

Adam Marlow from the Mosgiel RSA again won the South Island eight-ball championship in Timaru last weekend.

In an absorbing final, he managed to win 5-3 against 18-year-old John Carreon from Christchurch club Cashmere. This was the fourth win for Marlow in five years, after losing to Mark McGawley, who spent a year in New Zealand and is now representing Norway in European pool competitions.

Both players had close calls in making the final from the last 32, where many good players made it difficult.

Marlow in particular was down 2-4 against Danny Hunia from Oamaru before winning 5-4.

The best of the Timaru contingent was Johnny Mattingley, who made the last 16 and was certainly making even the best players work.

The trophy event was won by Healey White from Oamaru, who beat Geraldine’s Simon Snow 5-0.

Snow shouldn’t be too disheartened by this, as he beat many fine players to make the final, and White has just returned from Dubai, where he had been competing in the World Junior Snooker Championships the week before the eight-ball champs.

In the Christchurch versus Southern Pride match, The Southern Pride retained its title with a comfortable 99.6 to 81.6 win. This team of 14 players had seven players from the Timaru Town & Country Club in its ranks.

This underlined the performance in the teams event, where Cashmere Club won from the Timaru Town & Country Club, with previous champions Oamaru a somewhat distant third.

The Pot Black club tables at the Timaru Town & Country Club came in for high praise and other clubs in the area are also benefiting from these tables.

With the Pool for Schools programme starting soon, the future of the sport, locally and in the South, has never been higher.