On behalf of all Queensland junior players I would like to thank everyone for the support received over the last week from messages via the QBSA website and various facebook pages.
It was an amazing week in Adelaide.
Queensland fielded three teams in the Mitchell Billiards Teams Challenge (the first time any state has done this).
With 16 Qld entrants we made up exactly half of the field of 32 from around the country!!
All of our players competed in great spirit and with excellent sportsmanship, something which makes me very proud to have been able to be team manager for this group.
U12 Snooker
Ambrose Adeney (Qld) defeated Lilly Meldrum (Qld) in the final
This was Lilly’s first nationals and she drew a lot of attention with her amazing play on the table and big smile!
Ambrose was clinical on the road to winning his first national title losing just one frame out of 15!!!
U15 Snooker
Harry Mok (Qld) defeated Rory Kowett (Vic) in the final.
This was a very competitive group this year with the experience of Harry proving invaluable and giving him his first national snooker title.
A special mention of Joshua Thrift reaching the qtr finals in his first attempt at nationals.
It was almost inevitable that a Qldr would win this one with 5 of our boys filling the 8 qtr finals places!
U18 Snooker
Marc Fridman (Vic) defeated Kyle Thomson (Qld) in a very tight match
This age group offered up another extremely competitive field of players this year.
We had four players win through to the qtr finals with Kyle winning through to the final with some tough grinding wins along the way. An ongoing rivalry with Marc may have started!
U15 Billiards
Harry Mok (Qld) defeated Jack Green (Vic) quite comfortably in the final.
This meant Harry defended his title from last year, a great reward for the hard work that he has put in.
Also a credit to coach Bob Turpin for having Harry and Jayden Dinga reach the semi finals with scoring averages well beyond the others in the competition playing some excellent billiards.
U18 Billiards
No surprises here with Hayden Goode (Qld) defeating Kyle Thomson (Qld) in the final.
This was a replay of last years final with the same result.
Some consolation for Kyle is that Hayden is too old for juniors next year! Thanks to Hayden for giving everyone else a chance to win next year and showing all the youngsters how to play superb billiards.
Mitchell Billiards Teams Challenge
Qld A defeated Victoria 5-0 in the final
Qld B narrowly missed out on making it a Qld A v Qld B final.
It was a credit to Qld A coming back in the final with a dominant display defeating Victoria convincingly after losing to them 2-3 the previous day in the round robin match.
Thank you to the QBSA for the financial support helping Qld be such a powerhouse at these tournaments.
Thanks to the coaches of our players (notably Bob Turpin, Phil Haycock & Trevor Mortimer).
Without your energy and passion for the sport our juniors would not have the opportunities or skills that they do.
Thanks to the parents and guardians of all of the players who made the week so enjoyable.
Everyone got along so well which always makes things easier for the kids.
Also welcome to the debutant Thrift & Meldrum families, I hope you enjoyed the week and I look forward to seeing you join us for many years to come.
Full scores and detailed results are available on the ABSC website.
Photos to be posted shortly.
Regards,
Ed Dinga
