Welcome to
The Southland Billiards and Snooker Assn Website

The Southland Billiards & Snooker Association Inc. promotes and runs Snooker and Billiards Championship events in the Southland Region.

• Interclub Snooker competitions
• Interclub Billiard competitions
• Tournaments with cash prizes and National ranking points
• Non ranking handicapped tournaments
• Local championship Snooker competition (A, B & C)
• Local championship Billiards competitions (A & B)

The Assocation provides coaching for players and referees and (some) financial assistance for junior players.

The Association will also host from time to time the South Island and National Championship Snooker and Billiards competitions.

Latest News

Ryan Breaks Through in Snooker

Danny Ryan became only the 3rd Southland player to win a National Ranking Snooker Event on home soil when he won the 18th ILT City of Invercargill Open Snooker Classic at the Invercargill Working Mens Club, over the weekend.

The late Bill Schmidt had won the Inaugural Southland Open in Gore in 1991 and Gordon Wardrop won the same tournament in 1992. Ryan had won the Whitestone Snooker Classic in Oamaru in 2008, but this was the first Southland victory in this tournament, which has run since 1993.

Ryan beat 3 time winner Gary Gillard (Christchurch) convincingly in the final by 4 frames to 2. He had raced to 3 - 0 lead before allowing Gillard to fight back and take the 4th and 5th frame to trail 2 –3. Gillard then looked to have the edge in the 6th frame and was threatening to level up the frame count with the score close on the brown ball, when Ryan slotted the brown and pink at long range to open up a decisive points advantage.

Gillard tried in vain to get Snookers on the pink but three times failed before Ryan slammed home the winning ball, much to the delight of the large home town audience.

Ryan had struggled earlier in Section play and lost two matches which meant he qualified in 12th position. He then had to struggle through 3 matches which went to the wire against players who had previously won this tournament. He beat last year’s winner, Clive Thomson (Auckland), who was tournament top seed in the Semi-Final in a thrilling 5 frame tussle.

Gillard was all class in the tournament and looked unstoppable. He scored 18 breaks over 30 and barely raised a sweat in any of his matches until he ran into a belligerent Ryan in an aggressive mood, in the final.

RESULTS

Last 16

J Todd Beat L Bourton 3-1, C Thomson beat S Bond 3-0, D Ryan beat A Gill 3-2, D Witehira beat S Swain 3-1, P Bason beat G Moreton 3-1, D Sinclair beat K Brooks 3-1, I Betts beat S White 3-0, G Gillard beat T Sheriff 3-1

Quarter-Finals

C Thomson beat J Todd 3-2 , D Ryan beat D Witehira 3-2, P Bason beat D Sinclair 3-2, G Gillard beat I Betts 3-0

Semi-Finals

D Ryan beat C Thomson 3-2, G Gillard beat P Bason 3-1

Final

Ryan beat Gillard 4-2; 57-45, 61-35, 94 (68)-4, 15-63, 43-55, 81-48

Pro Storage Consolation

M Tuki beat C Bradbury 2-0

Fisher Windows Championship Plate

A Gill beat G Moreton 2-1

Southland Electronics Consolation Plate

P Normanton beat C Baird 2-1

High Breaks

G Gillard 71,60,45cl , 46,44; S Swain 59,49; D Ryan 43,68; I Betts 43; D Witehira 43; C Thomson 48

2009 Club Southland Invitational Snooker Classic - 24th-26th July 2009
This very popular and well supported tournament has unfortunately been cancelled for 2009. There are several reasons but this notice is to inform all enthusiasts that the intention is for the 2010 tournament to once again proceed and to be better than ever.

We realise that many players will be very disappointed again, as in 2007 when we were also forced into the same situation. However, it must be appreciated that a lot of planning including obtaining Sponsors and successful Grant applications are essential in the running of this event. This year the ground work did not get started for several reasons.

1. The Southland Billiards Association has already had a busy year in hosting the usual two Ranking tournaments in addition to the South Island Billiards and Snooker Championships, and Club Southland also staged the National CT Club’s Pairs early in June.
2. The Club Southland Invitational Snooker Classic organising committee is led by Ron G Wilson who recently had a total knee replacement, and this also has added to the decision to not hold the 2009 tournament.
3. No effort has been made to initiate Tournament Planning this year that is essential for this type of tournament.

Plans are now underway for the 2010 Club Southland Invitational Snooker Classic which will be held in the last weekend of July 2010.


Southland Open Snooker Title to Alan Gill.
The 2009 Gore RSA Southland Snooker Open will long be remembered for the many upsets that led to Alan Gill (Dunedin) winning his first title since the 2000 City of Invercargill Open more than nine years ago. He had previously won this title in 1995 and 1999 and been runner-up in the inaugural event in 1991. Gill had won the City of Invercargill Open on four occasions but since 2001 had played in very few tournaments until 2006 and only since then as a “player to make up the numbers.”
His opponent in the final, held late last Sunday afternoon at the Gore RSA,Wayne Elliott (Invercargill) was a late entry and a reserve player only, he joined the field of 35 with a day to spare with the late withdrawal of an Auckland player. The events that followed were beyond any reasonable prediction.
In the round of 16, Gill defeated young Gore Star, Shannon Swain after struggling to make the playoffs as the 14th qualifier. Meanwhile, Swain was 3rd top qualifier and was playing a confident brand of positive Snooker but was undone by the miserable and frustrating tactics of Gill.
In the Quarterfinals, Top qualifier and tournament favourite Gary Gillard (Christchurch) found himself 0-2 down to Elliott and although he fought back to level up at 2-2, Elliot got going again and won the deciding frame. Lee Barris (Bluff) upset more fancied Jason Todd (Oamaru) 3-1 and Gill then surprisingly beat Dave Witehira (Christchuch) 2006 Open winner, and a player everyone except Gill saw as a semi-finalist. Jimmy Ryan (Bluff) beat his son 3-2 in another close family affair.
The semi-finals saw Elliott 0-2 down to Barris and when it appeared all over, Elliott suddenly found his game return and he won the next 3 frames to reach the final. Gill reversed an earlier loss to Jimmy Ryan in the Section play to reach the final, full of confidence.
The final then proved to be an anti-climax with Gill gaining control early and giving Elliott few chances to get into the match.

Results
Last 16 matches
G Gillard beat R Dawson 3-0, W Elliott beat S White 3-1, L Barris beat C Bradbury 3-0, J Todd beat K Wright 3-1, A Gill beat S Swain 3-1, D Witehira beat T Sherriff 3-0, J Ryan beat S Bond 3-2, D Ryan beat K Brooks 3-2.
Quarterfinals
Elliott beat Gillard 3-2, Barris beat Todd 3-1, Gill beat Witehira 3-0, J Ryan beat D Ryan 3-1.
Semi-finals
Elliott beat Barris 3-2, Gill beat Ryan 3-1.
Final
Gill beat Elliott 4-0, 19-60, 25-62(33), 31-61, 31-84.
Championship Plate -S Swain beat K Wright 2-0
RSA Consolation - G Roy beat B Edhouse2-0
Consolation Plate - P Normanton beat H White 2-1
High Breaks - D Ryan 51(Cl) 46, 47, S Swain 51(Cl), G Gillard 48, 65.