REPORT ON 2008 BERRI RESORT HOTEL OPEN 8-BALL SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS HELD ON SATURDAY JULY 19TH & SUNDAY JULY 20TH

Adelaide based player Brenton Collier defeated Nick Howie from Bendigo by 4 frames to 3 in an intriguing final in front of an appreciative audience of approximately 220 spectators.

Competitors were playing for $15,000 in prize-money.
For his efforts, Brenton took home $3,500.00 in prize-money, together with a replica of the Perpetual trophy and also the much treasured distinction of having his name engraved on the Perpetual trophy.

In such a close final, Nick committed 2 critical fouls, the first for failing to nominate which group of balls he wished to play after breaking in the second frame and in the second instance while attempting to pot out in the fourth frame, was fouled for an article of clothing making contact with a coloured ball. In such an important match, although these 2 instances did not directly result in Brenton winning the title, it certainly did not help the cause of Nick either.

Nick collected $1,700.00 plus a trophy, which will help relieve some of the pain of losing such a close final.
Three hundred and seventy four players nominated in this year’s tournament, which was slightly down on the 390 players that entered the 2007 event. The event consisted of players being divided up into 37 sections, with the sectional play being held at various Clubs and Hotels in the Riverland. At the conclusion of play on Saturday, 168 players had qualified for the finals on the Sunday.
The Friday night restricted knock-out competition resulted in Jason McLean (Melbourne) defeat Shane Irons (Riverland) in the Final. The Friday night Invitational knock-out No. 1 resulted in James Delahunty (Adelaide) defeat Steve Seebohm (Adelaide) in the final. The Friday night Invitational knock-out No. 2 resulted in Aleck Evreniadis (Adelaide) defeat Michael Scerri (Melbourne) in the final. All matches in this competition were high class and entertaining.

The Under 18 knock-out resulted in Ricky Emery (Adelaide) defeat Nathan Nemes (Adelaide) in the final. 20 Under 18 players competed in this competition and the skills shown by all players were exceptional. The efforts of Ricky Emery is worth noting, as Ricky lost to 2008 Champion, Brenton Collier 4/3 in the Semi Final of the main event.

The Saturday night Pot out competition was won by James Delahunty of Adelaide. The Saturday night Ladies competition, which is always keenly contested, resulted in Kolbe Poole (Melbourne) defeat Lyndall Hulley (Adelaide) in the final. The “Non Qualifiers” knock-out on Sunday saw Daniel Peck (Adelaide) defeat Jason Ramsden (Melbourne) in the final.

All 37 tables used in the event were manufactured by event sponsor Beta Billiards. The excellent standard of tables supplied was appreciated by all of the players competing.

At the Official Presentation, Berri Resort Hotel’s Duty Manager Rowan Crisp assisted in the handing out of the major prizes.
Neil Lemmey
Tournament Director