SOUTH won the Ted Pickett Shield played at the Launceston Working Men's Club at the weekend. 

The South scored 22 wins, to down the North, on 18, with the North- West third, with eight wins.

The Southern team travelled to Launceston without its two top ranked players in Les Higgins and Gregg Watt but still proved to be too strong overall. 

For the North, which was defending the shield, Peter Donati and David Bates won four out of four matches, without losing a frame, John Fraser and Terry Adams won three out of four matches. The best break was 44 by Hobart's Luke Webb, with Peter Donati shooting 43. 

Northern pennant 

NORTHERN Interclub team Works Blue moved to equal fourth on the A grade ladder with a 3-1 win over Exeter, Peter Donati 2-1, Hans Georgieff 2-0 and John Stevenson 2-0 won for Blue, with Ben Swain winning 2-0 for Exeter. 

The Devils were too strong for Gold, winning 3-1, Heath Rainbow 2-0, Wally Sully 2-1 and Andrew Rainbow 2-1 winning for Devils, and veteran Bob Woods winning 2-0 for Gold. 

Ladder leader Black drew with the third-placed Launceston RSL, Andrew Saltmarsh 2-0 and Bruce Lockley 2-1 won for Black, Terry Adams 2-0 and Paul Zoon 2-1 were RSL's winners. 

The A grade ladder is: Black 34, Exeter RSL 32, Launceston RSL 32, Devils 26, Blue 26, Gold 18, Best break Terry Adams 38. 

In A reserve, all teams played six- all draws, which has no impact on the ladder but shows the evenness of the competition with all teams fighting for finals positions. 

Red drew with Longford RSL with all players winning one frame each. Navy drew with ladder leader Green, Brian O'Byrne won 2-0 for Navy and David Thomas 2-0 for Green, Exeter drew with Amber, Lloyd Rogers won 2-0 for Exeter and Peter Fraser 2-0 for Amber. 

A reserve ladder: Green 122, Amber 98, Red 95, Navy 94 Exeter RSL 92 Longford RSL 87. Best break for this week David Thomas 25. 

Women's eightball 

A FIELD of 15 women competed for places in the state women's team to play at the Australian eightball championships in Adelaide in October. 

Played at the LWC on Saturday, the women played a full round robin twice with the top seven making the team. 

The team is: Fiona Plummer, Denise Millington, Renea Duncombe, Janelle Jackson, Jenna Sampson, Jane Nichols, Bethany Ross. 

The 2010 state women's singles title was also played between the top four players from the round robin section with Launceston-based player Fiona Plummer defeating fellow player Denise Millington 4-1 in the final, full results can be found on the Eightball Tasmania website. 

A reminder that this weekend sees the final 24 men compete at the Launceston Workers Club for the state open team starting at 9am with all people welcome to attend for some high quality pool.

WITH seven weeks remaining in the Northern snooker rosters, the only team safe for the finals is the A reserve side Works Green, which won nine straight matches early in the season.

However, handicaps have now reduced to a level where the team has drawn twice in the past four weeks and lost 5-7 on the other two occasions. 

This week it drew six-all with Exeter. Rowan Phelps and Glen Johansen won for Green, Greg Reid and Derek Peart (WO) won for Exeter. 

Amber drew with Red. Adam Gurr and Tracy Saltmarsh won for Amber, Alan Armitage and Barry Glover won for Red. 

Longford RSL and Navy also had a draw. Adrian White and Wayne Purdon won for Longford, Alan Legg and Steve Collins won for Navy. 

The A reserve ladder is: Green 115, Amber 91, Red 88, Navy 87, Exeter 85, Longford 80. 

A grade sides in finals race 

THE A grade roster is delicately poised with the top three teams all winning 3-1 last week and looking safe to play in the finals. 

Black defeated Blue. Bruce Lockley (2-0), David Bates (2-0) and Rodney Martin (2-1) won for Black, John Stevenson ((2-0) won for the Blue team. 

Exeter RSL beat the Devils 3-1. Adam Bindoff (2-1), Ben Swain (2-0) and Derek Peart (2-1) were Exeter's winners, Andrew Rainbow (2-1) won for the Devils. 

Launceston RSL also won 3-1 over Gold, Roydyn Bishop, Harley Stebbings and Terry Adams all won (2-0) for the RSL, John Fraser also won 2-0 for Gold. 

The ladder is: Black 32, Exeter 32, Launceston 30, Devils 22, Blue 22, and Gold 18. The best breaks were 39 from Rolf Stevenson and 38 from David Bates. 

Pickett Shield 

TASMANIA'S premier snooker event, the E.A. (Ted) Pickett Shield will be held at the Launceston Working Men's Club, Elizabeth Street, Launceston this weekend. It is played in honour of the late Ted Pickett, a sporting legend of Launceston, who died aged 99 years in January, 2009. 

Well known in many sports, Pickett was a Tasmanian champion in both billiards (1950, 55, 60) and snooker (1955), winning the Australian snooker championship the same year beating Jack Harris, of South Australia, in the final. 

The Northern team of Graeme Pickett, Gary Bjarone-Elliott, David Bates, Peter Donati, Roydyn Bishop, Robin McEnnulty, John Fraser and Terry Adams is defending the shield it won at Penguin last year and will start favourite to beat the Southern team, which is missing state champion Les Higgins and the North-West team also missing veteran Kerry Keygan. 

Play starts at 10am Saturday, on three tables, and has continuous play during Saturday and Sunday ending about 3pm with the presentation of the Ted Pickett Shield. Spectators are welcome and entry is free. 

NORTH-WEST TEAM: Gerrad Wicks, Michael Kelly, Kerry Keygan, Geoff Lehman, Chris Sutton, Denny Mayne, Grenville Brown, Joe Bonnici, Emergency Tim Wright. 

SOUTHERN TEAM: Steve Carroll, Brendan Milburn, Anthony Adams, Jeremy Cowie, Wayne Stokes, Luke Webb, Dennis Watts, Steve Cowie, emergency Barry Milburn. 

For more information go to www.nteba.com.au or call the secretary on 0419113528.

THE A grade snooker clash between first and second teams Works Black and Exeter RSL resulted in a win for Exeter 3-1.

This draws Exeter level with the Black team at the top of the ladder. Derek Peart (2-0), Gary Bakker (2-0) and Rex Swain (2-1) won for Exeter, and Peter Wallace (2-0) was Blacks' only winner. 

Launceston RSL, third on the ladder, consolidated its position by beating fourth-placed Devils 3-1. 

Robin McEnnulty (2-0), Terry Adams (2-1) and David Sheppard 2-0 won for Launceston RSL. Josh Rainbow won (2-0) for the Devils. 

Works Blue kept its finals chances alive with a comfortable 3-1 win over Gold. Peter Donati (2-0), Michael Leslie (2-1) and Hans Georgieff (2-1) won for Blue, Steven Leary (2-0) for Gold. 

LADDER: Black 28, Exeter 28, Launceston 26, Devils 22, Blue 22, Gold 18. 

BREAKS: Peter Donati 52, Gary Elliott 46, Terry Adams 36 and Rodney Martin 35. 

A reserve

IN A RESERVE, Green suffered its second loss in as many weeks, going down to Red 5-7. For Red, Bob Cain and Alan Armatige were winners, and David Thomas won for Green. 

Exeter kept its finals chances alive by winning 7-5 over Navy. Chris Reid and John Waters were winners, and Ray Skinner won for Navy. Amber and Longford played a 6-6 draw; John Saggers won for Amber, Wayne Purdon for Longford. 

A RESERVE LADDER: Green 108, Amber 84, Red 81, Navy 80, Exeter 78, Longford 73. 

Masters eightball 

WAYNE Elliott, of Hobart, is the 2010 state masters champion, with Launceston player Lee Morcom runner-up. They played at the LWC last Saturday, and Elliott finished on top of the 15-player round robin. 

Elliott defeated Bruce Lockley, of Launceston, in the second semi-final, and Morcom defeated Hobart's Doug Goss before defeating Lockley 2-1 to book a place in the final. 

The final saw Elliott win the first frame, with Morcom coming back to level the score at 1-1 before Elliott went on to win the next two frames to take the 2010 state masters title 3-1. 

Team selection 

A REMINDER that entries close soon for the 2010 state women's team selection to be played at the LWC on Saturday, July 24. Enter at www.eightballtasmania.com. au. 

Barrett dominates 

CONGRATULATIONS to Cale Barrett, of Penguin, competing in the Australian junior championships last week at Dingley, Victoria. 

Barrett took out both the under 15 billiards and the under 15 snooker Australian titles. 

Australia's newly crowned world snooker champion, Neil Robertson, a former Australian junior champion, was present to meet the players, for photos and autographs.

TASMANIAN Anthony Adams made the junior world eightball championship final in England. 

The Hobart talent played superbly but lost to both England's Frank Costello (7-4) and a parochial home crowd in Blackpool.

"It was a huge achievement to make the final given the number of excellent players competing at these championships," said Eightball Tasmania's Andrew Saltmarsh. 

It had been a while since Australia had a junior in the final, West Australian Matthew Franceschini winning in 1995, and Ben Crawley, of Northern Territory, in 1996, South Australian Mark Warry finished runner- up in 1997. 

John Lehman has become the first Australian to win the masters singles world championship, the South Australian defeating England's Shane Robinson 8-0. 

Lehman was also the captain of the Australian masters team which lost 5-4 to England in the final.

BOTTOM team Longford RSL became the giant-killer of Wednesday night interclub snooker, ending Works Green's 10-match unbeaten run with a 7-5 upset.

Adrian White, Tim Donnachy and Greg Williams won for Longford, with Jenna Sampson and David Thomas replying for Green, which maintains a healthy 26-point lead on top of the A reserve ladder. 

Exeter beat Red 7-5, with John Waters, Derek Peart, Greg Reid and Peter Seaman winners, while third-placed Navy beat second- placed Amber 7-5, with Craig Jory, Ray Skinner and Damien Bushby victorious. 

Greg Reid's 31 was the week's highest break and Glen Johansen (Works Green) leads the player ranking with 15 wins from 22 frames. 

In A grade, bottom teams Works Blue and Gold had good wins to close the ladder to just six points between second and sixth placings. 

Blue beat Launceston RSL 4-0, with Rolf Stevenson, Peter Donati (both 2-0), John Stevenson and Hans Georieoff (2-1) winning. 

Gold beat Exeter 3-1, with winners Garry Bjarnoe-Elliot, John Saggers, Steve Leary and Adam Bindoff. 

Ladder-leader Black drew 2-2 with the Devils. David Bates continued his winning streak, winning 2-1 over Josh Rainbow, conceding a 60-point start before winning the final frame by one point. 

Rodney Martin, Scott Kopriva and Andrew Rainbow also won. 

Bates heads the player stats with 19 wins from 26 frames with his handicap reduced to minus 14, followed by Bindoff and Robin McEnnulty.

IN A week of uncertainty for Exeter RSL Club, both interclub snooker teams had strong wins. 

Last Wednesday night, Exeter RSL Green won 7-5 against Longford RSL, with Derek Peart and John Waters winning for Exeter and Wayne Purdon winning for Longford.

On Thursday night, Exeter RSL Black won 3-1 against Launceston RSL. Gary Bakker (2-0), Ben Swain (2-1) and Rex Swain (2-0), were Exeter's winners, while Paul Zoon (2-0) won for Launceston RSL. 

In other results last Wednesday night, Works Red had an impressive 9-3 win over the Navy team. 

Keith Coomber, Bob Cain and Alan Armitage won for Red, while Steve Collins was Navy's only winner. 

First and second on the ladder, Green and Amber, had a six-all draw, with Rowan Phelps winning 2-0 for Green and Adam Gurr 2-0 for Amber. 

On Thursday night, Works Black consolidated their top of ladder position with a 4-0 drubbing of Works Blue - David Bates 2-0, Peter Wallace 2-0, Andrew Saltmarsh 2-1, Rodney Martin 2-1 all winning for the Black team. 

The Devils also had a 4-0 win over Gold - Heath Rainbow 2-0, Josh Rainbow 2-0, Wally Sully 2-1 and Andrew Rainbow 2-1 winning for the Devils. 

The A-grade ladder tallies are: Black 26, Exeter RSL 24, Launceston RSL 22, Devils 20, Blue 14 and Gold 14. 

David Bates continued to dominate the A-grade stats with 17 wins from 24 frames, and won this week's best break with a 49 clearance. 

As a consequence of his winning streak, David's handicap is now minus 12. 

The A-reserve ladder stands at: Green 98, Amber 72, Red 67, Navy 66, Exeter 60 and Longford 57. 

The best break of the round was 33 by Longford's Wayne Purdon. 

State qualifiers

TROY Rudling, of the Perth Hotel, finished second in the final round of Northern qualifying for the 2010 state open eightball team. 

Troy will be joined by fellow Perth player Ian Tac Kaye and another 14 players from the North and North-West, as well as eight players from the South for this year's state open team playoff at the LWC on July 31 and August 1. 

Full results can be found at eightballtasmania.com.au 

The state masters team selection trials will be held at the LWC on July 10 and the women's team selection on July 24. Players can also enter through the Eightball Tasmania website. 

 

The Northern Eightball Association will hold a blind doubles draw on Sunday at the LWC starting at noon. 

Entry is open to all NTEBA players, and players can enter at www.nteba.com.au

Paul Zoon, Roydyn Bishop, Robin McEnnulty and Terry Adams are the Launceston RSL Green Snooker team that has been together for more than 20 years. Picture: PAUL SCAMBLER

YOU have to have a strong love for a sport to commit to it long-term, and Launceston RSL Club snooker player Roydyn Bishop is a fine example.

Bishop has been playing since first picking up a cue at the Lycium Club in St John Street, Launceston, at the age of 16 in 1962, and played his first competitive match for the Railway Institute in 1967. 

He has also represented the Working Men's Club, the Tatts club and the CTA club. 

In the 43 years since, it is estimated that Bishop, who is still a regular on the interclub snooker circuit, has played more than 1000 matches. 

But what drew him to snooker? 

"An inability to play football," he said with a laugh. 

"It's just a game that I started playing when I started working. I love all sports, but was OK at some, but not at others. 

"It's a peculiar game snooker, it takes a fair bit of self-control and it can certainly be character-building at times. 

"But I just like it. I'm not one to sit and analyse things, you just like something or you don't." 

Bishop, who was won six Northern championships and two Tasmanian championships, said that it was the people he had met in snooker that was most enjoyable. 

"The people before me, such as Ron Atkins stands out, he's a three-time Australian winner and runner-up for the world title in 1980 and I played against him a fair bit in the '70s," he said. 

"But I've also got a lot of admiration for the older players that I learnt from such as Ted Pickett, but there's been a lot of good players of Tasmania, including Robert Higgins, Jammie Giannaros, John Hanson, who's no longer with us."

Bishop said that it was an achievement to have played the sport for such a long period, and he wasn't about to put a use-by-date on his snooker career.

LAUNCESTON RSL joined Works Black on top of the A Grade Northern Snooker ladder, by comfortably beating them 3-1 at RSL last Thursday night.

Robin McEnnulty (2-1), Terry Adams (2-0) and Paul Zoon (2-0) won for RSL while David Bates (2-0) won for Black. 

Both other matches finished in 2-2 draws, with Exeter's Adam Bindoff and Ben Swain and Blue's Michael Leslie and Rolf Stevenson victorious, while Wally Sully, Scott Kopriva, Gary Bjarnee-Elliott and Tim Leary won for Devils and Gold. 

Bates leads the player standings with 15 wins from 21 frames with Adam Bindoff a close second. 

Best breaks were 44 from Terry Adams and Robin McEnnulty's 37. 

In A reserve, Works Red moved into the four with an 8-4 win over Longford RSL, Keith Coomber and Alan Armitage winning 2-0. Works Green continued its winning way, 7-5 over Navy, with Jenna Simpson, Andrew Thomas and Craig Jory winners. 

Amber and Exeter had a 6-6 draw with Derek Peart the only 2-0 winner. 

Regional shield

THE John Williams Snooker Shield was played at the Penguin RSL over the weekend, with the Northern team (15 wins) finishing second behind North-West (21). South had 12 wins. 

Northern players Andrew Saltmarsh and Lee Morcom won all four of their matches and Adrian White three, while Andrew Rainbow and Andrew Saltmarsh made 31 breaks respectively.

Player profile

LES Higgins, of Hobart, is the current Tasmanian billiards and snooker champion. 

To date, Higgins, 46, has won 15 state snooker and 18 state billiards championships. 

The only other Australian player who has dominated state championships to that extent is the late Bob Marshall, of Western Australia. 

Higgins won three Australian age championships and was regarded as a player destined for the lucrative English professional circuit. 

By the time he racks his cue he will have set a mark that surely will never be beaten in any state

A MATCH that turned into a marathon eventually gave Exeter RSL a win over the Devils in their A grade interclub snooker match.

The competition's youngest player, Devils' Josh Rainbow, 15, had two shots at a re- spotted black in the deciding frame, to eventually see Exeter veteran Garry Bakker pot for a 2-1 win. 

Rainbow has had several black ball games go against him in recent weeks, an experience that will help with his development as a player. 

Andrew Rainbow, 17, also went down 2-1 in a thriller to Adam Bindoff and Rex Swain (2-0) was Exeter's other winner. Heath Rainbow won 2-1 for the Devils. 

Ladder leader Black drew 2-2 with Blue, David Bates, Rodney Martin, Peter Donati and John Stevenson the winners. Launceston RSL and Gold also drew 2-2 with wins for Roydyn Bishop, Robin McEnnulty, John Fraser and Gary Bjarnee- Elliott. 

This week's best breaks were David Bates 33 and 30 and Peter Donati 30. 

In A reserve, all three results were 8-4, Amber beating Red (Tracey Saltmarsh, John Fraser and Adam Gurr all won 2-0 for Amber, Bob Cain replied for Red). 

Green was too strong for Exeter, with Glen Johansen continuing his winning form with Anthony Thomas, George Zammit and Phil Stagg winning 2-0. 

Longford moved into the four thanks to Dennis Collins and Adrian White's wins over Navy. 

Best break was 22 by Stagg. 

The draws for the Northern Snooker Championships, in all grades, are available on club notice boards or the website.

LAUNCESTON RSL jumped two spots to second on the A grade snooker ladder with a resounding 4-0 win over the Devils.

Terry Adams (2-0), Robin McEnnulty (2-0), Paul Zoon (2-0) and Roydyn Bishop (2-1) were too strong at home for their much younger opponents. 

Ladder leaders Works Black's David Bates (2-0), Andrew Saltmarsh (2-0) and Peter Wallace (2-1) beat Exeter 3-1, for who Rex Swain (2-0) was the only winner. 

Gold and Blue, both fighting for a place in the four, played out a draw, with Rolf Stevenson, Peter Donati (both 2-0), John Fraser and Trevor Leary (both 2-1) winners. 

Roydyn Bishop and Peter Donati both scored top breaks of 32. 

A reserve powerhouse Works Green continued its winning steak downing the Red team 9-3. David Thomas, Glen Johanson and Anthony Thomas won 2-0 for Green. 

Amber defeated Longford 8-4, Tracy Saltmarsh and Adam Gurr winning 2-0. Navy won 7-5 over Exeter, John Fordham, Ray Skinner and Greg Reid winners. 

John Fraser, filling in from A grade, made a 46 break to win a frame, while Peter Fraser scored 38.

South too good

NORTH'S young team was outgunned in the The Doug Salter Shield, 50 up Billiards, conducted in Hobart over the weekend. 

The Southern team won with 17 frames, North-West scored 14 and North 5. Peter Donati and Adrian White won two frames each. Lee Morcom, in his first billiard match for the North, was awarded an encouragement award, recognising his future in the sport. 

The next intrastate shield match is the John Williams Shield, played at Penguin in two weeks. The Northern team is; A. Saltmarsh, A. White, K. Coomber, R. Stevenson, P. Fraser, L. Morcom, A. Rainbow and H. Rainbow.