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2017 South Australian Open Billiards
Tournament Report |
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2017 South Australian Open Billiards Championship – Tournament Report
SnookerSA @ The Venue, 57 Milner Rd, Richmond, Adelaide
Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th February 2017
Adelaide's SnookerSA @ The Venue played host to the 2017 South Australian Open Billiards Championship. This world ranking event was played over 2 days and attracted players from all over Australia and indeed the world with no fewer than 5 countries and 4 Australian States represented, the most notable entrants being Australian No. 1 Matthew Bolton and multiple world champion and current World No.1 Peter Gilchrist of Singapore.
The initial group stages on Day 1 were contested in a 1 hour timed format with the top 2 players from each group advancing to the knockout stages of the tournament.
In his opening Group A match, Peter Gilchrist got off to a slow start and was trailing the unranked newcomer David Walsh of Ireland after 30 minutes. However, despite the initial scare, Gilchrist quickly moved through the gears and breaks of 114 and 105 put the contest to bed. Gilchrist went from strength to strength in his second group game against Maylasia's rising star, Adwin Teh, and compiled two sublime breaks of 300 to run out a comfortable 764-79 winner. Gilchrist then dismissed Barry Jenner of South Australia with similar ease, making a break of 495, the highest of the tournament and thus cementing his place in the knockouts as a comfortable Group A winner. Adwin Teh defeated Jenner and Walsh to finish second in the group and advance to the next stage.
After the first two round robin sessions, Group B was left wide open with each player having won a single game each. In the final group games, local hero Peter Udycz compiled breaks of 63 and 40 to see off his fellow South Australian Gary Oxenham and advance to the knockout stages, where he was joined by Glenn Yeo of Singapore who overcame Dirk Hellenbroich of New South Wales with a 260-157 win.
George Chammas of New South Wales won all of his round robin games and compiled breaks of 50 and 83 to top Group C. He was followed in second place by Max Rendziak, the current South Australian State Billiards title holder.
Matthew Bolton of Western Australia struggled to find his rhythm in the early exchanges of his opening Group D game against the gallant Roger Davey of South Australia. Despite Davey's stubborn resistance, Bolton ran out a 312-153 winner and went from strength to strength as he comfortably defeated Sushrut Pandia of India with a break of 154. Similarly, he dismissed Ricky Lo of New South Wales with ease making a 148 break and comfortably topping the group to advance to the knockouts where he was joined by Davey who finished second in the group.
Shawn Budd of South Australia narrowly defeated his fellow snooker-cum-billiards star Ben Judge of Western Australia to finish first in Group E, while Jason Colebrook of Victoria out-muscled Peter Tankard of News South Wales to top Group F.
In the opening knockout round, Peter Udycz made some miraculous recovery shots and potted some stunning reds off the spot to somehow avoid defeat in a close contest with Adwin Teh. Max Rendziak demonstrated his delightful brand of open billiards to overcome Peter Tankard and reach the quarter-finals where he was joined by Ben Judge who beat Glenn Yeo with a nice break of 74. The shock of the round was when Roger Davey got up by a hair's breadth against the formidable George Chammas, 164-156.
In the quarter-finals, Peter Gilchrist made breaks of 80 and 110 to withstand a plucky performance from Ben Judge. Jason Colebrook comfortably saw off Roger Davey, while Shawn Budd lost out to Peter Udycz in a hard-fought tussle. Max Rendziak was put to the sword by a free-flowing Matthew Bolton who compiled quality breaks of 163,110,177,115, and 77 to win by over 500 points, 719-204. Not bad going for 90 minutes of play!
Both semi-finals, which were played over 120 minutes and on adjacent tables, were a delight to watch as Gilchrist and Bolton were rapidly approaching top gear, clearly with the final now in their sights. Peter got off to a ferocious start against a nervous looking Jason Colebrook and knocked in two marvellous breaks of 200 and 285. Despite the early nerves, Jason found his feet and played some decent all-round billiards to amass a sizeable final score of 394 points to Peter's 870. Meanwhile, Matthew produced blistering form to clinically dispose of Peter Udycz by over 1000 points. Breaks of 138, 237, and a whopping 474 contributed to an awsome final score of 1270-262.
And so, as many had predicted, the final was contested by Peter Gilchrist and Matthew Bolton, two modern-day legends of the sport. The enthusiastic audience was treated to a fascinating contrast of styles as the graceful creativity of Gilchrist faced off against the bullish precision of Bolton. And this final did not disappoint. Bolton was quickest out of the traps and established what looked like an unassailable lead after the hour mark, having amassed two fantastic breaks of 154 and 166 while cleverly leaving his opponent with minmal scoring opportnities. However, just as Bolton looked like he was running away with the trophy, Gilchrist dug deep and clawed his way back into the final. Two magnificent pressure breaks of 238 and 105 set up a nail-biting finale. In the end, Bolton prevailed by the skin of his teeth in a thrilling finish that could have gone either way.
Congratuations to Matthew Bolton on winning this event and cementing his status as not only Australia's No. 1 but also as a top world billiards competitive player. Commiserations to Peter Gilchrist, a gracious runner-up who demonstrated his class, brilliance and vast repertoire of skills over a magnificent weekend of billiards in South Australia.
David Walsh
SnookerSA @ The Venue, 57 Milner Rd, Richmond, Adelaide
Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th February 2017
Adelaide's SnookerSA @ The Venue played host to the 2017 South Australian Open Billiards Championship. This world ranking event was played over 2 days and attracted players from all over Australia and indeed the world with no fewer than 5 countries and 4 Australian States represented, the most notable entrants being Australian No. 1 Matthew Bolton and multiple world champion and current World No.1 Peter Gilchrist of Singapore.
The initial group stages on Day 1 were contested in a 1 hour timed format with the top 2 players from each group advancing to the knockout stages of the tournament.
In his opening Group A match, Peter Gilchrist got off to a slow start and was trailing the unranked newcomer David Walsh of Ireland after 30 minutes. However, despite the initial scare, Gilchrist quickly moved through the gears and breaks of 114 and 105 put the contest to bed. Gilchrist went from strength to strength in his second group game against Maylasia's rising star, Adwin Teh, and compiled two sublime breaks of 300 to run out a comfortable 764-79 winner. Gilchrist then dismissed Barry Jenner of South Australia with similar ease, making a break of 495, the highest of the tournament and thus cementing his place in the knockouts as a comfortable Group A winner. Adwin Teh defeated Jenner and Walsh to finish second in the group and advance to the next stage.
After the first two round robin sessions, Group B was left wide open with each player having won a single game each. In the final group games, local hero Peter Udycz compiled breaks of 63 and 40 to see off his fellow South Australian Gary Oxenham and advance to the knockout stages, where he was joined by Glenn Yeo of Singapore who overcame Dirk Hellenbroich of New South Wales with a 260-157 win.
George Chammas of New South Wales won all of his round robin games and compiled breaks of 50 and 83 to top Group C. He was followed in second place by Max Rendziak, the current South Australian State Billiards title holder.
Matthew Bolton of Western Australia struggled to find his rhythm in the early exchanges of his opening Group D game against the gallant Roger Davey of South Australia. Despite Davey's stubborn resistance, Bolton ran out a 312-153 winner and went from strength to strength as he comfortably defeated Sushrut Pandia of India with a break of 154. Similarly, he dismissed Ricky Lo of New South Wales with ease making a 148 break and comfortably topping the group to advance to the knockouts where he was joined by Davey who finished second in the group.
Shawn Budd of South Australia narrowly defeated his fellow snooker-cum-billiards star Ben Judge of Western Australia to finish first in Group E, while Jason Colebrook of Victoria out-muscled Peter Tankard of News South Wales to top Group F.
In the opening knockout round, Peter Udycz made some miraculous recovery shots and potted some stunning reds off the spot to somehow avoid defeat in a close contest with Adwin Teh. Max Rendziak demonstrated his delightful brand of open billiards to overcome Peter Tankard and reach the quarter-finals where he was joined by Ben Judge who beat Glenn Yeo with a nice break of 74. The shock of the round was when Roger Davey got up by a hair's breadth against the formidable George Chammas, 164-156.
In the quarter-finals, Peter Gilchrist made breaks of 80 and 110 to withstand a plucky performance from Ben Judge. Jason Colebrook comfortably saw off Roger Davey, while Shawn Budd lost out to Peter Udycz in a hard-fought tussle. Max Rendziak was put to the sword by a free-flowing Matthew Bolton who compiled quality breaks of 163,110,177,115, and 77 to win by over 500 points, 719-204. Not bad going for 90 minutes of play!
Both semi-finals, which were played over 120 minutes and on adjacent tables, were a delight to watch as Gilchrist and Bolton were rapidly approaching top gear, clearly with the final now in their sights. Peter got off to a ferocious start against a nervous looking Jason Colebrook and knocked in two marvellous breaks of 200 and 285. Despite the early nerves, Jason found his feet and played some decent all-round billiards to amass a sizeable final score of 394 points to Peter's 870. Meanwhile, Matthew produced blistering form to clinically dispose of Peter Udycz by over 1000 points. Breaks of 138, 237, and a whopping 474 contributed to an awsome final score of 1270-262.
And so, as many had predicted, the final was contested by Peter Gilchrist and Matthew Bolton, two modern-day legends of the sport. The enthusiastic audience was treated to a fascinating contrast of styles as the graceful creativity of Gilchrist faced off against the bullish precision of Bolton. And this final did not disappoint. Bolton was quickest out of the traps and established what looked like an unassailable lead after the hour mark, having amassed two fantastic breaks of 154 and 166 while cleverly leaving his opponent with minmal scoring opportnities. However, just as Bolton looked like he was running away with the trophy, Gilchrist dug deep and clawed his way back into the final. Two magnificent pressure breaks of 238 and 105 set up a nail-biting finale. In the end, Bolton prevailed by the skin of his teeth in a thrilling finish that could have gone either way.
Congratuations to Matthew Bolton on winning this event and cementing his status as not only Australia's No. 1 but also as a top world billiards competitive player. Commiserations to Peter Gilchrist, a gracious runner-up who demonstrated his class, brilliance and vast repertoire of skills over a magnificent weekend of billiards in South Australia.
David Walsh
