A Cue Sport event not to be missed ladies and gents… Not only is the venue setting second to none (well done MPU Cue Sport & Lake Umuzi!) this event has some top shelf players present! Legends of the past (not as cold as you may think), upcoming stars and our current fearless warriors..some incredible play witnessed already and they are just warming up!!
With a field of 36 players present, the future of this sport in South Africa looks promising. After many years of introduction, it has finally peaked the interest of players from all over the country…watch this space peeps, there are great things on the horizon for this discipline in South Africa!
Participants at the 2017 S.A. 8, 9 & 10-Ball Championships – Lake Umuzi – Secunda
Now, to the results of day 1, the S.A. 8-Ball Championship…
With the likes of defending S.A. 9-Ball Champion Charl Jonck, Jason Theron, Anton Klanfar, Sandile Madlala, Chinese 8-Ball Champion Vincent Halliday, the Under 18 S.A. 9-Ball Champion Franco Kriel (and the list goes on) present, it was open table to all…impossible to predict who would soar to the final today.
The legendary Jason Theron was the shining star of the day. Making his appearance after quite a few years of “resting”, he had a bit of a slow start with his first opponent nowhere to be found! Evidently the additional few hours of wait to get the balls rolling, blew the eagerness over the top within Jason, leaving the rest of his opponents shocked…to say the least…winning 4-0 against Hein van Staden, 5-0 against Zander Kriel, 5-4 against Charl Jonck and then 5-3 against Sandile Madlala in the final of the winners half! Is unstoppable the appropriate word??? Well, he faces Sandile Madlala again in the final on Sunday, let’s see if Jason proves his point! I am a firm believer it is proven already…it is like riding a bike…#legendsneverdie
Birthday boy Vincent Halliday had a terrible day on the table. Losing both his matches, 4-3 against Hardus Hoon and 4-1 against Anton Klanfar. Not quite the birthday present one would expect! Currently Vincent dominates on the Chinese 8-Ball table, however never underestimate this cueist, he generally prevails at any Cue Sport he places his focus on..
Defending S.A. 9-Ball Champion Charl Jonck was well on his way to the final until he failed head to head 5-4 against Jason Theron in the quarter finals, in what was one of the most nail biting matches of the day! At that point everyone still felt confident that Charl will still get to the final..it is nothing new for him to struggle a little and still win a championship, especially with two lives! Well, the confidence quickly melted with the performance of the new kid on the block, Jeremiah Naidoo who sent Charl packing 4-3 in the losers half…wow! This 20 year old has some stunning talent! Unbelievable stuff…if you haven’t heard the name yet, believe you me, it will be in the headlines soon! Jeremiah has a great future ahead of him in cue sport!
Jeremiah had a great run overall, however Sandile Madlala broke his stride in the final of the losers half with a banging 4-0 defeat! Sandile is always a formidable force to deal with, especially for an inexperienced player…he is now however mentally marked for this upcoming wonder-kid, I look forward to the next time that they meet on the table!
Sandile fell a very close second to Jason today and from what I hear he is physically fit and mentally strong, and we all know what that means when Sandile is on the table…it will definitely be a very interesting final match on Sunday!
Here is a link to all the results of today:
http://challonge.com/SOUTHAFRICAN8BALLMenChampionships2017
Two more exciting days of play ahead of us…
Follow the results live : S.A. 9-Ball Champs + S.A. 10-Ball Champs
Written by : Grieta Steenkamp #fortheloveofthegame