Five snooker teams, four senior and one junior, and a billiards team will play in an 18-team tournament in Plymouth on Saturday where a total of 252 frames of snooker will be played between 9.30 am and 8 pm.
The Challenge, promoted by Rileys, Plymouth, is the brainchild of Jersey senior referee Gary Truscott and Roger Cole, of the West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation.
Truscott said: ‘This is a first time Jersey have played in the UK and all the players are looking forward to playing against different and probably stronger opposition than they are used too.
We are using the tournament as preparation for participation in the Home Internationals which will take place in Prestatyn in September.
‘That event too will be a first for Jersey and I’m sure our players will all be out to give a good account of themselves both this weekend and again in September.’ JBSA teams can now compete in all the major snooker competitions around Europe having affiliated to the European Billiards and Snooker Association and the Republic of Ireland Billiards & Snooker Association.
The tournament consists of three matches; senior snooker; junior snooker and the less often seen but no less skilful, English billiards.
All teams consist of three players.
In the senior snooker match there will be six teams from the Channel Islands against six top teams selected from Plymouth, Exeter, Cornwall, Wales, Pontins, and Cuestars, the latter covering South & South East England.
The junior match pitches Jersey against some of the best rising talent from Cornwall and the WEBSF.
In the English billiards top teams from Devon and Cornwall take on the unknown quality of Jersey.
In all 26 international players will be in action playing a total of 256 frames of Snooker and over eight hours of English billiards on the Saturday.
Snooker, A team: Karl Le Fèvre, Chris Alexander, Gary Britton.
B: Dave Snell, Ray Kilmartin, Bob Bradshaw.
C: Chris Melville, Kurt Jones, Andrew Stentiford.
D: John Austick, Guy Heys, Steve Thomas.
Juniors: Dane Jennings, Miguel De Freitas, Joe Stewart.
Jersey Billiards: Russell Hilton, Darren Malzard, Martyn Le Gallais.
All cueists face a full programme starting with a civic reception tomorrow when they are invited to meet the Lord Mayor of Plymouth.
The mayor will be presented with a silver salver by JBSA president Richard de la Haye.
Other travelling officials: David Joyce (team manager), Robert Sutherland (secretary) and Malcolm Malzard (billiards coach).
