JERSEY once again played host to some of the world’s finest bar billiards talent, as 128 players competed in this year’s Bar Billiards World Championship at the Merton Hotel.
Unfortunately, Jersey’s 20-year wait for another world champion will continue for at least another year, as none of the local contingent made it to the finals. However, that certainly did not dampen spirits, as the event was hailed as a “great success”.
“This year’s event was a great success, everything ran smoothly without any hiccups. Our sponsors were great in helping run the event and reward our players, while the Merton Hotel were perfect as a venue,” said Sean Le Beuvant, Jersey Bar Billiards president and world championships director.
“All the players in the bar billiards community are like one big family, everyone knows each other and any new players are immediately welcomed. The feedback we’ve had is all great, so much so that the players are already booking their flights to return next year.”
Doubles
The action began on Friday, where the entertaining doubles competitions for the coveted Peter Noel Memorial Trophy. Contrary to the event’s usual early upsets, this time all the favourites progressed through the opening rounds, culminating in what was described as “one of the strongest doubles tournaments for a long time”.
Following a strong run of matches, the final turned out to be somewhat of a dream scenario for spectators, as the competition’s last two champions faced off for the spoils during Saturday evening.
2023’s champions, Martin Cole and Joe Oakley took on the reigning titlists Gerry Fitzjohn and Kevin Tunstall, who themselves were aiming to be just the second pair in the tournament’s history to retain the title.
In their bid to retain the honours, things did not get off to the best of starts, as Cole and Oakley stormed ahead to take the first two legs and lead by over 17,000 points.
Despite the strong start from the 2023 winners, the match was far from over, as the defending champions hit back to reduce the deficit and win the third leg.
Heading into the decisive fourth leg, Fitzjohn and Tunstall continued to rattle off points. Odds looked to turn in their favour as they won back the break, but unfortunately it was too little too late. Even though they won the fourth leg, the disparity in points was simply too large, which saw Cole and Oakley take the win 18,840–17,750.
Le Beuvant shared his thoughts on the final, saying: “That game was certainly the competition’s best ever final, it’s never gone all the way to four legs in the 18 years that the competition has ran for. Everyone was entertained and glued to the match, even us in the admin desk had to jump out and watch the final leg.”
Aside from that, those who did not qualify past round one were entered into the plate competition, which was won by the dynamic duo of John Slee and Simon Coleman.
Singles
Before Saturday’s doubles finals, the main singles competition got off to a cracking start. Once again, there were no “groups of death” or major surprises meaning that all the stronger players lived up to expectations and made it through past the group stages.
Following plenty of strong, high-quality bar billiards matches, the final featured first-time finalist Curt Driver against two-time champion Matt Jones.
After winning the roll of the dice, Driver elected that Jones break, hoping for an early error. However, that decision proved costly, as Jones showed exceptional pacing and accuracy to rack up an immense opening break of 17,990, clearing the table bar one ball. Driver pocketed the last ball, giving him a mere 100 points to start.
Such a magnificent break put Jones in a strong position, with a single error in the second leg meaning game-over for his adversary. Knowing he needed a flawless run to stay in the game and to tally up the points, Driver began his attempt to come back. But an unfortunate hit of the white peg completely eradicated his break, resulting in him having to turn, shake Jones’ hand and admit defeat.
With that victory, Jones has now put himself “among the greats”, as only one of five players in the competition’s history to win the grand prize three or more times.
Before that career highlight moment for the now three-time world champion, the enthralling singles plate competition came to its conclusion.
With all the stronger players going through on the main draw, the plate was a lot more evenly matched with the title up for grabs. With this year’s new format, which introduced live re-draws for each round (similar to the FA Cup), everyone had to constantly be stay sharp throughout, as there was no planning their way through the draw.
After thrilling matches, it was Simon Coleman who took home the honours, which was well deserved as he was the competition’s “most consistent player”.
Looking ahead
With another successful world championships in the books, Le Beuvant showed no signs of slowing down, as he wants to continue expanding the event.
“First things first, I think everyone deserves a bit of rest after organising this past weekend. After that, we’ll be meeting with the Merton again to just confirm bookings, as it really is a great venue,” continued the world championships director.
“I want to continue to digitalise further and scrap all the paper usage, as it’s incredibly time consuming and a lot less efficient.
“We’ll also be starting to renovate our tables, so that we’ll have at least one which is in beautiful condition for next year.
“Then, it’s all about increasing numbers. Some may think that 128 is the perfect number, as it splits perfectly with 64/64, but we want to make life awkward for ourselves and continue to grow the game.”
The Bar Billiards World Championship would like to thank their sponsors Seymour Group, Whitmill, Integritas Wealth, Trident Trust and AAL Recycling, as well as Emma and Jenny Noel’s sponsorship of the Peter Noel Memorial Trophy.
If you’d like to get involved and make your start in the sport, either send an email to jerseybarbilliards@outlook.com, or call 07700 717941, as it could be you competing in this huge event in the future.
