Two of Australia's best billiards players were in action at the Ourimbah RSL Club, New South Wales, on 26th February when six times Australian billiards champion Phil Tarrant took on the current Australian No.1 player and 1998 Champion, Joe Minici, in a two hour exhibition match.
Tarrant started the first session in fine form, scoring a 109 break in the first 10 minutes and held onto his lead until the end of the first session, finishing ahead 367 to 259. The players then took a 20 minute recess in which they fielded questions from the audience. The second session saw century breaks from both players to maintain Tarrant's 100 point advantage into the last 15 minutes. A final effort from Minici saw him make breaks of 86 and 49 to take the lead in the last few minutes and set up an exciting finish. With Tarrant requiring 16 points to win with less than 30 seconds remaining, he was only able to manage 10 before time ran out, leaving Minici the victor 619 to 614.
The players then gave a demonstration of trick shots which lasted more than 2 hours. One unexpected highlight came when Joe was trying to demonstrate the delicate touch required to play nursery cannons. He invited a young boy out from the audience and asked him to hit the cue ball to the opposite end of the table and land it on a $10 note. Without further ado, the boy stepped up and played the shot to perfection! All in all, it was a great night for both the players and the spectators, and a good boost for the game of billiards. At the end of the night both Phil and Joe were hinting that this would be the first of many such exhibitions. Source: Adam Wyard. ism@candela.com.au