Englishman Bill Andress gained some consolation for his visiting Loose Cannons team losing the test match to New Zealand, when he won the New Zealand Open played in Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club from 6th-8th October 2000.
A field of 24 players lined up on the first morning, this number including all four members of the "Loose Cannons" squad. The tournament also saw the welcome return of former New Zealand champion Ken Giles. The 24 players were divided into 6 sections of 4 based on current ranking positions. All of these matches were 2 hours duration.
In Section 1, Ken Giles showed he had lost few of his earlier skills when he won all three matches to top his group. This included a 483-364 win over current New Zealand champion Wayne Carey, who, with two wins, went through as runner-up.
In Section 2, Merv Stewart proved unstoppable with three big wins, knocking in breaks of 87 and 70 in one match, and 81, 51 and 51 in another. Newcomer Brendan Bateman showed good form to take the runner-up spot with two victories. Bateman was this year's Upper North Island B Grade tournament winner, and shows great potential. Once all-round billiards knowledge is added to his phenomenal potting powers, he will go far in tournaments. Colin Taylor finished third in the section, and qualified for post-section play as one of the best third place positions.
Darcy Boyce won all his matches in Section 3, and visiting Englishman Derick Townend with two wins, including a narrow 17 point win over Ron Milicich, finished runner-up. Milicich also featured on the wrong end of another close result, a 14 point loss to Boyce, but he finished third in the section, and qualified for post-section stages as another of the best third placed players
.Visiting Englishman John Smith was undefeated in Section 4, scoring heavily in all his three matches. He made breaks of 81, 61, 52 and 50 in one of these, and 88, 78 and 55 in another. Gary Oliver was runner-up with two wins, making breaks of 95, 79 and 73 in his match against Ian Hazelton. Malcolm Cooke with one win finished third in the section, and qualified as one of the best third-place players. Cooke scored breaks of 112, 55 and 53 in his match against Oliver, but still lost by 56 points
.Paul Stocker won Section 5, and was in brilliant form against Kevin Crichton, scoring 919 points in the 2 hours, including breaks of 173, 74, 60 and 53. Stocker scored another century (101) in his match against Joe Ifa. Visiting Englishman Bill Andress also scored heavily, knocking in breaks of 114, 66, and 60 in one match, and 91, 87, and 51 in another. The Stocker v Andress match was a thriller, Stocker just prevailing 561- 547. Andress qualified as runner-up in the section.
In Section 6, Peter Shelley won all three of his matches comfortably. He scored the highest number of points in section play (2,497), and was No.1 qualifier in the draw for the knockout stages. He broke the magical 1,000 barrier in his match against Paddy Tattley, scoring 1,037 points which included breaks of 155, 65 (twice), 64, 61, 57, 56, and 55. His speedy break building was a joy to behold. Ray Habgood upset the seedings by beating Tony Stephens 502-333 to take the runner-up position, but Stephens still qualified for post-section play as one of the four best third-places.
Peter Shelley broke the 1,000 mark for the second time in the tournament in his last 16 match, and scored a beautiful 225 break (the highest of the tournament) in the process. Gary Oliver had a narrow 13 point win over Wayne Carey, and newcomer Brendan Bateman was far from disgraced against Darcy Boyce, making a 53 break in losing 573-408. Ron Milicich finished 66 points clear of John Smith, and despite a good 91 break, Tony Stephens lost by 163 points to Merv Stewart. Derick Townend and Giles had a thriller, Townend just getting home by 2 points right on the bell. Bill Andress was very fluent against Ray Habgood, an 86 by the Englishman being the highlight. Paul Stocker and Malcolm Cooke had a high scoring match, Stocker winning 649-506. Stocker made two centuries (119 and 101), but still had to work very hard to overcome Cooke, who responded well with a break of 96.
Gary Oliver caused a big upset by beating the highly rated Englishman Peter Shelley. Oliver's uncharacteristically slow play at one stage earned him a time wasting warning from the referee. Darcey Boyce advanced to the semi-finals with a 98 point win over Ron Milicich, and Stewart beat Derick Townend by 274 points. Bill Andress kept the English flag flying with a hard-fought win over Paul Stocker.
Oliver beat Darcy Boyce by 134 points to advance to the final, and Bill Andress beat Merv Stewart by 313 points. Andress looked especially good in the last 45 minutes of his match making breaks of 116, 85, 80 and 69 during this period.
Gary Oliver was on a high after having earlier eliminated top seed Peter Shelley, and Andress had put on a very efficient display in the latter part of his semi-final, so a keenly contested final was anticipated, and an excellent match resulte
d.The final started at a fairly sedate pace, with the first break over 50 coming at the 90 minute mark. At this point, Andress, showing the first sign of the fluency he had displayed in earlier matches put together a 61. However, when he reached this figure, he suddenly decided to chalk his cue for the first time in the break, and much to the mirth of the audience could not find his chalk. There was quite a delay while he searched for it, finally retrieving it from his coat pocket. Having chalked his cue, he then promptly missed his next shot! Oliver also made his first reasonable contribution at this point, making a 46 immediately afterwards. At the interval Andress led 385-318.
Oliver started the second session well, and made a good 100 break early on and took the lead for the first time in the match at 422-418. However this was short-lived as Andress regained the advantage and opened up a 122 point lead, thanks mainly to a good 76 break, again chalking his cue just once at the end of the break.
Later, there was another amusing incident when Andress leant his cue against the wall while his opponent was at the table, but when it came to his turn had forgotten where he had left it! Like the earlier incident with the chalk, there was much mirth while he searched everywhere, but when the cue was finally located, he put it to good use by making a 58 break. This extended his lead to 728-554.
In the last 15 minutes Oliver considerably quickened his pace. He scored 130 points during this time, Including consecutive contributions of 30, 39 and 56. It was a good finish from the Canterbury player, but the gap was too great to bridge, and the final score was 768-684 to Andress. It was a good final, one befitting the status of the occasion.
Like all the Loose Cannons, Bill Andress was a very likeable fellow, and his victory was a popular one. He looked more like an absent- minded professor than a good Billiards player, but appearances were certainly deceptive. Squinting intently through his thick glasses, he moved quickly round the table at great pace, and put his rather unglamorous looking cue with the thickish tip to very good effect. He very seldom chalked his cue—this task seemed more like an afterthought, but at his fluent best he was a joy to watch, and amazed us all with his skills, especially his thin losing hazards played at pace. A very shy man, he seemed lost for words after receiving his trophy
The first round losers of post section play were entered into a flight competition, and John Smith added to England's successes by winning this in convincing fashion. His 419-240 victory over T. Stephens in the 90 minute final, included breaks of 94, 88 and 68.