David Collins (Victoria) won his third Australian billiards championship by defeating his first cousin George Ganim Jnr. (Victoria), the defending champion and seven times Australian champion, 1718 -1570 at the Cue Club, Adelaide. Collins and Ganim, with 18 and 16 century breaks respectively, dominated the championship, but an ominous threat arose in the shape of 18-year old Rhys Cochrane (Queensland) who reached the semi-finals, made the highest session average of 36.3, and made ten centuries including the championship highest of 243. Mike Richardson (W.A.) reached the semi-finals for the second time in only his second championship. The tournament was played initially as a round-robin. There were 24 entries in 6 groups. Winner and runner-up from each group, together with the four 'best losers' made up the 16 players for the knock out stages.
| G. Ganim
115, 83, 98, 123, 104 | 1,080 | M. Rynkiewiez
89 | 384 | ||
| M. Rendziak
88 | 869 | R. Grove
| 368 | ||
| R. Cochrane
80, 243, 131, 123 | 1,045 | M. Watts
66 | 420 | ||
| L. Higgins
| 642 | J. Smith
| 544 | ||
| J. Millen
110, 101, 107, 133 | 1,283 | C. Lowe
| 331 | ||
| M. Richardson
70, 87 | 660 | R. Bradley
61, 59 | 597 | ||
| D. Lucas
67, 83, 76 | 689 | T. Parrish
63 | 653 | ||
| D. Collins
126, 133, 190, 107 | 1,138 | A. Minks
| 386 |
| G. Ganim
141, 147, 99, 94 | 1,041 | M. Rendziak
| 647 | ||
| R. Cochrane
56, 92, 79 | 938 | L. Higgins
| 798 | ||
| M. Richardson
99, 149, 60, 63 | 792 | J. Millen
55, 56 | 693 | ||
| D. Collins
66, 62, 95 | 910 | D. Lucas
170 | 874 |
| G. Ganim
83, 119, 108, 153, 98, 93, 105 | 1,410 | R. Cochrane
100, 89, 112, 115 | 894 | ||
| D. Collins
225, 95, 77, 67 | 1,262 | M. Richardson
54, 82, 50 | 938 |
| Session 1 | D. Collins
92, 100, 168 | 625 | G. Ganim
154, 69, 115 | 416 | ||
| Session 2 | D. Collins
98, 92 | 520 | G. Ganim
66, 157, 69, 76 | 572 | ||
| Session 3 | D. Collins
78, 84, 164, 79 | 573 | G. Ganim
68, 64, 77 | 582 | ||
| Final Score | D. Collins
| 1,718 | (20.7) | G. Ganim
| 1,570 | (18.9) |
The Championship was played at the Brunswick Club, Melbourne George Ganim beat his cousin David Collins to take the title for the ninth time. Ganim made 13 century breaks with a highest of 229. Collins made 14 centuries including the tournament highest of 249.
| G. Ganim
229, 208, 150, 125, 103, 97, 91, 70, 70 | 1,869 | A. Micks
54, 52 | 741 | ||
| F. Thomas
51, 51, 50 | 968 | D. Bates
93, 57 | 803 | ||
| N. Croft
118, 96, 71, 82, 66, 65 | 1,233 | M. Watts
88, 55 | 714 | ||
| D. Collins
188, 183, 97, 86, 83, 83, 63, 62, 62, 57 | 1,814 | M. Hammer
65, 52, 52 | 982 |
| G. Ganim
162, 133, 99, 93, 67, 67, 67, 64, 64 | 1,347 | F. Thomas
119, 80, 64, 62, 52 | 944 | ||
| D. Collins
249, 184, 183, 156, 81, 66, 56, 55, 50 | 1,717 | N. Croft
58 | 847 |
The match was as good as lost for Collins in the first session the end of which found him over 600 behind. Ganim kept up the pressure in the second to increase his lead to nearly a thousand. Collins did better in the third but was still out-pointed. Ganim played consistently throughout and fully deserved his convincing win.
| Session 1 | Ganim
203, 197, 83, 82, 57, 57 | 920 | Collins
76 | 288 | ||
| Session 2 | Ganim
235, 90, 80, 78, 76, 52 | 706 | Collins
108, 66, 50 | 417 | ||
| Session 3 | Ganim
142, 108, 69, 68, 63, 53, 50, 82unf | 822 | Collins
130, 117, 101 | 744 | ||
| Final Score | Ganim
| 2,448 | (35.0) | Collins
| 1,449 | (20.4) |
There were 13 entries for this event which was won by 14 year old Ian Barber. This was Ian's fourth consecutive winning tournament. He won the City of Sydney U/15. U/18, and U/21. The Williams brothers, Brad and Heath continue to make progress.
| I. Barber
| 427 | B. Williams
| 227 | ||
| H. Williams
| 356 | D. Coulter
| 281 |
| I. Barber
| 654 | H. Williams
| 364 |
Williams 2 hour total of 654 is very good for a boy. He also had the tournament highest of 51.
32 players took part in a tournament that produced some excellent billiards. The surprise winner was Mick Girdler, an unranked player, who disposed of Joe Millen (by 9!) and Stan Smith, on his way to a final with Andrew MacPherson. Girdler, combining basic billiards with deadly potting, proved to be too good for the more orthodox billiard players. Well done Mr. Girdler.
| A. MacPherson
| 877 | J. Minici
| 823 | ||
| M. Girdler
| 804 | S. Smith
| 673 |
| M. Girdler
| 1,219 | - A. MacPherson
| 1,074 |
The highest break was 175 by MacPherson who made 3 other centuries. Joe Millen had two centuries, and Joe Minici one. Girdler's highest was 90.
The top four ranking Australian billiard players are David Collins (1) George Ganim (2) Joe Millen (3) and Phil Tarrant (4). Rhys Cochrane has risen from 10 to 6. Joe Minici to 11 from 14, whilst Andrew MacPherson has fallen 3 places to 10. There are 38 players listed.
The New Zealand Amateur Championship was won once again by David Meredith. Meredith beat Peter de Groot 1354 to 459 in the final and made the tournament highest break of 257.
In the South Island Championship, Meredith faced stern opposition from a Mr S. Baker. The match was tied at the bell and Meredith drew away in the extra half-hour to win by 664 - 569. He also made the tournament highest of 180.
David Meredith is clearly a world-class amateur player.
This tournament was won by Paddy Donnelly who scraped past John McIntyre by a mere 19 points in the 600 up final. McIntyre is reported as needing to score a very simple cannon to be virtually certain of taking this, the first ranking tournament of the N.I. season. He missed. (The story of my life.Ed) The tournament was a great success and thanks are due to the committee of the Reading Rooms Club, and to the N.I. Electricity, and the PTS Amusement Co, for their generous sponsorship.
| P. Donnelly
73 | 600 | F. Cahoon
69 | 335 | ||
| J. McIntyre
52 | 600 | J. Heaney
68, 65 | 575 |
| P. Donnelly
91, 54, 50 | 600 | J. McIntyre
95, 51 | 581 |
Thank you David Pogue. Keep us informed about the scene in N.I. There are 27 players in the Northern Ireland Ranking List headed by Davy Elliot, with John McIntyre second, and Billy Loughan third. The famous (and irrepressible) Sammy Clarke lies in fifth place, when shall we see his like again?
The Irish scene is relatively quiet though we have played our annual match with Northern Ireland and I have to report that we have yet to beat them, but our day (hopefully) will come.
We now have eight ranking tournaments in our season and, at the end of the season, the top five players will automatically gain international selection. The player to beat at the moment is Dick Brennan of Dublin. He has won our championship for the past two seasons and won the first ranking tournament. He was beaten in the second tournament by - would you believe it - me; and so there is hope yet. We are always trying to attract new and younger players on to the billiards circuit and we get a few, but they always seem to go back to snooker.
There will be an international match in November in Dublin between ourselves and Northern Ireland.
I am hoping to get over to play in one of your tournaments and meet up with people I know over on your side of the water. Your excellent coverage of the billiards scene is unparalleled and long may it continue. Pat O'Sullivan" Thank you for your kind remarks. Nice to hear from you again Pat; keep us in touch with what is happening in your part of the world.