A new type of tournament, with the emphasis on fun and light heartedness in the form of a team of eight snooker players versus a team of eight billiard players was held at SBI Headquarters on Saturday, 8th June last.
The format of the event was very much experimental in nature with the purpose of bringing the two disciplines together for a day’s play involving rounds of both snooker and billiards matches. The idea was conceived as a day to celebrate the memory of Larry Codd, multiple National Billiards Champion back in the 60s and 70s and a very capable and effective coach in both games.
Play got under way at 10:00am, the first session consisting of best of three billiard games of 100up, 1 point being scored per game. This session, which would have been seen to favour the billiard players, turned out to be quite an eye opener when the snooker team scored 9 points against the billiard team’s 10.
The next session was a single frame snooker match, each frame counting 2 points. Playing their more familiar game, the snooker team dominated the session taking 12 of the possible 16 points, giving them a substantial lead at the end of the session of 21-14.
The third and final session of the event was 400up billiards, each game counting 2 points. Again, the snooker players put on an outstanding performance to share the session 8-8, thus maintaining the lead they had amassed in the second session to finish the day clear winners 29 points to 22.
As an experimental event, all participants agreed that that it was a successful and very enjoyable day’s play and well worthy of becoming an annual event. The format, first a 3x100up, then a single frame of snooker and finally 400up in billiards (90-minute time limited) proved hugely successful with little need to change any aspect of it for future events.
A special thanks must go to Rodney Goggins and Dylan Rees who together came up with the idea of the event, which very successfully brought both disciplines together in an informal and most enjoyable way with every chance of encouraging players to broaden their cueing skills by participating in both games.
Pitting skills against players of the other game provided a wonderful opportunity to bring exponents of both games together for a social and friendly occasion, with obviously an element of competitive rivalry, was a refreshing and most enjoyable experience for all.
In accepting the trophy on behalf of the snooker team, Rodney gave a heartfelt account of his memories of working on his game with Larry Codd noting that the day’s tournament, bringing both games into competition with each other was a fitting way to celebrate his memory. All showed their approval of Rodney’s words with a resounding round of applause.
Google Drive Link to full results:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HduTH7ZVoGnqf0yExUgbp4iPBnBOmRmz/view?usp=sharing
