Australian Billiards & Snooker Council

News

Record Broken At Under 21 Snooker
11 May 2003

Neil Robertson, 21, of Ringwood, Victoria, entered the record books this weekend as the holder of the highest break made in an Australian Under-21s Snooker Championship.

Robertson made the 142 break (only five points from a maximum 147) to seal the national title with a stylish and solid 8-3 frames over South Australian James Delahunty.

Robertson has entered the “world class” category, according to Australian Billiards & Snooker Council representative and national coach, Noel Gourley. “Neil is a consummate professional,” he added.

Clem Jones AO, patron of the games of billiards and snooker in Australia, added his impressions of the event, stating “I have never seen such a high standard of snooker live, in my entire life, as I have here during this event”.

Held at the popular snooker and pool café, Q-Masters in Milton, Brisbane, this year, the Australian Under-21 Snooker Championship is a crucial stepping stone to the World Under-21 Snooker Championship, to be held in Taupo, New Zealand, in July.

Left-handed Robertson recently won the Australian Open Snooker Championship, Victorian Open Snooker, Lance Pannell Snooker Classic and Fred Osborne Championship.

His highest break in tournament play is 143, and he has made 11 maximums during practice throughout his career.

Representing the Cue Sportz Club in Melbourne, Robertson plays snooker for a living and occasionally, 8-ball.

The tall redhead toured with the English season on a Wild Card in 2000/01, experiencing home sickness after about four months from home. He says, however, that he is eager to live in England again.

Runner-up James Delahunty, 20, of Glenelg, Adelaide, played impressively to take three frames off the stylish Robertson. Winner of the event in 2001, Delahunty plays for his family’s 8-ball centre, Chalkers, and also works as a bartender there.

An ambitious and flamboyant player, Delahunty is a crowd favourite. He narrowly beat Victorian Ben Nunan 5-4 in the semi-final after coming back from behind. Nunan,19, of the Brunswick Club in Melbourne, is also a polished 8-ball and 9-ball player.

The mature and confident Nunan is the 2000 Australian Under-18 8-ball Champion and a highly ranked player in Victoria. He is currently working towards the impending 2003 World Open 8-ball Championship in England.

The other Australian Under-21 Snooker Championship semi-finalist, Shannon Dixon of the Central Coast of NSW, used to play “footy” and surf more than swerve.

Dixon, 19, of the Mingara Club, won the 2000 Australian Under-18 Snooker title and has twice won the Australian Under-18 Billiards and Under-21 Billiards titles.

He said he got into cue sports at the age of 13 when he and a friend decided to play some 8-ball instead of surfing “flat waves” one particular day.

A truly solid player with a physique not unlike a football player or boxer’s, Dixon is an ever improving player with determination and strength on the table. His semi-final against Robertson concluded with a gallant attempt 6-3.

A bartender at the Woy Woy Leagues Club on the Central Coast, Dixon says he practices cue sports one hour a day.

With so much talent in Australian cue sports, it is almost too hard to understand why none of the players mentioned have yet secured sponsorship deals to assist with their goals.