VICTORS: The defending Cayman’s eight-ball pool team that won the six pack trophy for the second straight year. Photo supplied
Staff Reporter
An eight-ball pool competition continues to thrive in Kawerau.
The competition ended recently with the defending champions, Cayman’s Sports Bar, taking out the title against a side from the Kawerau Golf Club called One-under.
It was their second successive title, having won it in 2023.
As defending champions, it was Cayman’s responsibility to host and organise the 2024 finals.
This year was the first year the golf club had entered a side in the long-standing competition.
Richard McKay was the mastermind of the event, which has been running since 2016.
It was originally called the six-pack competition, with six teams competing, but this year there were 10 teams and organisers are hoping another couple of teams will join in the future.
More than 100 people from Kawerau played in the tournament.
It began in February and ran until mid-July, with teams playing home and away in a round robin format before the top six played off in a final series to determine the overall winner. The bottom four also played off to decide placings in the bottom section.
Te Teko RSA are the only team in the competition outside of Kawerau.
The 10 teams are split throughout various clubs in Kawerau, including the Navy Club, the golf club, the Cossie club, the other local pubs and Cayman’s which has three sides.
This year, the competition added a few new trophies including a best and fairest trophy, a personality trophy and award for most improved.
The defending champions were pleased to win the title again and leaned on their eight-ball experience to help get them through against the first-year side from the golf club.
A number of the players have competed in masters’ competitions at a national level and there is also a two-time New Zealand champion in the field.
Since the competition began, the Kawerau Cosmopolitan Club have claimed the crown twice, the Jug once and Cayman’s Bar the rest of the time.
Now they have a break for a bit, but there could be matches in the pipeline to keep the players active over the off-season with teams from outside the region visiting for some matches.
The competition will be back in 2025.