CONGRATULATIONS! SMITHFIELD RSL--

Smithfield RSL has defeated North Sydney Leagues Club 7-5 on a black ball game in the final frame to win the 2009 Elite Snooker League.

This years Elite Snooker League, was run between 23th February - 24th August 2009, and comprised of Ten teams, who played off for the $12,800 in prize money. The League attracted some of the best players in Australia, including the current: Australian Open Champion, Australian National Champion, Oceania Champion, Australian U21 Champion, NSW State Minor winner, NSW State Open Champion, QLD Open Winner, and 7 of the top 32 in Australia.

10 Teams (Marconi 1,2,3 Ingleburn 1,2 Smithfield RSL, Rooty Hill, North Sydney Leagues, St George Leagues, Campbelltown RSL)
18 rounds of the toughest Snooker in NSW.
$10 per player per round + $2000 Sponsorship (BSANSW, Azureus Hosting, Elite Cue Sports)
Total: $12,800

The Final Smithfield RSL Vs North Sydney Leagues

This years Final was held at Marconi Soccer Club, we had a great turn out of around 70 people to watch some great Snooker.

Nick Vasic Vs Shawn Budd

First match on was Nick Vs Shawn, this was a great match, with Nick coming out looking very confident and making a few  break in the 1st frame. A very experienced Shawn was not going to go down without a fight though, taking out the second in a close frame. Score 1-1

Luke Hough Vs Ray Thompson

Match 2 was a battle between the Young confident potting machine Vs The Wise mature calculating professor. This match was also very close, Luke does an amazing 27 clearance after Ray misses the yellow off it's spot with Ball in hand. The second frame was also a very close encounter, with Ray just getting over the line to square up Score 1-1

Dave Waller Vs Chris Todd 

Dave Waller has been around a while, and knew he was going into a tough match playing Chris with a 15 start advantage. Chris showed his dominance in the 1st, letting his opponent know what he was made of, and blitzing his opponent in quick fashion.  Chris wasn't finished either, continuing on in the second frame, making Dave sit and watch while scoring effortlessly. Score 2-0 Chris

George Dennoui Vs Terry Emmett

Always going to be a tough battle between these two. Terry came out in the 1st making a nice 35 break, and putting pressure on his younger opponent, but George was not going anywhere, battling it out to the pink ball, until Terry pulled out some of his old tricks, and made a spectacular double on the pink and landed fat on the Black to go one up! The second was a complete turnaround, with George getting off to the good lead, and holding it out to the end. Score 1-1

Paul Balzer Vs Alan Mcarthy

Yet another match that was going to be hard to pic a winner. Both players are quite capable of producing 1st class Snooker, but on this occasion, Alan was getting 20 start, which had people crying foul at the start of the match, although Paul is currently one of the form players on the Australian Circuit, which showed against his semi retired opponent Alan Mcarthy. Paul would put on the performance of the night, grinding out the 1st to a black ball re-spot, and taking it out  after Alan attempted to cut the black off the spot. Paul then goes on to win the second easily, after making the highest break of the night 68, missing the final blue. Score 2-0 Paul

Stephan Zielonko Vs Bryan Tran

So the whole championship comes down to this match as it stands at 5-5,  who was going to step up and win the championship for their team, and take out the $6000 1st prize, not an easy task though for Stephan, giving Bryan 5 start and just coming off eye surgery. This match was full of tension from both teams, although Stephan looking very comfortable with his new eyes in the 1st, but not making easy work of it, winning by a hair, after cutting a very hard black along the bottom rail to go one up. So the score is 6-5 Smithfield coming into the last frame, everybody is talking "playoff" and 3/4 into the match, you would have almost put your house on it, both players were feeling the pinch, having all 70 odd peoples eyes staring straight at them. Bryan gets 2-3 chances to put his opponent in some trouble, but just can't manage, and after a miss-timed safety shot, Stephan knocks in the last 13 points by potting a nice pink and doubling the Black to secure VICTORY!!!. Score 2-0 Stephan

Final Words on 2009 Elite Snooker League

I would like to thank all players, clubs, and volunteers who made this years league possible. We hope you all enjoyed yourselves, as we sure did. : )

Here at Elite Cue Sports, we are doing everything we can to make our leagues, Tournaments, and Snooker in general, bigger and bigger year after year. All we ask for, is your support, help us help you. We are always looking for new ideas that will make our leagues and tournaments more exciting. Let us know what your liking, and what your not liking, we can't change or fix things if we don't know what needs fixing, we love constructive criticism here, so bring it on!

Hope to see you all in 2010

Dallas Hershell

CEO Elite Cue Sports