Andrew Rainbow, 2-0, Heath Rainbow, 2-1, and Walter Sully, 2-0, won with Andrew Saltmarsh, 2-1, Black's only winner.

Exeter RSL moved into equal second spot with the Devils, after defeating Works Gold 3-1. Ben Swain, 2-0, Adam Bindoff, 2-1, Garry Bakker, 2-1, and Gold's Steven Leary, 2-0, were the winners. 

Launceston RSL also moved into the four with a 3-1 win over Works Blue. Roydyn Bishop, Terry Adams, Harley Stebbings and Blue's Rolf Stevenson all won 2-0. Adams' break of 30 was the round's highest. 

In A reserve, form side and leader Works Green continued its winning run, beating Longford 7-5, while Navy consolidated second spot with a 7-5 win over Amber. 

State qualifiers

A TOTAL of 35 players competed in the eightball Tasmanian state open team Northern qualifiers at the LWC, with all playing each other once over the course of the weekend. 

Tim Wright, of North-West Coast, leads the ladder with 28 wins. The second round of play will be held on June 26-27 at the LWC.

Northern titles

ENTRIES for the Northern Tasmanian Billiards and Snooker Association championships in open, A reserve and B grade close today.

Heath Rainbow 2-0, Josh Rainbow 2-1, Wally Sully 2-1 and Scott Kopriva 2-0 were Devils winners.

Exeter drew with Launceston RSL. Rex Swain 2-1 and Adam Bindoff 2-1 won for Exeter. Robin McEnnulty and Roydyn Bishop, both 2-0, won for Launceston.

Black stayed clear on top of the ladder holding on for a draw against Gold. Rodney Martin 2-0 and Andrew Saltmarsh 2-1 were winners for Black while the Leary brothers, Steve and Trevor, both won 2-1 for Gold.

Steven Leary's break of 29 was the round's highest.

Black heads the ladder on 16, Devils 10 Exeter 10, Blue, Gold, and Launceston RSL are on eight points.

David Bates leads the player rankings with nine wins from 10 frames.

In A reserve, Green had an impressive 9-3 win over Amber, where Lee Morcom, George Zammit and David Thomas all won 2-0.

Navy moved into second spot with a 7-5 win over Red, John Fordham's win for Navy was the decider.

Exeter beat Longford 7-5, with Lloyd Rogers and Greg Reid successful for Exeter, while Greg Williams was Longford's winner.

The A reserve ladder after round 6 is: Green52, Navy 36, Amber 33, Red 30, Exeter 30 Longford 29.

Lee Morcom leads the players table with nine wins from 10 frames, Lloyd Rogers had this week's best break.

Player profile

JOHN Reece was born in Scotland in 1923, lived at George Town, and died in 1991.

He was an outstanding billiards player with Launceston Workers and Exeter RSL clubs.

He won six Tasmanian billiards championships in succession, 1969 to 1975, and won the 1974 Australian title beating George Ganim jnr, of Melbourne, to earn his place in the IBSF world billiards championship in New Zealand in 1975.

He was a great rival of Harold Roberts-Thompson, having played each other in 14 Northern billiards championships.

Reece's legacy lives on with many players to whom he imparted the finer points of billiards.

For information go to the cue sport website www.nteba.com.au or call the secretary on 0419113528

Exeter RSL beat Flaming Devils 3-1. Rex and Ben Swain 2-0 and Garry Bakker 2-1 were Exeter's winners and Andrew Rainbow won 2-1 for the Devils.

Works Gold and Launceston RSL played a 2-2 draw. John Fraser 2-0 and Gary Bjarnee- Elliott 2-0 were Gold's winners. Terry Adams 2-0 and Royden Bishop 2-1 won for Launceston RSL.

In A reserve Works Green, consolidated its top spot on the ladder with an 8-4 win over Exeter RSL, where Rowan Phelps, Lee Morcom and David Thomas won 2-0 for Green and Phil Stagg was Exeter's only winner.

Amber won 7-5 over Red. John Saggers and Tracey Saltmarsh won for Amber, Bob Cain won 2-0 for Red.

Longford RSL and Works Navy had a 6-6 draw. Wayne Purdon and Greg Williams won 2-0 for Longford, John Fordham and Darryl Fox were Navy's winners.

Highest break in A grade was made by David Bates of Black with 43 and 31, Royden Bishop Launceston RSL made37.

In A reserve, Peter Fraser made a 29 break and Glen Johansen a 25.

State 8Ball Titles

The state eightball singles title was played at the Launceston Working Men's Club on May 1, with 24 players taking part from the South, North and North-West, drawn into four groups, with two seeded players in each group and the remainder of the field randomly drawn.

After the round robin stage, 16 players were left in the knockout stage with the two players who competed in last year's state tile, Gregg Watt and Anthony Adams, both of Hobart, playing off for this year's title.

In what was a seesaw affair in the final, it came down to the last frame with both players clearly feeling the effects of a long 12-hour day of pool, making several mistakes in the final frame with Gregg Watt finally potting the black to win the 2010 title.

The next event on the state eightball calendar will be the first round of state open team Northern selection trials to be played at the LWC on May 29 and 30 with entries closing on May 22. Entries can be made at the Eightball Tasmania website www.eightballtasmania.com.au

Six teams will contest today's competition with LWC Amber playing LWC Navy at Workers and LWC Green at home to Longford RSL. Exeter plays LWC Red at Exeter RSL.

Six teams are lining up in tomorrow night's competition. LWC Black hosts the Flaming Devils, LWC Gold plays Exeter at the Workers Club and Launceston RSL is home to LWC Blue.

Potential players are invited to come and have a look, with play starting at 7pm and finishing around 10pm.

Players are given a handicap based on ability, ranging from Northern champion Graeme Pickett of minus 30 through to the out-markers on 80 (Wednesdays) and 50 (Thursdays).

The eightball competition begins next week with teams playing in three divisions on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Workers Club and most hotels in and around Launceston.

This column will bring results and stories, as the interclub season unfolds, including news from local, state and national events.

Another segment will be recounting the careers of past and present champions like the great Ron Atkins and Ted Pickett, late billiard champions Harold Roberts Thompson and George Town's John Reece, Tasmanian champions Les Higgins, of Hobart and Launceston's Graeme Pickett, and juniors Anthony Adams, of Hobart, and Exeter's Andrew Rainbow.

For information go to the cue sport website: www.nteba.com.au or call the secretary on 0419113528.

Peter Donati, Hans Georgieff and Rolf Stevo were winners for Blue, with Robin McEnnulty replying for Grey.

Rex Swain and Adam Bindoff were winners for Exeter in its draw with LWC Gold, for whom John Fraser and newcomer Garry Bjarnoe- Elliot were winners.

Flaming Devils and LWC Black also had a 2-2 draw, with Heath and Josh Rainbow (Devils), David Bates and Bruce Lockley (Black) as winners.

On Wednesday night, LWC Green went top of the ladder with a 9-3 win over Longford, featuring wins to Rhoan Phelps, David Thomas and Anthony Thomas.

LWC Red beat Exeter 7-5 while LWC teams Amber and Navy had a 6-6 draw, with Damien Bushby for Amber and Nick Bruneau for Navy winning both frames.

Highest A grade break went to David Sheppard, of Launceston RSL Grey, with 45, Exeter Green's Noddy Francomb amassing 23 on Wednesday.

Junior titles

THE junior championships conducted in March at the Launceston Workers Club resulted in: under-15 snooker champion Cale Barrett (NW), runner-up Grace Cowie (South); under-15 billiards champion Cale Barrett, runner-up Josh Rainbow (North); under-18 snooker champion Anthony Adams (South); runner-up Andrew Rainbow (North); under-18 billiards champion Andrew Rainbow (North); runner-up Jason Featherstone (South).

Player profile

RON Atkins would definitely be Tasmania's best-known cueist, having won 16 Tasmanian championships and three Australian snooker championships (1975, '76 and '77).

He was also runner-up in '66 and '78, with his crowning glory being finishing runner- up to Englishman Jimmy White in the IBSF world snooker championship at the Albert Hall, Launceston, in 1980.

Atkins also played eightball, representing Australia in the 2002 masters series, and was runner-up in the international masters singles.