Respected Brisbane coach Bob Turpin, who has guided four Queensland players to Australian snooker and billiards titles, will hold training sessions in Buderim specifically for coaches during the winter.

Buderim Snooker Club captain Ron Cleaver said the sessions would boost the already high quality of play at the club.

“It’s wonderful that someone of Bob’s experience wants to pass on his knowledge to new and experienced coaches,” he said.

“They can then use the information to help our own players.”

The announcement came after another successful weekend of snooker action at the club at the end of April.

The eagerly-contested event doubled as a fundraiser for talented youngsters Hayden Goode and Keiran Frettingham.

Both players were part of the visiting Redlands side that narrowly beat Buderim 9-8 in a gripping inter-club encounter.

Goode, an Under-12 national snooker champion, and Frettingham, an Under-15 national snooker and billiards champion, showed off their skills in front of an appreciative audience.

Buderim Snooker Club members Rob Ward (far left when looking at the picture) and Ron Cleaver (left of middle) wish Hayden Goode (right of middle) and Keiran Frettingham (far right) well for the defence of their national titles.

Buderim players Tristan Claridge and Chris Shaw performed strongly during the competition and were well supported by Dave Armstrong, Rob Ward, Wayne Pringle, Mike Dickins, John Mitchell, Jim Petersen and Andres Herbal.

At the conclusion of the competition Goode and Frettingham were presented with a $500 donation from the club to help fund their title defences at the 2012 Australian Championships.

State MP Steve Dickson and local councillor Christian Dickson also showed their support to help out the promising juniors.

Anyone interested in taking part in the coaching sessions can call the club on 54561748.

Two of the players traveling from Redlands are up and coming stars: Hayden Goode – the current U12 Australian snooker champion; and Keiran Frettingham – the current U15 QLD snooker champion and the current U15 Australian billiards champion.

Visitors welcome to come in a watch the action. Refreshments will be available including morning tea and lunch.

Proceeds from drinks on the day will support two junior Australian players to travel to competitions.

If you cannot attend you can pick up a proxy form from the club so you can still have a say.

The matches played today were the finals of graded knock-out competitions that have run at the club for the last 6 weeks.

The A+ Chadwick Shield final was played between Ryan Cainey and Tristan Claridge who won the competition last year.

Claridge started off with an almost chance-less first frame, setting the tone for what was a high quality match. The second and third frames were toughly contested with Claridge just managing to take both frames to win 3 – 0.

Spectators greatly enjoyed the match that featured excellent safety play and moderate breaks of 30+ under pressure. Special thanks to Club Captain Ron Cleaver for refereeing the final.

Phil Friganiotis won the encounter.

The match was close, with both players looking like they might get across the line, before Knoch eventually emerged victorious.

On Saturday club members played round-robin competitions within each grade with the top players going on to a handicapped knockout competition on Sunday morning.

The club groups players into 4 grades based on ability so that all players are able to compete against other players of similar skill level. The morning round-robins were for B Novice and Intermediate, with A and A+ grades playing in the afternoon.

The following players emerged as the winners on Saturday:

• B Novice – Denis Evans, Mark Sharples
• Intermediate – Jim Petersen, Anders Herbel
• A grade – Steve Westby, Mitchell Boyd
• A+ grade – Wayne Pringle, Chris Shaw

Shaw was eventually victorious in the final on Sunday with a very close win over Herbel on the pink ball.

This marks a good run of form for Shaw, with excellent play the previous week against some of the top players in Queensland. Unfortunately Shaw was knocked out of the Chadwick Shield in a semi-final match against Ryan Cairney otherwise club members and spectators could have seen more of him next weekend in the finals.

Shaw shared his two-frame encounter with state No.1 Robbie Tibbs following an impressive early break of 47 on a day when Buderim’s top cueists stood tall.

“It’s good to test yourself against these types of players,” Shaw said.
“It’s not very often you get to face players of such a high standard.”

Five Buderim members featured against two of Queensland’s leading men in a day-long exhibition organised as part of the village’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

David Armstrong and Tristan Claridge, who are both former winners of Buderim’s club championship, won frames against Queensland No.5 Tom Lucas in front of an appreciative audience.

Chris Shaw going for another red during frames against Qld #1 and #5 ranked snooker players

Tibbs, a winner of tournaments in Australia and England, showed his class in the final match of the day with a memorable break of 77 as he beat Lucas to take the major prize.

“Snooker is a dying game,” Tibbs said. “Days like this are about encouraging people to play and keeping snooker alive.”

The sport in Australia has experienced a resurgence following Neil Robertson’s victory in the 2010 World Championship and the club’s membership is rising.

The next major event is the Champion of Champions round-robin tournament on March 17 and 18.

Club Captain Ron Cleaver said players of all standards would be competing for more than $400 in prize-money and the right to raise the coveted Gordon Kendall Memorial trophy.

Shaw, Claridge and Armstrong are the main contenders, but they will face strong competition from Rob Ward and James Haining.

Matches in the tournament begin at 9am on both days at the club’s rooms inside the Buderim War Memorial Hall.

Visitors are welcome and refreshments will be provided by I Spy Pies. For further information call Mr Cleaver on 54561748.

Club players will be able to challenge Robbie Tibbs and Tom Lucas between 9am and 3pm. For club players this is an opportunity to see quality snooker players in action and pit their own game against the best in Queensland.

Robbie is currently ranked number 1 in Queensland and Tom is currently number 5. Both players are capable of century breaks and high quality snooker.