By Craig Teal
May 26, 2024
Tournament Chart:
After fighting his way through the entire B-Side, Evan Paul stands alone as the 2024 CSNS Amateur 9-Ball Champion.
Paul lost his opening match to start the tournament on Saturday May 25th at the Century Snooker Club in New Glasgow, failing 9-5 to Neil Van Rossum. Paul would recover to reel off successive wins over Wekatesk Augustine, Shawn Fequet, Andrew Lafford, Jeff Gillin, Tom Mellon, and William Holmes, to position himself as one of the last four returning players for Sunday among the 31 players that started the day.
Joining Paul from the B-Side was John Baker, though Baker’s trek was much less turbulent. Having won his first 3 A-Side matches over Dale Brimicombe, Michael Cullymore, and Jeff Gillin, Baker dropped a decision to Neil Van Rossum to send him B-Side bound. Baker then took down former winner Wayne Thibodeau to earn his spot in the final 4.
On the A-Side, Van Rossum was rolling. In addition to his victories over Paul and Baker, Van Rossum was also successful in dispatching Terry MacInnis and Alex Forgeron, claiming one of the two undefeated places in Sunday’s final 4.
The other A-Side finalist was Century club owner Billy Martin, having himself a banner day with victories over Adam MacRae, Brian McNamara, Chris Kemp, and William Holmes.
Sunday play opened with Van Rossum taking the hot seat 9-7 over Martin. Meanwhile, Paul eliminated Baker in fourth place by a score of 7-2. Paul continued with a blistering result of 7-0 over Martin in the semi-final, leaving Martin with a third place finish.
The final was one race to 11. Van Rossum and Paul had each been in previous finals of CSNS Amateur Provincial Championships, but both were seeking their first title. On this day, it was Paul getting the upper hand on Van Rossum 11-8 to earn the honours.
Evan Paul earned paid entry to represent Nova Scotia at the 2024 CBSA National 9-Ball Championships to be announced later this year.
Thanks to Century Snooker Club for hosting, including sporting brand new Predator cloth on two recently re-felted tables. Thanks to Dale Brimicombe and Wek Augustine for keeping the tournament moving along on Saturday.
1st - Evan Paul $350 + National Spot
2nd - Neil Van Rossum $280
3rd - Bill Martin $220
4th - John Baker $160
5th-6th - Wayne Thibodeau, William Holmes $110
7th-8th - Tom Mellon, Terry MacInnis $60
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