Mpumalanga Cue Sports impresses once again
The Pool Billiards South Africa Championships was held at Graceland this past moth. MPCS performed well.
SECUNDA – One of the most successful Pool Billiards South African (PBSA) championships in the history of cue sport was held at Graceland this past month.
Mpumalanga, one of the three oldest provinces to be part of the cue sport arena and participating for the first time as Mpumalanga Cue Sports (MPCS), performed well.
Mr Hendry Erasmus, president of MPCS, made it clear that this was one of the best tournaments yet.
MPCS, previously known as Mpumalanga 8 Ball Pool, celebrated 21 years of pool playing in 2015.
All the provincial cue sport bodies decided to come together and formed MPCS in July last year.
Since its formation, MPCS has grown exponentially to quickly become one of the strongest cue sport federations in South Africa, with its members playing Snooker WPA 9 Ball, WPA 8 Ball, Black Ball and PBSA eight ball.
Under the watchful eye of Mr Erasmus, they are striving to become a leading federation in South Africa.
He said: “Cue sport is one of the most played sports in South Africa.”
At the PBSA championship held in Secunda and hosted by MPCS, the MPCS women’s team performed particularly well.
They qualified for the second consecutive year to play in the semi-finals.
The Puma women’s team also won the team speed ball event, finishing in under 16 minutes on nine pool tables, thus setting a new South African record.
Madeleine Olivier and Benedicta Sekoati, a newly selected South African player, both finished in the top 10.
The masters team finished fifth overall.
Sixty per cent of the Mpumalanga cue sport teams are members of Marco’s Pool Club in Secunda.
Though this club is only two years old, they are already rated as one of the best pool clubs in South Africa.
The co-owners, Messrs Marco David Bender and Marco Bender, have committed themselves to supporting cue sport in Mpumalanga and many of their players have achieved national honours.
Five current and former South African champions over the years are in the junior U/23 and men’s category, with 17 players and members overall who have at some time been selected to represent South Africa..
Two MPCS players will participate at the World Championships (WEPF) in England in June.
They are the current MPCS singles champion and South African player, Joseph Mtsweni, and the current PBSA Eight Ball defending South African champion,
Mzamo Ntlaringe.
