The game is on at new pool club in Bethal

BETHAL – A new pool club is up and running in Bethal.

Da Vinci’s Pool Club was founded by Jéan Vos in January and is situated at the Bethal Golf Club.

Vos is an U/23 Mpumalanga provincial player, top provincial player at nationals and an executive member of Mpumalanga Cue Sports.

The club is currently run and managed by four executive members, namely Vos as chairman, Ms Jackie van den Berg as treasurer, Mr G.C Pienaar for player development and Mr Jo van den Berg as club and player representative.

Da Vinci’s Pool Club currently has 14 club members.

The club competed in the Mpumalanga 8 ball pool federation team league with two teams.

The league was unfortunately cut short after round 3 due to Covid-19.

The club is currently hosting its first annual (non-official) Vitruvian open league for men and Mona Lisa league for women.

The Vitruvian league has 21 entries and the Mona Lisa league eight, with players entering from Ermelo, Bethal, Secunda and Hendrina.

The players who entered are of various skill levels ranging from rookie to national players.

The exposure the rookie players receive playing against players who have achieved success at national level is great for their development.

Currently, the leagues are nearing the end of the round-robin stages after which we will enter the knockout stage then quarter and semi-finals and then finals.

The Vitruvian league kicked off with great excitement.

The first day saw amazing shots throughout the matches of the day. There were some big upsets, like the victory of GC Pienaar over the provincial player Shannon van Wyk.
But the most grueling and epic match of the day was between youngster Jéan Vos and the veteran Neels Botha.

The lag being won by Vos saw the youngster taking the first break. There was a bit of back and forth but the game was clinched by Botha with a great shot on the 8 ball from the kitchen.

The second game saw Botha taking centre stage with the break, but no balls dropped and Vos took advantage of the open table, slicing and dicing his way to the 8 ball with some great shots and using English like a true Englishman.

The third and deciding frame of the match was straight from Rambo: First Blood with neither player giving an inch to the other.

Every shot was played with marksman-like precision and if a ball did not find the pocket the snooker was on. The technical display was tremendous.

Toe to toe, back and forth like two boxers just itching to find an opening. Finally, a mistake from Botha, who could not get out of a snooker clean, was capatilised upon by Vos and 007 pocketed the 8 ball for the victory.

Jaco “Jakes” Vos got the crowd buzzing when he played and beat Neels “Pensioner” Botha.

The Pensioner is a well-rounded player with great technical ability. This match from all views was in the pocket for the Pensioner but things took a wrong turn somewhere straight off a cliff in this one.

Things just did not work for Botha and Jaco Vos capitalised. He used every chance to the fullest and came out on top with a 2-0 victory and pocketing a bonus point.

Da Vinci’s consists out of people with a passion for pool and they are open for newcomers, irrespective of age or skill level.

The development of players is key at Da Vinci’s and the building blocks of the club.

If you want to join or want more information, send a WhatsApp to Mr Jo van den Berg at 081 348 4446.