Women battle for gold in Mpumalanga blackball pool champhionship held at Bethal
Women from all over gathered to see if they have what it takes to represent their province at the national championships later this year.
BETHAL – Da Vinci’s Pool Club in Bethal hosted the women’s Mpumalanga Cue Sports Blackball Championship and trials on Saturday, 6 March.
Women from all over gathered to see if they have what it takes to represent their province at the national championships later this year.
The day began with the women competing in the championship which was played in a race to five, single-elimination, knockout format.
The winner of the championship gained automatic entry into the Mpumalanga team and did not have to compete in the trials, thus the pressure was on from the start.
Two matches stood out from the rest during the championship, the first being the second semi-final between Mercia Visagie and Annalize van Niekerk.
The match first looked like a runaway victory for Van Niekerk as she quickly pocketed three victories in a row, moving up 3-0.
Visagie, feeling like a deer in the headlights, knew she would have to dig deep to pull out a victory or even just prevent a whitewash.
Before the start of the fourth frame, Visagie took a deep breath and composed herself before she had to break.
With a thunderous crack, the balls broke apart and things began to fall into place for Visagie.
All Van Niekerk could do was stand by and watch as Visagie came back and levelled the score at 3 all.
Van Niekerk won the next frame to move up 4-3 just to have Visagie level the score again in the next frame at 4-4.
The final frame was a nail-biter and both women gave it their all but in the end, Visagie prevailed and won the match 5-4, putting her in the final against Anna-Marie Greyling.
The final of the championships stood out mostly because of the way the women played and not so much the score.
Both Greyling and Visagie played well and neither gave an inch to the other.
Greyling began with a bang and quickly moved up 3-0.
Visagie again had to fight her way back into the game but unfortunately for her, the experience of Greyling proved too much and she won the match 5-2.
With the top seed in the team now determined as Anna-Marie Greyling, the trials for the remaining four positions and the reserve could get underway.
The trials were played in a round-robin format, race to 2, with frame points determining log positions.
The women were very competitive and close on the log.
There was a good mix between the experienced, like Sylvia Pieterse and Veronica Wahlstrand, and newcomers, Mercia Visagie and Jo-Anne Reynolds.
The log positions were so close that the loss of one frame could have meant the difference between making the team or failing.
In the end, the best players on the day made the team.
The Mpumalanga MPCS blackball team comprises Anna-Marie Greyling, Sylvia Pieterse, Veronica Wahlstrand, Mercia Visagie, Jo-Anne Reynolds and Chantell Byleveld.
