Around 80 masters snooker players from around the North Island have descended on Tauranga this weekend.

The New Zealand Masters Snooker National Championships is currently in full swing and taking place at the Tauranga Citizens Club today and on Sunday.

Roy O'Connor from Papakura. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

Citz Club snooker club member Darryl Jensen says the tournament is going well so far and features a good mix of experience and skill.

'It's a handicap tournament, similar to golf,” explains Darryl. 'Everybody is rated on their ability and if you are performing you get a harder handicap, but if you're not, then you get a weaker handicap.

'This tournament would be one of the biggest snooker tournaments of its type in the country, we have six tables there on a permanent basis, and for the tournament we hire out another six tables.”

Darryl says NZ Masters Billiards and Snooker Association has around 380 members from Auckland to Wellington and everywhere in between. It is part of the NZ Billiards and Snooker Association which receives Government sports funding.

He explains that the group was established back in 1995 to bring older players back into the game as many had given up somewhere along the line.

In a lot of cases, many players downed their cues because they were struggling against 'the guns”, so they decided to level the field out.

'So you can play a gun and still get beaten, like me, I get beaten all the time now,” he says laughing.

'I'd just like to thank the Tauranga Citizens Club, they've put it on for the last five years and it's been a fantastic venue, people love coming here which is why I think it grows from year to year."


Shane Nugent from Greytown.

Stan Bunn from Stratford.

Zeke Cowley from Tokoroa.