Denis Bassett, one of the most consistent performers in the Southern Tasmanian Billiards and Snooker Association, has taken out the 2001 C Grade Billiards Championship.

Played at the Lindisfarne RSLA and Citizen's Club on Saturday, September 22, the field was reduced to eight with the late withdrawal of several players, necessitating the draw being hastily revised. The new draw saw two groups of four, with the top two in each group advancing.

Those contesting the championship were Peter Clarke (Metro), George Smith (HWC), Robbie Parsons (Metro), Damien Smith (Claremont), Denis Bassett (Claremont), Peter Randall (Glenorchy), Kirk Easton (Claremont) and Marcus Jackson (HWC). It was evident from the first round that the players to beat would be George, Denis, Damien and Peter Clarke, who all played solidly throughout the morning. Peter Clarke had defeated Denis in the round robin section (152-138), with Damien accounting for George (215-208). With aggregates being the determining factor as to who would advance, things became a little tense when tallying the scores.

The "find" of the tournament was Marcus Jackson. Better known for his snooker skills, being the beaten finalist in the C Grade championships, Marcus turned in some creditable scores against Damien (206-233) and George (205-240), both of whom have played all season in the roster matches.

George got away to a flier in the final, amassing 22 points to a meagre three for Denis in the first few minutes. Denis then began to string some excellent, small, breaks together to hit the front. George had a nightmare spell of about 10 minutes, the pockets seemingly shrinking as his ball approached them. During this spell nothing worked for him. Balls that should have “gone” remained on the table and easily accessible to Denis, who scored from them. Had the balls dropped, as it appeared they should, the final score could have been much closer. As we all know, the difference between a good shot and a near miss is only millimetres. This allowed Denis to increase his lead, and force George into a catch-up situation. At the end of the first break (one hour) Denis had a lead of 51. The second session was a fairly even affair, with both players making the most of their opportunities. The lead built up by Denis in the first session proved to be George's undoing and he found it difficult to bridge the gap. Denis kept the pressure on and every move by George was skillfully answered, the final margin being 52.

Round robin (one-hour duration) results:

Damien Smith d Marcus Jackson 233-206.
Damien Smith d Robbie Parsons 212-135.
Damien Smith d George Smith 215-208.
George Smith d Robbie Parsons 245-172.
George Smith d Marcus Jackson 240-205.
Marcus Jackson d Robbie Parsons 212-173.

Peter Clarke d Peter Randall 163-132.
Peter Clarke d Denis Bassett 152-138.
Peter Clarke d Kirk Easton 180-112.
Denis Bassett d Peter Randall 199-122.
Denis Bassett d Kirk Easton 205-100.
Peter Randall d Kirk Easton 153-106.

Semi finals (one hour matches):

George Smith d Peter Clarke 176-133.
Denis Bassett d Damien Smith 182-162.

FINAL (two hours, played on Wednesday, September 26):

First session: Denis Bassett 181, George Smith 130.
Second session: Denis Bassett d George Smith 337-285.