The VBSA Board wishes to advise the passing of Albert E. Vickery on Saturday, 8th December 2018, aged 92.

Albert, and his brother George joined St Mary's Recreation Club (now called Camberwell Cue Sports) as young men, and played sport with that club virtually every week - barring holiday absences - for the next 70 years.

They represented St Mary's in football, billiards and snooker, over long periods. Albert was a 100-game player and then two-time premiership coach of the club's football team; but for both of them, billiards was a life-long passion. Until a few months back, both were still fixtures at St Mary's regular Friday club-nights, knocking in half-balls with ease.

They played countless seasons in the VBSA pennant, Church of England and Metropolitan billiards and snooker competitions. As recently as 2012, both (as octogenarians) played in a St Mary's premiership-winning "Churches" team.

As well as being competitive and well-liked participants in their sporting teams, Albert and George played leadership roles wherever they went. Both served long terms as President of St Mary's / Camberwell Cue Sport. Albert's presidential terms spanned the period from 1959-85.

The brothers did immense amounts of voluntary work to assist their home club and the broader billiards and snooker community. Some years back, the VBSA paid Albert the rare honour of bestowing upon him an appreciation award, in recognition of a life-time's service to our sport.

The brothers had extremely successful commercial careers, jointly managing the family business, A. E. Vickery Engineering, and later starting other businesses together.

While Albert and George were devoted to their respective families, they remained seemingly inseparable best friends for their entire lives.

Albert's funeral was conducted on Friday 14th December at the South Camberwell Anglican Church (formerly St Mary's). Many billiards and snooker players were among the crowd of hundreds that filled the church, some having taken up the sport at Albert's urging. The VBSA Board was represented at the service, as a mark of our respect.

The Board, and we are sure the entire Victorian billiards and snooker community, wishes to pass on their condolences to Albert's family and to George.

The Board of the VBSA wishes to acknowledege the remarkable support given by Reventon and Chris Christofi, not only to the Reventon Masters but to the sport in general.  Attached is the Financial Report from the Masters that gives an indication of the extent of that support.

The Titles were held at the Reventon Snooker Academy on 24th & 25th November, 2018.

Marc Fridman won back-to-back U18 snooker titles with the tournaments high break of 43. He recently returned from the World U18 titles in China and hopes to win back-to-back U18 Australian title in Albury and represent Australia at the 2019 Worlds.

At only 8 years old, Mia Macheda from the famous Ridley family, was the youngest competitor who showed amazing cueing skills.  Her determination to win was proof that she is a future champion. Mia is 2019 U12 Snooker runner up.

14-year-old Damian Thorp was a new face who had played 8-ball but not much snooker. Well he potted some great balls and provided some tough competition in the U15 section.

In U15, Sean Dempsey proved too strong winning 2019 U15 Snooker with some good solid play and tactics.  His brother, Ciaran, was runner up in the Snooker but showed great ability and skill to win the 2019 Vic U15 Billiards.

VBSA Junior Coordinator and Tournament Director, Tony Fridman, said he had never seen so much eagerness and determination to win by all competitors.  They all turned up 60 mins prior to start and were practicing. All parents should be very proud of the dedication shown, which some families travelling by train over 4 hours to get there and “motelled” it overnight. These children are our future champions

A big thank you to Reventon Snooker Academy for providing a fantastic venue and great quality tournament tables for this event.

The certified referees, Denis Coghlan and Jon Moss, who gave their time and professionalism, looked after all matches and deserve a big thankyou

Australian Juniors will be in Albury NSW in January 2019. We wish you all well.

See attached images of the players.

Grand Finals 

Monday 3rd Dec - At Reventon

• B Willis Snooker (BWS) Dandenong RSL v Stars.  Premiers - Dandenong RSL
• C Willis Snooker (CWS) Nth Brighton v Mulgrave.  Premiers - North Brighton Legends
• D Willis Snooker (DWS) Star Blue League v Maccabi (Fast Eddies). Premiers - Star Blue League

Wednesday 5th Dec

All Billiards at Reventon 

• A Premier Billiards (APB) Bentleigh Club v Ballarat. Premiers - Ballarat
• B Premier Billiards (BPB) Brunswick v Camberwell. Premiers - Camberwell
• C Premier Billiards (CPB) Yarraville v R.A.C.V. Premiers - R.A.C.V.

All Snooker at Brunswick

• A State Snooker (AVS2) Pro Fit v Cue 8 Bar. Premiers - Pro Fit
• B State Snooker (BVS2) D.C. Warriors v North Brighton Legends. Premiers - DC Warriors
• C State Snooker (CVS2) Dandenong RSL v Mulgrave Miss Hits. Premiers - Dandenong RSL

Last weekend marked the Final Triple Crown event of 2018, the Reventon Masters, in support of the White Ribbon Foundation.

At the event, founder and CEO of Reventon, Chris Christofi, presented Glen from White Ribbon with a cheque for $10,226 (pictured), which was raised across three snooker events:

Reventon Classic – $7,366
Ian Chappell – $610
Reventon Masters – $2,250

The money will go towards the important work of the White Ribbon Foundation, helping to prevent men’s violence against women and advocating for women’s safety.

Reventon has been a proud sponsor of snooker since 2010, supporting the community and selected partner charities in addition to helping thousands of Australians secure their financial future.

We build you wealth, we protect your wealth, we help you create a legacy.  Learn more about creating a legacy with Reventon

The highest break was 102 by Aaron Mahoney which proved to be the only century in the race for the high break prize.

The weekend festival included two groups in the round robin event, a OneforSeven tournament, a junior challenge and the knock out quarter, semis and grand finals.

A full report is attached

The Reventon Group is delighted to have the following Players at the 2018 Reventon Masters, commencing at the RACV City Club this Friday 26th October.

Group A:  Aaron Mahoney, Steve Mifsud, Adrian Ridley, Ben Foster, Kurt Dunham and wild card Adam Bleumink.

Group B:  Johl Younger, Ben Judge, Shaun Dalitz, James Mifsud, Tyson Crinis and wild card Hassan Kerde.

Matches are due to start at 11 a.m. on each of the three days from Friday 26th until Sunday 28th October.

The current Reventon Classic Champion, Aaron Mahoney, has performed very strongly to finish 1st in the Reventon Rankings.

Matthew Bolton has been a strong supporter of the Reventon Ranking Events (2nd overall), however, has regretfully withdrawn from this Final Reventon Event.

The Finals will be live-streamed on Sunday, with CueballTV on YouTube.

For all able to attend, the Reventon Masters has the best players in Australia playing for $15,000 - Winner Takes All.

Quarter-Final results:

Steve Mifsud 3 (129unf, 76) defeated Ricky Lo 0; Robbie Chilcott 3 (73) defeated Steve Bagshaw 1 (61,50); David Collins 3 (101, 50, 42) defeated John Walmsley 2 (41); Ian Gilbee 3 (80, 43) defeated Jason Colebrook 2 (52 unf, 77)

Semi Final results:

Steve Mifsud 3 (63) defeated Robbie Chilcott 0; Ian Gilbee 3 (58) defeated David Collins 1 (43)

Final: Steve Mifsud 3  (102, 46, 52) defeated Ian Gilbee 0 (55) 

Steve Mifsud wins again, defeating John Schenck in the final. Steve came from 120 behind to win by 220 in a 1 hour match. John Schenck made the high break of the day - 152 - which was made on his first shot of the day!

The plate was won by Simon Fortune, defeating team mate David Pitt in the final.

The pennant scoresheet has been updated to address membership form requirements.  Please use the new form in future.  Click on this LINK to download the form.

Thanks

Mark Dunn