19/10/2024
🎱📈CNZ NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS STATS REVIEW 🎱📈
With the results from this year’s CNZ National Championships being an exact replica of what we witnessed in Invercargill at the CNZ South Islands earlier this year, it would be easy to simply copy and paste what I wrote back in June. However, that would simply not do justice to what we’re currently witnessing in New Zealand 8 Ball Pool at the moment...
👬 PAIRS👬
Adam Lilley’s victory in the National Pairs sees him moving up to equal 8th overall with his 7th CNZ title. Adam has also joined an elite group of players to have won 3 CNZ titles in the same calendar year which includes Phyl Wilkinson, Simon Singleton, Matt McInnes and Mitch Ingram. Phyl remains the only player to have won 4 in a year.
As we’ve previously discussed, with Adam still being in his mid-twenties, he is by far the youngest player in the Top 20. When you consider that Phyl didn’t win his first CNZ title until the age of 31 and Simon the age of 33, it’s scary to think how many Adam could win in his career. All the talk during the next couple of years will no doubt centre around WHEN Simon will catch and beat Phyl’s 19 CNZ titles and obtain the GOAT title, but it’s arguably Adam who has the best chance of setting the all-time record CNZ title haul. With both Adam and Simon competing in both the North and South Islands, no doubt they would have been delighted that the remit to prevent players competing in both Island events failed to pass at the AGM.
Speaking of remits, Adam’s playing partner and regular shark rack user, Bret De Faria, would have been disappointed at the decision to ban shark racks from future CNZ tournaments. Interestingly the vote count was a dead heat twice, before a recount saw the ban enforced by just two votes. With such a close vote I would expect to see the shark rack debate resurface and voted upon at a future AGM. On the flip side though, Bret spoke passionately about switching the Pairs format to scotch which was then subsequently voted in favor of. Interestingly, the last time scotch was used at a CNZ Nationals was at New Plymouth in 2013, when Bret won the title with his brother, Thomas De Faria.
Bret moves up to 14th overall with his 6th CNZ title. Bret remains only the 2nd player in the top 20 whose titles have all come from Pairs, the other being Graham Cole.
Bret continues to fly the silver fern as the only New Zealand-born player to have a won an Open CNZ title since Dan Bowen won the Singles at the 2022 South Islands. Aside from Bret every other Open CNZ title has been won by English-born players (Simon Singleton, Adam Lilley, Steve Denton & Bayden Jackson).
Adam and Bret have become only the fourth pairing to have won multiple CNZ National Pairs titles, although they have some way to go to match the 5 National Pairs titles collected by Phyl Wilkinson and Matt McInnes.
Adam and Bret have become the first pairing to have won back-to-back Island and Nationals Pairs, with victory in both the 2023 and 2024 editions of those tournaments. Phyl Wilkinson achieved a similar feat across 2012 and 2014 (partnered with both Matt McInnes and Chris Morgan), but did not do so in consecutive years.
In what is surely the longest unbeaten run in major CNZ Pairs history, the last time Adam and Bret were beaten in a major CNZ Pairs event was the quarter finals of the 2022 CNZ National Pairs against Ite Talosaga and George Brooking.
Whilst Simon and Bayden will highly likely overtake Phyl and Matty’s record of 6 CNZ Pair’s titles in the foreseeable future, Adam & Bret are only one title behind so expect to witness a fascinating battle to become the CNZ Pairs GOATs during the next few years.
🧍♂️SINGLES🧍♂️
CNZ title number 13 for The Postman sees Simon Singleton move to within 6 titles overall of Phyl Wilkinson. In the past two years Simon has won a staggering 6 CNZ titles, matching the record 6 that Phyl won across 2014 and 2015.
Simon has also joined an exclusive group of just 9 players that have won multiple CNZ National Singles Championships.
As Simon himself discussed on his own Facebook post, we have now reached an incredible level of consistency at the top with Simon and Adam between them having won all 6 Open CNZ titles this year.
From a quantitative perspective we have now reached a period of dominance similar to Des Blair circa 1995 – 2005 and Phyl Wilkinson circa 2005 – 2015. From a qualitative perspective, in my opinion, through a combination of pitting themselves against the best in Australia during the Pockets Pro Series, as well as taking on the world’s best at the World Championships, Adam and Simon have taken the quality of New Zealand pool to a level we have not yet witnessed before. If they’re on opposite sides of the draw there’s a good chance that they will both reach the final. Considering that Adam also won the National Snooker title as well this year gives you an idea as to how talented are current top 8 Ball cueists are.
