Queenstown player still right on cue
Queenstown's Simon Singleton continues to prove he's New Zealand's best pool player.
Last weekend, playing Australia's biggest 8-ball tournament for prize money, the Slate Pro Championship in Geelong, Melbourne, he finished equal third in a top-class field of 64.
He won five matches and only dropped two — his first of two lives and his semifinal — to arguably Oceania's best pool player, Aussie Jake McCartney.
In his last-16 game he potted a vital 'Z' shot and in his quarterfinal he won 11-9 after being 6-0 down.
His performance was even more meritorious in front of a hostile crowd — "that was pretty tough, not something I've experienced before".
On other hand, he says "the messages of support from all around NZ were unbelievable".
Recently, Singleton, who's 42, through a feat of logistics managed to win the North Island and South Island 8-ball singles titles even though they were being competed for at the same time.
"They tried to overlap the events so people couldn't play both."
Singleton, who's ranked no.1 in NZ in Kiwi rules pool, also holds the NZ title which he'll defend in October — "I'm the first person in NZ to hold all three titles".
Meanwhile, he'll be representing NZ for the second year running at the World Eightball Pool Federation champs in Ennis, Ireland, next month.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Game On: Silver Ferns legends Irene van Dyk and Adine Wilson on returning to the court and life after professional netball
As Kiwi netball legends and young up-and-comers put each other to the test in new TV series Game On, Silver Ferns icons Adine Wilson and Irene van Dyk talk to Mitchell Hageman about family, fitness and finding your flow outside of professional sport. Even for some of Aotearoa's netball greats,
1News
13 hours ago
- 1News
Podium finish for Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs in Monaco
Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs has found 100m success on the European circuit, notching up a third place in Monaco this morning. Her best Diamond League finish so far suggested she has more in the tank, as she ran over her current New Zealand record. Hobbs had another strong start a the Meeting Herculis, staged in Stade Louis II in Monaco, remaining in contention among the leaders until the 2024 Olympic 100m champion, Julian Alfred (Saint Lucia), pulled away. Alfred finished strong at 10.79s with Jacious Sears (USA) in second with 11.02s. Hobbs's time of 11.12 for third may have been a touch off the pace of her recent New Zealand record of 10.94s, but Monaco provided a slight headwind. ADVERTISEMENT Hobbs would now be returning to New Zealand shores for a few weeks with her team before returning to Europe in late July. The 27-year-old complete her build up for the 2025 World Athletics Championships on the European circuit, with races still to be confirmed. The World Athletics Championships were set for Tokyo, Japan in mid-September, slightly later in the year than usual. Meanwhile, Kiwi Olympic champion, Hamish Kerr, finished sixth in Monaco with a best of 2.23m. Sanghyeok Woo (South Korea), took out first place with an equal world lead performance of 3.34.
1News
16 hours ago
- 1News
Former Warriors Kieran Foran makes call to retire after 16 years
Kieran Foran will close the curtain on one of rugby league's most-storied careers after confirming his plans to retire at the end of 2025. One of rugby league's great survivors, Foran is set to finish with close to 315 NRL games to his name when he plays his final match for Gold Coast in September. Foran's retirement comes as questions swirl around the future of coach Des Hasler at the club, with the Titans sitting last and looking unlikely to make finals. A premiership-winner at Manly in 2011, Foran also played 31 Tests for New Zealand and is the last player in the NRL to have debuted during the 2000s decade. But beyond all that, Foran will finish as one of the toughest halves to play the game in the NRL era, after a career that experienced more highs and lows than most. ADVERTISEMENT The Kiwi, who turns 35 on Sunday, debuted under Hasler at Manly in 2009 as a hard-running five-eighth, regularly putting his body through the ringer when taking the line on or putting on hits in defence. He won a premiership as a 21-year-old, partnering with Daly Cherry-Evans as one of the youngest combinations in the game's history to take a team to the title. But when the five-eighth was lured to Parramatta in 2016 on a mega four-year deal, the playmaker's path changed significantly. He experienced highly publicised personal issues and has since revealed the mental demons he fought through that period. Foran ended up leaving the Eels for the Warriors after one season, but admitted then it was the toll he put on his body that began to catch up with him. He played just 57 games across four seasons at the Warriors and then Canterbury, at one stage prompting fears of a medical retirement due to a shoulder injury. Foran persisted though, earned a lifeline under Hasler at Manly in 2021 before helping take them back to preliminary final in his first season back at Brookvale. ADVERTISEMENT The No.6 was eventually squeezed out at the end of 2022, but had done enough to extend his career on the Gold Coast. It was there Hasler ultimately joined him in 2024, after making a shock return to coaching at the Titans. Foran reached the 300-game milestone last year, perhaps the most unlikely member of the 55-man group given the fact his career looked over six years ago. "That's something I am so grateful for and proud of," Foran told AAP on reaching the milestone last year. "It's just staying in the fight. If this could be an example or message to anyone out there, it's that good things can come if you stay in the fight. "I'd got to 26 or 27 or 28 and my body just fell apart. Just through sheer wear and tear and not looking after it the way I should have in the early stages of my career. "I would say to the missus: 'Is it worth me keeping going if I'm not playing the footy I want to play? Is my body going to get back to where I need it to?'"
