Dear Players
The entries to the
Oceania Championships to date have not been as expected and the OBSF
Executive have had to take the decision to reduce the prize monies
relative to the entries for each of the events. This was a very hard
decision, but one necessary to ensure that the Championship can go
ahead as a number of regional players have already booked their
flights to attend the events. However, if the numbers do increase
then the proposed prize pools will be honoured in full.
There will be Test
Matches between Australia and New Zealand in the U21 and Women's
which is important for the region.
The introduction of the
Masters to replace the 6 Red Championship has not been as well
supported as we expected and the fact may be that to have the Masters
followed directly by the Oceania Championship is too long for players
to be away from work or other commitments they may have and with this
in mind we have decided to not run the Masters, all Masters entry
fees paid to date will be fully refunded. We are hopeful that anybody
that had entered only the Masters will now switch their entry to the
Oceania event. We apologise for this but we need to be mindful of the
responsibility to the financial viability of the OBSF for the future.
In the future
Championships it might well be that the events are to be split and
there be more than one Championships to accommodate the categories
without requiring too long a period for the events.
The Billiards has also
not been supported to date, even with the resurgence in recent times
for the discipline, and again it has been decided that unless there
is a drastic change in the entries in the next few days it might well
have to be cancelled. It is all very disappointing for everybody and
especially after the OBSF managed to find a replacement to host the
Championships after New Zealand had some difficulties and had to
withdraw from hosting the Championship.
Mounties,
as always have been fantastic in taking on the Championships at such
short notice and I think we need to get behind them and support all
the events wherever possible. They have been a stalwart of the
Billiards and Snooker fraternity for many years and to see the lack
of support at this time is a travesty. All the tables have being
reclothed and new balls are provided for the events so we have the
best conditions we can provide.
There are some with
personal agendas that are actively urging players to not enter and
that is such a destructive approach for our sport, so I urge you to
not listen to the protestation of some that are not aware of; or in
some instances choose to ignore, all the efforts that people are
going to in both the preparation for these Championships, but also
the future of our sport worldwide. It is to be hoped that in the near
future we can see some conciliation between all major parties that
will benefit all the players.
Therefore finally, we
would strongly urge you all to support both the OBSF and Mounties and
to enter the Championships as soon as possible to ensure they are a
success.
The OBSF Executive