POOL player James Kirk won the CI International Championship on his 16th birthday - despite having broken his favourite cue the night before in Jersey. The teenager became the first Channel Islander to achieve the singles title feat - beating more than 20 juniors from Guernsey, Jersey and the UK.
He had been playing in the inter-insular tournament and a frame to keep the Guernsey team in with a chane of victory when disaster struck.
‘I played a bad shot and turned around and banged my cue and it snapped,’ he recalled.
‘When I broke it, I was really, really upset and I went straight back to the hotel room and sobbed.’
His father had bought him the cue as a present after the world championships when Kirk secured a world ranking of 18th.
‘That was the cue that I really got on with. My dad, Trevor, and I were walking around St Helier about 9.30 or 10 at night looking for a shop that sold superglue. We found one and we superglued the cue and my dad wigged it and put some string around it.’
‘I played the next morning and played every match with it and won the tournament - it was a bit of an extra feeling,’ he said.
‘I did not want to play too many games in practice in case it snapped and I still managed to play outstanding.
‘I won it on my 16th birthday and felt really amazed with myself,’ he said.
‘I got to the final of the tournament last year and said I would give it my all this year and I was over the moon to win it.’
In the semi-final, he knocked out Jersey champion Ryan Shaw before defeating Jersey’s Josh Hinds in the final.
The cue will be sent to the UK shortly to be repaired.
Jess de la Haye, 17, retained the CI Championship trophy at the Ommaroo Hotel at Havre des Pas in Jersey in an excellent match.
He also beat Hinds in the final 5-3 - having never trailed in the match.
‘He played well and it was not an easy match - I was quite happy with the way I played.
‘I’m quite proud and it’s nice to have my name on the trophy again. It was harder this year than last year because people were out to get me this year,’ he said.
Event organiser Paul Bolton said: ‘Jess is the top junior in the Channel Islands and it showed. It was a brilliant final with excellent potting from both 17-year-olds.’
‘We had an entry of 22 this year. That’s about a dozen up on Guernsey last year when most of the players who took part then had travelled from Jersey.’
The youngsters are now both practising hard for the European Championships in Malta in February.
‘If I put in a lot of time and effort, hopefully I will do well and the team does well. I want to do the best I can in every tournament,’ said de la Haye.
He dreams of becoming a professional pool player after he has finished his carpentry apprenticeship in four years’ time.
Article posted on 11th December, 2007 - 12.00am
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