Snooker champion chalks up notable win

It all came down to a lengthy pot on the black ball.

Marlborough snooker player Kimberlee Brewer had reached the final of the New Zealand’s Women’s Open Championships in Petone, a national title within her grasp.

Although the Marlborough Snooker and Billiards Club member shot out to an early 2-0 lead in the best-of-games finale, her opponent, Kimberley Cullen, fought back to level at 2-2. The fifth game was tight and nerve-wracking. The Aucklander had a chance to ice it, needing to sink the pink and black to claim the prestigious title. She nailed the pink but missed two difficult attempts on the black, opening the door for Kimberlee, who made no mistake, holding her nerve superbly to slam the ball into the corner pocket.

Thus, the 32-year-old tattoo artist added the NZ women’s title to the Canterbury Women’s Open singles crown, plus the Marlborough Elite Singles (men and women) and Marlborough Ladies Singles titles she had pocketed already this year.

Kimberlee is no stranger to snooker success, her career so far neatly divided into two instalments.

After taking up the sport in her mid-teens, she competed until she was “about 21 or 22” then stepped away from the table for a decade.

During her first stint Kimberlee was selected twice for New Zealand, competing at senior level in Bulgaria and India. Although she relished competing at the top level, she decided to investigate other avenues - attending university, trying raft guiding, “tiki-touring around New Zealand in a van”, with snooker placed firmly on the back burner.

Last year Kimberlee picked up her cue again, suggesting the fact she was now self-employed meant she had more time to practise and give the demanding sport the attention it deserves.

“Snooker is not a contact sport, it is not physically exhausting to play a single game,” she explained. “It is tiring to play in big tournaments but it is more of an intellectual sport.

“I like the calculations and visualising, that kind of thing, figuring out the angles the pace, whether you need to use side spin. That sort of thing is a challenge.”

She has been fortunate to have had some top class mentoring since she was first involved, initially from Gary Gillard in Christchurch, then Gary Oliver and latterly with Mark Canovan, one of the country’s leading players.

“Mark helped me when I was younger so when I got back into it last year, I knew I needed to convince him to coach me again so I went to the open nationals and caught up with him there and eventually he agreed to help me again. Since then, my game has improved 100 percent.”

With female snooker players such as former world No 1 Ng On Yee, who played in the same international tournaments as Kimberlee in Bulgaria and India, Mink Nutcharut and Bai Yulu, plus superstar Reanne Evans, now blazing a trail for female players worldwide, opportunities are opening up and Kimberlee is keen to test her skills against the best.

“I could have gone to a big tournament in Australia and played those types of players a few weeks ago, but it was too big a commitment at the moment. Hopefully next year though it might happen. There was talk that a group of Kiwis might go to a tournament in China next year so that would also be a chance to take on the top players.”

Next up for Kimberlee is the South Island Ladies Tournament in Christchurch, offering another opportunity to better her highest break of 47, plus the chance to further enhance her national standing and once more put the Marlborough club on the national map.