Jason the Big Potting Machine
All Hail King Jason! The writing was on the wall, from the onset Jason was on some other tip. If potting was a subject at school then he definitely passed it with flying colours. Mr. Theron aka Jabu as he is popularly known in pool circles reminded us that class is permanent and there is no substitute for experience.
If you were following Jason’s games online you would have also noticed that he was poised from the first frame and it would have taken too much effort to thwart him. One thing that stood out was the fact that he went for every shot confidently and hardly missed but the exposure that he has been getting internationally is really giving him the edge over the local competition. Jabu also gave us one of those rare break and finishes against Castello Naidoo in the last 8, it had ‘world class’ written all over it and Castello could only watch in awe and congratulate his victor with a smile.
In his match against the in-form Aden Joseph, Jabu broke first and we knew from that long first shot on that stripped ball across the table to the bottom right hand corner that he was in the zone. Very few would have opted for that shot knowing that should they miss it then Aden would most likely clear the table but Jason being Jason, he was unfazed by who the opponent was, like a surgeon in theatre, his precision was breath-taking and his confidence was oozing out of his sleeves. Poor Aden could only come second on the day and what a worthy and outstanding winner Jason turned out to be. I suppose the loss to Jason poked holes in Aden’s armour and superman became an ordinary human being as he went on to lose to Thaisan Govindsamy who walked away with a smart phone in the 3rdplace playoff.
In the final, Jason played against a completely new name in the world Cuesports, Raymond Tillack, a 2ndyear Civil Engineering student through UNISA. Raymond was relatively unknown before the tournament but he surely is a house-brand now, the young man was composed, confident and he was exuberance personified, very well dressed amongst many other positives. He chose his shots well and he surpassed all expectations in reaching the final. In all fairness the lad gave Jason a pretty good run for his money, I mean his BAIC D20. If Theron was an ordinary pool player, then Raymond had him cornered in a tight snooker but Jason being Jason, he pulled off a very good, one of a kind super jump over the obstructing ball and still accurately made the blackball in pin-point perfection bringing the crowd into a frenzy and for the first time in the tournament we saw some emotion from the big guy who hardly gesticulated or spoke much throughout the event, he punched the air screaming “Come on Man!”. The state of the art Plasma TV was all Raymond had to settle for and Jabu drove away in the ultimate prize. Chinese 8Ball is taking the sport of pool into new heights and if you were still doubting its substance, then please do yourself a favour and find the nearest pool hall and start practicing. Chinese Pool Tables are now scattered all over the country and at your disposal, make use of them.
We have had two tournaments now and in both occasions, we have witnessed a player from the host province claim the coveted prize, the first one was held in Gauteng and Aden from Johannesburg won it, we will be having the next one in December in Secunda Mpumalanga… maybe Henry Erasmus will win it.
Chinese 8Ball, changing lives through pool.
