FOUR Portland Eightball Association competitors will be hitting the representative stage this week at national and international events.

Chase Daley, Allan Geraldene and Terry Blomeley will compete in the green and gold for Australia in South Africa while Noelene Beech is hitting the tables in Albury for team Victoria.

South Africa is hosting the Hawley Cup which will bring together teams from across the globe to compete in seven different divisions.

Daley will be part of the Australian A men’s team; Geraldene is playing the Masters and Blomeley is part of the LDPD team.

As Daley’s fifth experience on the international stage, he is gearing up for a big tournament where he will also execute the position of Australian head referee.

“It’s going to be very busy that’s for sure,” he said.

“I won’t be getting much sleep at all but that’s okay.

“I’ve been practicing a lot, I’ll do about 20 hours this weekend to get used to it and make sure I’m ready.”

For Blomeley it will be his first time at an event of this magnitude.

“It should be interesting I think, there’s so many different categories over there and a lot of different players so it will be tough,” he said.

Blomeley joined the local competition, the Portland Eightball Association, about six years ago and said his enjoyment of the sport has propelled him to step up on the big stage.

“I started off in Portland six years ago and I’ve loved it; I came to town to chase big fish but I’ve ended up focussing more on pool than the fishing,” he said.

“It’s a great way to meet people and it’s so social.”

The three local players will compete across a number of rounds in Johannesburg for seven days starting on Monday.

Beech ready for Eightball Championships

Noelene Beech will hit the tables for team Victoria in Albury next week as she takes on some of the best players in the country at the 2023 Australian Eightball Championships.

It is her first time joining the Victorian side after pushing to compete for the past 10 years.

“It’s nice to finally make it, I’ve tried to get in there for a while and now that they’ve got the women’s over 50 division I’ve made the team alongside two other great players,” she said.

“I’m the only newbie in the team, the other two players have played before so that will be nice.”

Beech has been a longtime player and has some impressive accolades to her name which has helped with the thought of hitting a national tournament.

“I don’t really get nervous at all, I know I’m able to compete and I’ve come up against some really good players before,” she said.

“I once played Jake McCartney, he’s considered one of the best in Australia and I came up against him about 10 years ago and managed beat him by six balls.”

The event begins on Wednesday.