New Zealand No1-ranked player Mark Canovan is the winner of the Gore Invitational Snooker Classic.
The Cantabrian beat defending champion Neil Whalley, of Dunedin, four frames to two at the weekend.
The Gore Town & Country Club and the Gore and Districts Memorial RSA hosted the tournament.
Section play started on Friday night and included feature matches where the top eight nationally ranked players competed against each other.
Section play continued on Saturday and the knockout games were held Sunday.
The tournament was organised by Gore player Shannon Swain and tournament director Dave Judd, of Hastings.
Twenty-four players were divided into four sections, and from there qualified into the main, flight and plate finals, Judd said.
“The players, they’re playing their hearts out want to get into the main [draw].
“Obviously that is where the business end of the tournament is.”
It was the third year the tournament had been held, and it was live-streamed.
Swain said the weekend went very well.
“All the players were more than happy with the whole event.
“I don’t think they really knew what hospitality was like down here,” he said.
It was very pleasing to get such a high calibre of players travelling south, including about six of the top 10 nationally ranked players.
It boded well for the New Zealand Snooker Championships which would be held in Gore in November.
