Young gun Jason Yu dominates at 2021 NT Junior Eightball Titles, as the Northern Territory’s best shoot it out for glory

JUNIORS from across the Territory converged on Casuarina Club to compete in the NT Junior Eightball Championships and a shot of representing the NT in the Australian Junior Championships.

Pint Juniors’ Jason Yu is only 12, but he won the Singles title at the NT Junior Eightball Championships. Picture: Suppled

JUNIORS from across the Territory converged on Casuarina Club to compete in the NT Junior Eightball Championships and a shot of representing the NT in the Australian Junior Championships.

The NT Titles are usually held in the September/October school holidays but due to COVID-19 were moved to the Australia Day weekend.

The event saw 15 junior competitors from across the Territory from Darwin, Litchfield, Pint Club and Tennant Creek shoot it out to pocket themselves a win in a weekend full of challenges.

Perhaps most impressive was the dominance of 12-year-old rising star Jason Yu from Pint Juniors, who took out both the Under-15s and Singles title.

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Liam Taylor placed second in the under-15s age group behind the undefeated Yu.

Runner-up in last year's national titles, Yu was still eligible to compete in the under-12s category but was moved up an age bracket as his previous performances suggested it would be more competitive for him.

Instead, the under-12 competition was fought out by two first-time participants, with the winner being William Bingham from Litchfield, while Pint Juniors’ Finlay Russell came runner-up.

It was the battle of Tennant Creek in the women’s singles event with Denise Davenport taking the overall victory over Megan Pulumbarit.

Darwin’s Trai Chan fought off all challengers to take out the under-18s category with Litchfield’s Rowan Sanders finishing runner-up.

But Chan’s strong showing was not enough to fend off young gun Yu in the Singles category, with the young gun once again shining brightest beating several 18-year-old entrants with Chan taking second.

Pint Juniors’ president and coach Tim Olencewicz was particularly pleased with the results which saw his club walk away with the Overall Highest Group Aggregate Award.

The NT Titles gave a great indication on who would be selected for the NT team heading to the upcoming Australian Junior Nationals based in Albury this July.

Rowan Sanders (Litchfield) has been named as the NT team captain for 2021, with Scott Taylor (Pint Juniors) named vice-captain, while Sharon Jennings is the team manager.

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Joining them on the hunt for national glory will be: Trai Chan, Tiana Shilling (Darwin), Denise Davenport (Tennant Creek), Sebastian Luke (Litchfield), Seth Renshaw (Pint Juniors), Megan Pulumbarit (Tennant Creek), Jason Yu (Pint Juniors) and William Bingham (Litchfield).