Sport
6 November, 2024
Local eight-ball duo selected for Australian team
Adam Langtree and James Hay have been selected for an Australian team that will tour the United States.
After their team took out third place at the Australia Cup in Perth last month, two Mount Isa pool players have been selected for an eight-man side that will compete in the United States next year.
James Hay and Adam Langtree took were fifth and seventh respectively in the individual scores out of more than 50 players in teams competing from across the nation, which has earned them a spot to represent Australia.
While the details of the tour are still being finalised, it is planned the Australian team will play the United States in a test series and will participate in an Ultimate Pool tournament in mid to late 2025.
Langtree and Hay were part of a five-man North Queensland side, which also included Mount Isa players Jason McPhee and Garry Cummins, that took third place at the Australia Cup.
The Queensland side was split into three separate regional teams after Victoria did not field a side for the competition.
Hay, who was also the captain of the North Queensland team, said he had reached a personal best at the Perth competition.
“I think all five of us in the North Queensland team played some really great pool – we were up against everyone in the country and the West Australians played really well on their home ground – which shows in the fact their teams took out the top two places in the competition,” he said.
Langtree said he was shocked to discover he landed in the top eight players in the national comp and would now represent his country.
“It took a while for it to sink in what had actually happened – all the hard work over so many years has paid off,” he said.
“I think it shows that Mount Isa pool is really lifting as a whole and pushing forward - we are proving we can match it with the rest of Australia.
“This is the highest level I will ever reach in my pool, so I am just really stoked.”
Australian Eight Ball Federation president Travis Crawley told North West Weekly that the selection of Hay and Langtree demonstrated the growing strength of eight-ball pool in Outback Queensland.
“I think what is happening in Mount Isa is brilliant – Queensland has so many good associations, but you don’t hear about the inland associations – so it’s a real feather in the cap of Mount Isa to have two players in this team,” he said.
“We are about creating more opportunities for players to develop - especially those who are playing week in week out in association competitions across the country – we want to provide a pathway for them to play on a national and international level – and that is why we created the Australia Cup event.
“The guys that will now represent Australia and go to the United States will be real pioneers – it is the first time we have tried a tour such as this.”