By Orville Clarke, Portmore Star Writer

EWART HALL from Hot Shots won the first-ever Mystix 8-Ball Handicap pool tournament for A and B class players last Sunday, defeating Andre Meeks from U-Tech 4-2 in the best of seven final at Mystix Sports Bar, 78 3/4 Hagley Park Road.

The two-day tournament attracted a large number of players, several coming from Portmore, others from sections of the Corporate Area as well as the rural areas.

Hall won five games en route to the final, accounting for the highly ranked Calhoun Melville from Chelsea in the first round.

Meeks, a "B' class player, also won five games to the final. Among his victims was the highly- regarded Albert Chung, who went under 3-2 in the quarter final.

Meeks whipped Richard Gold from Backyaad 3-0 in one-semi-final, while Hall beat Portmore's Dalton Daniels 4-1 to set the stage for the final showdown.

Hall raced into a 3-0 lead and although Meeks showed a lot of heart to come back strongly at 3-2, almost levelling the score at 3-3, Hall was not going to be denied and won 4-2.

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He secured the $50,000 cash prize and championship trophy donated by Carl Anderson, proprietor of Mystix Sports Bar, Hagley Park Plaza.

Meeks received $20,000 and a trophy for second, while Daniels beat Gold 3-2 in the third place playoff to secure $10,000, with Gold picking up $5,000 for fourth.

The island's top-rated player, Sunil 'Termite' Kissendal from Portmore's Pool Plus was knocked out by club-mate Andrew Wilson in the second round.

Kissendal said he plans to promote the sport to greater heights, having formed Termite Billiards Jamaica Limited with the aim of organising and promoting pool tournaments at Mystix, Chelsea and Pool Plus with the help of corporate sponsors such as Red Bull.

Mystix, meanwhile, will be hosting mini-pool tournaments beginning next Tuesday and continuing on Thursdays at 78 3/4 Hagley Park Road. The Club is home to six, nine-foot tables and two, eight-foot ones as well.