18/05/2026
🎱 SYDNEY 9-BALL MASTERS RECAP 🎱
What a weekend of pool at the Masters!
60 players battled it out across 12 round robin groups over Friday and Saturday, with only the top 3 from each group advancing through to Sunday's knockout stage. With races to 5 in the groups before progressing to longer races on Sunday, consistency across the entire weekend was crucial.
The group stages produced some outstanding performances, with several players going undefeated through their groups including Joe Chao, John Wims, Tony Do, Justin Sajich, John Bowkett, Sammy Stacy, Greg Jenkins and Hassan Kerde.
There were also some terrific performances from lower FargoRated players throughout the weekend.
Kevin Alexander (649) topped a tough group before going on an incredible run to the final, while Louis Leung (492) impressed throughout the event to claim the Male Rookie award.
Liam Anderson (386) also showed great fight to remain competitive in a very strong field.
Sunday's knockout stage delivered exactly what you would expect from a Masters event, with some of Sydney's strongest cueists battling through high-pressure matches and long races.
Barry Mavros produced a phenomenal run to finally capture his first Masters title, defeating Kevin Alexander 11-8 in the final.
Barry has been a regular feature in the pointy end of Masters events over the years, but had previously fallen short in quarter finals, semi finals and finals. This time, he broke through in style, taking down some huge names along the way including Justin Sajich, John Bowkett and Shaun Oglesby.
Kevin Alexander also deserves enormous credit for his tournament. After topping his group, he continued his excellent form on Sunday with victories over incredibly tough opponents Greg Jenkins and Chris Dam before eventually finishing runner-up.
A special mention also goes to Matt Harmon, who made a brilliant semi-final run despite English Eightball being his primary discipline. An outstanding effort in such a strong field.
It was also fantastic to see players like Dave Reljic and Cody Richardson back competing deep into a major event after long breaks from tournament play, with both reaching the Top 16.
Final Placings
Winner: Barry Mavros
Runner-up: Kevin Alexander
Semi Finalists
• Shaun Oglesby
• Matt Harmon
Quarter Finalists
• Chris Dam
• John Rafael Tan
• Phil Mowbray
• Justin Sajich
Top 16
• Cody Richardson
• Hassan Kerde
• John Wims
• Greg Jenkins
• Jamie Walker
• Dave Reljic
• John Bowkett
• Barry Crossey
Rookie Awards
• Best Female Under 499 FargoRate — Kellie Mowbray
• Best Male Under 499 FargoRate — Louis Leung
A sincere thank you to Club9 for once again hosting the event. Michael and the Club9 team’s ongoing support and help behind the scenes makes a real difference every time we run one of these tournaments, and we really appreciate it.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who tuned in to watch the live stream of the closing stages of Sunday's knockout matches at Club9. It was a great opportunity for us to test our streaming capabilities, and we really appreciate the support from those who watched along. We have big plans to build on this, with live scoring and commentary on the way in the near future. Watch this space!
Thank you to everyone who competed, supported and helped make the event another successful weekend of pool. The standard across the entire field was exceptional and we're already looking forward to the next one.
