The chase for the Porter Creek Billiards Cup commenced Wednesday night with the first of four weeks of round robin play.

Following these four weeks, the top four players in the standings will battle it out for the Cup and the honour of being named “Nine-Ball Player of the Year.”

The “Chase for the Cup” is a handicapped tournament which allows players of varying skill levels to compete head to head.

Based on their play throughout the summer, participants are ranked as an A, B or C level player.

This ranking determines how many games each player must win in order to take a match.

An A-ranked player must win five games to win a match, B players four and C players three.

And the handicapping system worked like a charm as a number of C-ranked players were successful against their higher-ranked opponents.

But to no one’s surprise, perennial winner Rob Sinclair is at the top of the standings with six points after sweeping his three matches.

And to most observers’ surprise, Bill Berezowski – just recently returned from the disabled list – is tied with Sinclair atop the standings as he too swept his three matches.

At the other end of the spectrum, pre-tournament favourites Oliver Robitaille and Dave Griffiths both failed to find any kind of winning form as both were winless in this opening round.

A talented group of four players – Bob Edzerza, Carl Carpentier, Mike Fraser and Dave Barrett – are currently tied for third overall.

Play resumes next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Porter Creek Billiards.

– Report courtesy of Yukon Slim, Porter Creek Billiards