Eleven-year-old Angelo Tsikouris has claimed six national titles in snooker and eight ball while competing in the UK for the international blackball championships, alongside 15-year-old Adam Grace, who stands as the Northern Territory’s top-ranked adult eight-ball player, as reported by abc.net.au.
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Rising Cues in the Territory
Angelo Tsikouris developed his affinity for the sport by watching his grandfather play, initially practicing by shooting a ball through a toilet roll on the floor. After sneaking his first game on a home table while his father was grocery shopping, he progressed rapidly. At nine years old, he secured the national under-12s competition victory, catching his family by surprise. “When he won, we were like: Did he, did he just win? It’s a huge achievement but it’s more that he kept doing it, kept winning again,” his mother Natalie Tsikouris told abc.net.au.
Following that breakthrough, Angelo secured three national junior titles in snooker and another three in eight ball during a UK trip representing Australia in the international blackball championships. He remains the sole youth snooker competitor based in Darwin and the Northern Territory, expressing a desire for more children to embrace table sports.
Adult-Level Dominance at Fifteen
Adam Grace operates at a different tier of regional competition, holding the status of the premier eight-ball player across the Northern Territory, outperforming adult competitors in the discipline. Practicing two to three hours daily after school, Grace traveled to Norway earlier this year to represent Australia in the under-19s category. “It gives me really good confidence when I shoot a ball, I just like the sound of it going into the pocket,” he told abc.net.au.
Grace prepares to represent the Northern Territory at the upcoming national eight-ball championships as the region’s youngest-ever champion. According to Ken Kernich, president of the Northern Territory Eight Ball Association, a handful of other young locals compete internationally in cue sports. Kernich attributed the Territory’s concentration of child champions to environmental factors and sheer volume of practice. “Maybe an air-conditioned room where you can play pool is a lot better than working out in the sunshine,” Kernich told abc.net.au, adding that their commitment turns difficult shots into routine executions.
| Athlete | Age | Discipline | Notable Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angelo Tsikouris | 11 | Snooker / Eight Ball | Six national titles, international blackball representative (UK) |
| Adam Grace | 15 | Eight Ball | Top NT adult-level player, under-19 national representative (Norway) |
