Kailab Tyne recently returned from the World Blackball Championships in Eng­land. Blackball is the English standard in eight ball pool and one of the most popular billiard sports in the world.

Blackball (also known as English pool) is a variant of billiards played on smaller 7ft tables. It is played by two players with 16 balls (one white cue ball, one black, seven red, seven yellow).

The Forbes & Parkes Phoenix caught up with Kailab upon his return to Australia, saying of his trip: “England was an awe­some experience against the best players I have ever seen. They were just on a differ­ent level. There were a lot of games where I didn’t even get to the table, I just sat in the chair watching them play then went and shook their hands. I finished up ranking 44th in the world, which I was very happy with for my first time, especially consider­ing I let a couple of games get away.”

After representing Australia on the In­ternational stage, Kailab has just been announced as Captain for the Indigenous Mens Team 1, which will compete in the The Phil Bowie Indigenous Challenge. This is a team match where a Indigenous side of eight players verse an Australian side of eight players on the eve of nationals. All players are selected by the BAPA commit­tee.

“Out of a very talented group of players I was lucky enough to be selected to cap­tain. I was shocked to say the least. I was happy to be able to play, let alone captain.

It is a huge honour,” said Kailab.

Younger brother Trent Tyne is also a tal­ented Blackball player, just being named in the NSW Mens Team. Kailab said of Trent “One of the fellas that I met at the 2024 nationals in Canberra was looking for a bit of a team shake up and I mentioned Trent to him and from there it was all set in mo­tion. The next thing I know he is in, which is awesome. Trent came and watched a fair few of my games in Canberra so he was definitely keen. He started playing very young, he used to play with the cue on his shoulder because he was too little and has probably played more games than I have.”

Next year Kailab will start off in the Muswellbrook Open on the Australia Day long weekend, then onto Nationals in March up at Rockhampton. From there he hasn’t made any plans as yet, a lot of the bigger competitions throughout the year are down in Melbourne.

“I’d love to go to all of them, but it’s pretty expensive following the comps around with travel and accommodation, plus getting the extra days off work here and there. I’d love to be able to get some sponsors on board,” said Kailab.

If there are any businesses interested in sponsoring Kailab and Trent so they can continue on their amazing sporting journey, please reach out at tyne1@bigpond.com.