{"id":584112,"date":"2026-08-29T15:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T15:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/584112\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T15:32:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T15:32:21","slug":"on-the-up-northland-teen-to-represent-new-zealand-at-world-pool-champs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/584112\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Up: Northland teen to represent New Zealand at world pool champs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam\u2019s achievements in the sport were particularly auspicious given he has to travel from Te Kamo to Auckland each weekend to get a competitive game, Mike said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing up here, it\u2019s amazing we [Northland] have got a few kids doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam got into pool by watching and playing with his dad on the pool table in their garage, first picking up a cue at age 10 or 11.<\/p>\n

When the family was in Auckland one weekend, Sam was encouraged to join a junior coaching session, run by top players such as New Zealand No 1, Matt Edwards.<\/p>\n

The coaches were able to tell that Sam had plenty of talent and encouraged him to start competing, basing himself at Auckland pool hall Pool and Blues.<\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s first taste of international competition was when the World Pool-Billiard Association held its world championships in Hamilton<\/a> in 2024, the first time such an event was held in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\"SamSam Dunbar says being tall, at 1.93m, helps him get good reach across the pool table. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

Last year, he travelled to Spain as part of New Zealand\u2019s U17 team, with fellow Northlanders Manaia McQueen and Aaliyah Clifford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mike said the international competitions exposed the Kiwis\u2019 lack of coaching and experience, with pool being a national sport in many European countries and even taught at school in Poland.<\/p>\n

In Spain, Sam managed to beat the European champ and give the world champ a scare, an experience that helped make him a more focused player.<\/p>\n

While he hopes to do well in San Antonio in November, Sam\u2019s ultimate goal is to become a professional pool player and play the game in the Olympics.<\/p>\n

The Whang\u0101rei Boys\u2019 High School student credited his success to his coach Henry Nguyen, plus his tall 1.93m frame, which gives him a good reach.<\/p>\n

\"SinkingSinking shot after shot, game after game is what Sam Dunbar will be required to do at the World Pool-Billiard Association Junior World Championships. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

He was also helped by Blues and Pool owners Tony and Anna Nguyen, Dutch coach Rienus Gennissen and his dad, who learned the competitive game.<\/p>\n

Mike said that while he was proud of his son\u2019s achievement, Sam\u2019s competing has not come cheaply, with cues costing $5000 each, tournament tables costing $15,000 and the cost of travel to Auckland each week for coaching and competitions.<\/p>\n

The Dunbars had started a Givealittle page to cover the costs of the international flights to the world champs in Texas.<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam\u2019s achievements in the sport were particularly auspicious given he has to travel from Te Kamo to Auckland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1975,111546,18430,67552,71,27135,440,117,111,139,1067,69,90,5198,13117,2022,213,14649,5163,4054,223,61,810,377,80],"class_list":["post-584112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-at","tag-championing","tag-champs","tag-competitors","tag-from","tag-lack","tag-local","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-pool","tag-represent","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-stopped","tag-teen","tag-teenager","tag-the","tag-to","tag-up","tag-world","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}