At the latest NZBSA Board meeting the qualifying criteria for the NZ B-Grade was re-defined.

Under the previous criteria it was felt that too many players would be ineligible to play so the criteria has been loosened up.  The NZBSA Board felt that there is a large discrepancy between “A” Grade players and the next tier down and that what constituted an A-Grade player in one Association would not necessarily constitute an A-Grade player in another Association.

The new qualifying criteria for the NZ B-Grade Billiards Championship is :

Must not have won an A-Grade or Open Billiards Event and must not have won this event before.

This should ensure a good number of players eligible to play in this tournament.