It was a busy time for Nicholson, 14, who took on the Billiard, Open Snooker and Under 21s Snooker championships before lining up in the Trans Tasman Test Match. 

Among the highlights for Nicholson was a quarter-finals appearance in the under 21s tournament – where he went down to the eventual champion – and two wins in the pool stage of the open event.

Nicholson had a tough start in Sydney, going down in all six of his matches.

The Bathurst junior scored a win in the pool stage of the under 21s to book a place in the knockout stage.

The under 21s quarter-final against Mario Hildred was a tough matchup for Nicholson but he could hold his head high after winning a frame.

“In the under 21s I won my pool game against Cody Turner 4-3 to go through,” Nicholson said.

“When I took a frame in the quarter-final I thought ‘Wow, I could win this’ but then he got a 77.”

Nicholson had his opportunities to win in the Test Match series but came up just shy of a victory.

He went down 3-0 Daniel Cole and held a 2-0 lead over Ryan King before losing 3-2.

Nicholson met Cole again in the Snooker Championships pool stage and the Bathurst player found his revenge in a 3-1 result.

Another win came Nicholson’s way in a 3-1 win over Yahya Atty.

Nicholson went down by the same scoreline to David Liu and Alan McCarthy but he’d done enough the progress in the tournament.

A 3-0 loss to Rob Elsley put a stop to Nicholson’s run but he’d made a strong impression against players with many more years of experience.

Nicholson’s father Terry said it was a special moment to see his son representing Australia in the test matches.

“When you finish your break normally they’ll say your name and then the total. In the Test Match they would say ‘Australia’ and then the score. That was a really good feeling.”