BILLIARDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 279, 22 November 1913, Page 16

BILLIARDS.

Save our 1.0r.-lcni correspondent under date' October 10:—'"Those lovers of bi!r..;nU who have been contemplating 11. \V. Steveuson in the light of an expiring force in hie profession have had ai. entirely agreeable surprise during tin , past week or so. Stevenson has been playing as well as he has ever doup. an has 011 several occasions performed ill truly brilliant fashion. His latest achievement, has been to "bury' Melbourne Inmau's ivory ball TU'.C. record o; BSI7 by means of a superb and flukefree break of filO. Stevenson atcom plished this tine feat on Tuesday evening at Thureton'a Hail, London, in the course of his 20.000 points 'match wit!) Cecil Ilarverson, to whom he is concedina L'.oOO start. The big break occupied a few seconds under 73 minutes. From the start Ste vensoti [.lived with wonderful conlidcnciand celerity and With such wonderfu' touch that he scarcely ever found him •"Olf in a difficulty; indeed, during the whole break he did not have to negotiate more than half a dozen really difficult strokes. It was very remarkable to sei him reeling off hundred after hundred without showing the least signs of tiring until lie had made 700, when he became slower and played with greater care. The break included only one run of close cannons, those numbering 33, being made before he had scored 400. Afterwards he kept mainly to the top of the "table, with round play as a variant, keeping the balls under wonderful control. His first real difficulty came at 540, when he had to play a very tricky cushion cannon. Then at 570 came a big masse cannon, whilst at (500 a kiss almost robbed him of a cannon. For. some time after thie he hud nothing to worry over, but at 542, with his own hall tucked away under the left cushion and the objects on the top cushion, he had to play a daring winning hazard. He obtained it splendidly, and continued until he had made 910, when a cannon ended with the balU covering his own, and the red almost touching. There ■wan nothing on but an almost impossible screw loser in the left top poc-ket, and at this he failed. The break, whilst not a 8.0.0. record, he having made 1010 against Cook in the same hall last October with composition balk, is a B.C.C. record with ivory balls, beating Inman's 807. made against Newman last season.