BILLIARDS

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 34, 4 November 1929, Page 15

BILLIARDS

A NEW CHAMPION STOUT DEFEATS BOWIE Those who on Saturday afternoon witnessed the first session of the final of the New Zealand amateur billiards championship were well repaid for their -trouble, for they had the good fortune to see L. C. Stout, Wellington R.S.A.) put up the first century in the tournament. This was also the first three-figure break which has been made in the Dominion tournament for some years. Bowie did not get many good leaves. This was in some measure due to the tactics of his opponent, for Stout hud an almost uncanny knack of leaving the balls tight when playing an uncertain shot and failing to score. In his long run he twice got out of a difficult position with credit, one being a run through shot on the white, in which he had to force his opponent on to the jaws of the pocket at a fast pace, but make his own ball follow slowly to avoid the kiss.. The shot came off, and gave him ■ position. The break was a good exhibition of middle pocket apd long losing hazards, and also three long jenny shots, one a very dial-

cult one, but which repaid him handsomely. ~, . „ In the early part of the session Bowie shaped well, and after an all-round 45 lost the white, when he continued with red-ball play to reach 90. His only other breaks were 23. 30 and 51 at the afternoon session, while the following useful string was made by Stout: 21, 32, 37, 32, 48. 26, 27, 24, 52, 27, 22, 29, 34, 118 unfinished. The half-time score was: Stout (in play) 752 Bowie 451 Evening Session. On resuming in the evening Stout missed a long loser off the white, and closed his break of 118. For the first hour Bowie did fairly well, and reduced his Opponent’s lead by over 100. Then Stout again forged ahead, his breaks including 51, 42 and 60. Bowie reached 48, and then, with a series of red winners and losers, carried the break to 105, his feat being well applauded. Stout had the better of an exchange of safety tactics, and the score was called 1012—769 in favour of Stout. Bowie then made an error in dropping the white to play safe, when the red was over one baulk pocket and the white over the other. A quiet red winner would have given him a perfect position on the white, which he could easily have brought out of baulk. Although Stout did not disturb the double baulk, Bowie only scored a handful. At 1259—974 Bowie was in, but soon lost the white. Any luck that was going certainly did not come his way. Stout had two or three lucky ones, but played most consistent billiards, and his safety play was better. Bowie reached his 1000 when Stout was 1260, and for a spell the scoring was rather slow! Stout then opened on a break of 55, practically all losing hazards. He made an error in playing a short red jenny when a simple while loser was on. He missed the shot and let Bowie in for a useful 46. Stout 1406, Bowie 1214. Stout put on 39, to which Bowie made no reply, and the leader added another 26. Bowie did not make much improvement to his score, and Stout ran to his points, the final score being: Stout 1500 Bowie 1282 The breaks at the night session were: Stout, 118, 22, 51, 25, 24, 31, 60, 22, 23, 30, 55, 22, 39, 26. Bowie, 26, 26, 27, 42, 44, 29, 105, 32. 20, 31, 46, 21, 20, Hearty cheers were given for the winner and loser, and Stout was warmly congratulated upon his success at the first attempt. If h« continues to play as well he will be a new and welcome asset to amateur billiards in New Zealand. Annreciation was expressed of the excellent conditions under which the championship had been played,_ the_ table having been-completely recushioned and set to standard for the occasion. DAVIS REDUCES LEAD OF McCONACHY BRILLIANT PLAY BY NEW ZEALANDER By Telegraph.—Press Association. CRec. November 3. 11 p.m.) London, November 3. Davis reduced McConachy’s lead this afternoon, scoring more than double .his opponent’s points, but McConachy was unlucky with positional play. He gave a brilliant exhibition at his first visit to the table at the evening session, carrying an unfinished break of 64 to 580, full of varied play, brilliantly scoring off the red for a spell. He then manoeuvred the balls against the top cushion in a sequence of close cannons. Play of a safety nature followed until Davis found his true form and amassed 474, when he missed a cushion cannon. McConachy played out time with’ an unfinished break of 168. He has scored 11,869, with an average of 104. Davis has scored 10,413, with an average of 84. The best breaks were: McConachy, 585, 458 and 294; Davis, 474, 391 and 369.