BILLIARDS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 104, 3 May 1924, Page 19

BILLIARDS

PRESENT DAY CHAMPIONS

It is an indisputable fact that the standard of billiards playing has risen, wonderfully during the past few years, and players, both amateur and professional, have left the old form far behind (writes Harry Young in the "Daily Mail "■). It is a difficult matter to compare the form of the past masters with those playing to-day, but nobody can accuse mo of belittling the late John Roberts when I suggast that Newman and . Smith are 4000 in 16,000 better players than the man who made the game popular. A 500 break was an event when John Roberts was playing, but to-day it is a habit, and from time to time We see averages returned that would have been considered a good break a quarter of a century ago.. Some people attribute this, to improved playing conditions, but with the exception o* perhaps more pliable cushions everything is as used by Roberts, Peall, North, and Mitchell, < when these four men were at the head of affairs. As a matter of fact, the playing conditions ■actually favoured the old champions. Then the "push stroke" was allowed, an unlimited number of close cannons (permitted without restrictions, «nd wider pocket openings than those on the standard table of to-day. The limitation of safety misses, a wise piece of billiards legislation for which we have to thank Mr. R. H. Rimington Wilson, has been very helpful to the younger school, who, being almost powerless to cramp the game, have had to discover new methods to get out of ' difficulties. Mitchell once said that .whenever he had a fluke he assiduously practised it as a new stroke* and to-day the impossibility in giving a second miss ,has forced the players to take pains to discover methods of playing on a safe ball without opening up the game. At the'risk of it being considered a farfetched view, I humbly suggest that this is the reason for the remarkable superiority of the new school over the old. Personally I was always delighted to watch a good bout of safety play, but it had its disadvantages, and upon one occasion I saw upwards of 80 saiety misses given in succession. Mr. Rimineton Wilson was also a witness of th?s freakish performance, und from his club the same night he started the crusude which culminated in. the players being barred from giving a second safety miss unless something .had been scored in between.

The improvement is not confined to tho professionals, and it is easier to claim it for the amateurs through the continued fine form of the brilliant veteran, S. H. Fry. Fry has been playing competitive billiards for forty /ears and is a 50 per cent, better player today than he was when winning and losing championships upwards of thirty years ago. Yet he does not stand alone, despite' this remarkable improvement lor it is a very near thing between him, W. P. M'Leod, and J. Grabam-Symes for top honours. ■

Besides this trio we have a group of brilliant players, such as Major H L Fleming, Captain A. Croneeu. G. A Heginbottom, A. E. Graham, and F V Stacey, all o£ whom are as good as the champions of old, with the possible exception of H. C. Virr.

There are signs that amateur billiards is proving more attractive to tho public just now than the professional, game, the reason is a strange enough one, being that the professionals are too good! A break by Smith, once set. is a performance of .machine-like precision the uuly surprising stroke being the one that eventually dismisses him. it being as a rule, at the time totally unexpected' A J' ry break, on the other hand, is full of thrills. It is more of an adventure and seldom do we see him make 20 by any set stroke before losing the position and switching, on to something else -V century break by Fry -shows the ordinary hundred-upper " looking on the possibilities of the game from his own point o r view, while a 500 by Smitir shows him the impossibility. ' When [caving a billiards hall sifter seeing Fry Ihr. uamial spectator might be forgiven for thinking., " With a lot of practice and n bit of luck 1, might become oj; good a playui' na Fry some day."