BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP

Evening Star, Issue 21845, 8 October 1934, Page 5

BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP

WON BY H. M'LEAN COMFORTABLE VICTORY IN FINAL GAME By a well-deserved margin of 334 points, H. M'Lean, of Christchurch, won the final of the New Zealand amateur championship in the game with A. Albertson, of Lyttelton, at the Beturned Soldiers’ Club on Saturday night. The final was commenced on Friday night, M'Lean leading at the end of the session by 752 to 562, and, playing even steadier and better on Saturday night, he increased his lead, and won by 1,500 to 1,160. M'Lean’s consistently good play and greater knowledge of the game won him the championship, an honour which he well deserved on his showing throughout the tournament. In Albertson, who won the championship last year, he had an opponent worthy of respect, but an early lead and steady scoring against Albertson’s erratic, though in some respects brilliant, game gained him a comfortable victory. The loser missed a number of comparatively easy shots when playing for position, while M'Lean seldom failed when there was a reasonable chance o'f scoring. The Christchurch man showed an excellent control of the balls, and, judging the pace of the table to a nicety, scored largely with shots in off the red. The board showed the score to be M‘Lean 752, Albertson 662 when the second session of the final was commenced on Saturday night before a good attendance. M'Lean took his total to over 800 when his opponent was 691, and a break of 35 made his score 878 against 655. Playing very steadily, M'Lean reached 1,002 when Albertson was 679—a lead of over 300. Another break of 46, mostly off the red, took M'Lean’s score to 1,070, Albertson’s being 703, The latter was certainly not being favoured with the run of the halls, though he played some weak shots, but M'Lean was still playing well. An improvement by Albertson enabled him, with a fine all-round break of 68, to reduce the lead slightly, but consistent scoring by M'Lean allowed him to maintain his margin of over 300, despite another good break of 33 by Albertson. Two good breaks of 29 and 61 with in-off play and some clever cannons, took M'Lean’s score to 1,331 against Albertson’s 916—a lead of 400. Assisted by a 37, the Lyttelton man reduced tne lead slightly, and reached 1,000 when M'Lean was 1,383, and a 62 break, which included good all-round shots, took him to 1,120 as against M'Lean’s 1,429. M'Lean, however, went on very steadily, taking less time over his shots than his opponent, and, though Albertson made another 33, the Christchurch man went out at 1,500 when his opponent was 1,160. The details are :

M'LEAN, 1,500 (breaks—sl, 45, 36, 34. 38, 30, 44 31, 35, 35, 46, 30, 51); 161 visits to the table; average 8.1.

ALBERTSON. 1,160 (breaks—33,34, 62, 31. 68, 33, 37); 166 visits to the table; average 6.9. At the conclusion of the game, Air A. Thomas (president of the Dunedin R.S.A.) presented to the winner the gold medal donated by Billiards Limited. On behalf of the returned soldiers and all concerned with the game, he offered his congratulations to the winner, and also to the loser on the game he had played and the sporting way in which he had accepted defeat. This was the fourth occasion on which the championship had been controlled by the Returned Soldiers’ Association, and it had always been carried through without a hitch. He also desired to compliment the referee (Mr C. Bertinshaw)*on the planner in which he had carried out his duties, and also the table stewards and markers on their work. In conclusion, he congratulated Mr H. G. Siedeberg on his election as president of the newly-formed Dominion Billiards Council.

Mr M'Lean briefly replied, and paid a tribute to the way in which the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association had conducted the championship. The players and officials were later entertained at supper by the Returned Soldiers’ Association.

CHAMPIONS TO DATE. The following is a list of the champions to date: — 1908—J. Ryan. 1909 . 1910.—F. Lovelock. 1911— F. Lovelock. 1912 H. F. Valentine. 1913 H. F. Valentine. 1914 N. Lynch. 1915 E. W. Warren. 1916 H. Siedeberg. 1917 H. Siedeberg. 1918— E. W. Warren. 1919 H. Siedeberg. 1920 E. W. Warren. 1921 H. Siedeberg. 1922 E. V. Roberts. 1923 E. V. Roberts. 1924 R. Predatovich. 1925 C. Mason. 1926 E. V. Roberts. 1927 E. V. Roberts. 1928 A. Bowie. 1929 L. Stout. 1930 W. E. Hackett. 1931 A. Duncan. 1932 C. Mason. 1933 A. Albertson. 1934 H. M'Lean.