BILLIARDS IN THE EAST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17471, 15 May 1920, Page 2 (Supplement)

BILLIARDS IN THE EAST.

POPULARITY INCREASING. ; < CLEVER I ORIENTAL PLAYERS^ * '■"' lt may not be generally known that : : the gam© of billiards, and especially tho skpocket form of it, is played with quite -: : as" much zest in the Far East as here to England, writes the correspondent of a London paper. The Straits Settlement have always pro-v-ded si fruitful stopping-place for the peripatetic professor of the cue. Some have gone through to China and even to Japan in .the performance of their missionary work. / . John Roberts played the part of pioneer 0 verv excellent purpose His brilliant billiards fascinated the rajahs, nabobs, and other potentates of "the gorgeous East." He was given th« title of " Court Billiard •Player" to on© of the richest native princes. It carried a nice honorarium, expressed in many precious jewels and trophies, A great taste for this most refined of all games was planted in India and Australia by the "Father of Modern Billiards." "'-This has grown and flourished since Stevenson, Inman, Rcece, and other British experts have made their occasional trips. A Noted Indian Amateur. The Australians have produced their own scoring masterpieces, in the shape of the red-ball sourer, George Gray, and the brothers Walter and Fred Lindrum. India can cltira to have turned out one player, Mr. A. Vahid (a Parse*), skilful enough to win our amateur championship. His success date* back as far as the year 1893. and it marked a sequence of surprises for English billiardists, which culminated in the defeat of John Roberts . <on a compromise table with 2Jin balls, let it be said) by Frank Ives, tho American champion ' There are two forms of billiard tables— . the six-pocket of everyday use in England, and the pocketless Continental and American strict cannon, -/in the struggle for supremacy, the English type has not been left behind. It * has -made headway. One may safely pre- ; dict that, in the full course of time, the f added yariety and merit of the English *. game will sway billiards the, world over. r Chinese Represent Cambridge. ? ' As a sign of the turn things are taking, * without allowing, for what is going on in nearly- every, other land where the English, language is spoken, look at the representation of Cambridge University '; against Oxford University in the revival * of the annual billiards contest between : these sister seats of learning. j '& Two Chinese students, Messrs. Lock Wei (of King's College) and C. S, Wu . (of St Catharine's College), have won , the right to do duty for Cambridge, They k', gained the honours in open trial. t Lock Wei has proved himself.the % strongest olayer at Cambridge in vrinning W " the cue," and Wu»showed that be was 'jm the strongest partner for the four-handed * match. These young Chinese gentlemen 5? must own a natural aptitude for billiards. M , At the halls of t public match-play •£ people of all nationalities come to watch p the', experts. Always there are to he seen • the dark-eyed Hindus, apparently so unjj| (motional, following the evolutions of the ; ; balls. Their glistening eyes do not seem •to miflß a single roll of the cue-ball's $5 track.

: ;5: The Slowly-Moriag Shot. ' If, The shots which please them most are '•! nob the flashing forcers which cause the A : ivories momentarily to become streaks of f- whit* or rod. What gratifies their senses % is the elow-moving ball carrying a wealth ' 4; of "side," or one that changes its action £ from sliding to rolling, a form of motion Sj known as " drag." ;fe. The screw-back and screw in-off along.a £*, cushion may hold its charms; but, shot Z for shot, fast or slow, the "long jenny," \vi achieved bv that inward " oishion^ide" * g- "ball wins the golden good opinions.' r; <« And that same "long jenny" has done, ' i?ls doing,' its own good work, in its own /"■.'T.dainty way, to establish the attractivef ness of th» massive six-pocket table " from • Pole to Pole."