BILLIARDS.

NZ Truth, Issue 571, 27 May 1916, Page 11

BILLIARDS.

CBy "Fluke.")

McConachy's defeat of the Australian champion, F.Lindrum, after being 500 behind m the last 10.600 has not come as a surprise to "Fluke." In «. conversation with McConnchy just previous to his leaving Now Zealand to meet F. Lindruin, & - stated that he felt confident of winning, and that his telling ones would come, m at the last hurdles wlien whe&he w?uldithea have judged th 6 full streng>.a of his man and also that of the table. Australian cueists thought and stated that this New Zealand youth; was taking too big a bit© at t^e cherry m talcing on Lindrum, and some even' went, so far as ; to state that m 18.000 up F. Lindrum would have been quite safe m handing out a greater "start than 2000. However, they did not reckon on the" grim determination and grit of McConachy. He was an, unknown quantity io them, and therefore, they should have waited until they knew his prowess better. That he has won is known now, and that he won on the true merits of his plugging system of breaks has proved that this New Zealarider Is a lad that must be reckoned with m the future. As was anticipated by all that knew him, his play was strictly all throughout the match on the all -red route, but now that he has gained such merit, he has that opportunity of gaining wider experience m the all-round the table play, and the chances are that he will now follow the same careful '■ * tactics 6( George Gray, by^goJhg ; slow, and he will pull m quite a lot of money by this policy:

As is well known by previous details given, Llndrum shone .'in.--- the early stages of the match, when McConachy appeared to be nervous. At the end of the fourth day (Friday) the scores were: Llndrum, 6000; McConachy, 5659. At the end of ttte week, McConacny was In a trinie worse position. Then confidence came t^o tho youth, andhis apparent nervousness .left, and each of the succeeding days play was upsides with Lindrum. At the second recess, Lindrum held a lead of 192. Llndrum is credited with being all at

The clever young Tlmaru cueist, who.

by his defeat of Fred Llndrum, the Australian champion, has made an auspicious start m the brilliant career predicted for him.

sea on Monday, and thla is proved by the aggregate for the two Mondays. McConachy, 2594; Undrum, 2124, or 770 In the New Zealanders favor. And Monday Ut»t the game for Wndrutn, and Monday won tho gamo for McCoivachy, and that day he made the largest break. of the seoHon— sßo. According to report he commenced with, the red m the middle) of the table, with white second to tho middhs pocket. Prow his position McConacby Kept tjo\ng in-off and in-ort for q\iUe a long time. Then with a Jenny off. the white ho got that ball tucked comfortably under the side cushion m the quarantine area, and used the middle pocket for hajtaxd play, resorting to tho top pocket for the purpose of recovering position when strength was miscalculated. Llndrum during this session only made 16G to McConachy's 849, as tho New Zealander finished the b«?s« slon with 127 unfinished. Do as Lindrum would he failed to bring back the lost points, aua although he reachoa to within ISO of his opponent at one stage, McConnchy was too solid. Whon play finished, the youthful New Zealander was 257 to the good.

Interest «rew to ke<>n excitement wlwn thu two uppeurcd m tho pit for the xoini-ilnul «o«s»lon. Tho chtunplon was all out, and ho took many chances to force the gum«; th<* result being thai whfti meal hour arrived ho had wipvd yfT the deficit of 207 und hold' a. load of 17. This state of the hcohph caiuo from l»r«ik« of 100, 135, M?, 113, cv and 07, unilntHhed: whllo McCannchy worked tho red ball to tho axtent of 132 «nd 137. McConuehy got iroln^ first nt tht> ftvonlnir «t«»*lon with 113 from hi« favorlt« run-through Into tho unuul middle pockot. thu champion rf»pondJnK with 105 nod 158, tho result vt all-round ullliurd«, Sevonty-flvo from tho New Zeulunder followed. !->aui a eaf*»ty nhot by Llndrum, the visitor brought oft* a dittleult red wlhn«r which tfuvo him position tor his

favorite losers. With an even 100 he made his tally, 17,376 to Llndrum'a 17,326.

Then Untfrum put m 100 and 195, which gave him a. lead of 482, and according to reports, "o<jod ritsht, Mac" was heard, and again when tbe leader ran up 61 and was within 300 of home. liiudrum plugged on by scoring 96i but McConaohy replied with 189. Still, Lindrum had a lead of 118 and looked the winner, but from an apparently safe leave McConachy brought oft a great cannon which opened up a position for his favorite stroke. Here the gritty Now Zealander pushed ahead of Llndrum at 17,876, and amidst tho greatest of excitement entered on the homo run— 'the lost century. Most of the points ojuno from his long suit — the middle pockets. And so the game went on. Nothing could stop him, and his dozen after dozen piled up, Llndrum appeared to lose hope, but was one of the first to congratulate the successful McConachy when he made the winning stroko and went out with 276 unfinished, and victory by 124 -points. It was without doubt a great game, a glorious win, and a game pulled out of the flro with a vengeance. Breaks made during the Anal session were: 113, 100, 189 and, 276 unfinished by McConachy; and 105, 62, IBS, 194 and 95 from Lindrum' a cue. The final scores were; C. McConachy, 18,000; F. Llndrum. 17,876.