BILLIARD EXHIBITION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 715, 25 July 1878, Page 2

BILLIARD EXHIBITION.

ROBERTS Y. SHORTER. The billiard match between Mr. John Boberrs, the champion player of the w.-rl-l, and Mr. Shorter, an Ejnglish player of bmn.i renown, »'h}ch took place last evening in the Royal Hotel Saloon, drew together about 10Q spectators. Mr. Richardson had had the room well prepared fov q. large muster of admirers of the same, a temporary row of seats, rising one above the other, having been placed at one end of the room, the admission to which was five shillings, while half-a-sovereign was charged for seats on the numerous couches. Shortly after 8 o'clock Messrs. Roberts and Shorter • entered the room, and some pre]uv>biary S preparations buying \<m\ invito the game whs uou.mertct'ci. The match was 1000 up. Roberts conceding Shorter 250. Shorter opened w'irll a miss, and Roberts f.dhv.ved suit- Shorter then made u break of 38. composed chiefly of cannons and losing hazards. Roberts started with a ver-v taking losing ofi the red, followed by a fluke. Shorter failed to score in his next, break, and some small breaks were ma.i-i by both players, the numb' rs being—Roberts, 10, 2, and 21 : Shoi-rev. 22, 21, and 5. Nearly \ v hu!e of these were obtained from cannons and losini; hazards, one losing hazard amongst the number bv Shorter being worthy of mention, Roberts then gMf. fcho balls well into position, and played a good alll'oyind break of 80, made up chiefly of sonic excellent cannons and losinghazards. Tiio game now stood Shorter, 337 ; Roberts, 127. In Roberts' next break he added 31 to his total, and Shorter improved his position by 7. Both players failed to do anything in their next, attempts. Shorter followed, with 17. but Roberts did not score. Smarter then op.'inda h.resvk p.f 38'hy running through the white very cleverly. Game—Shorter, 407 ; Roberts, 134■ The champion then plaoed on to his credit in a break composed of beautiful cannons and fine losing hagarda. Several small breaks were made by both players, one very difficult cannon made by Roberts being loudly applauded. Shorter then made his largest break in the match—one of 87 —which included 15 consecutive spot strokes. A few more having been added to each player's total, the game was called—Shorter, 516 ; Roberts, 196. Roberts' next efi'ort resulted in the addition of 24 to his tota', and Shorter failing to score, the two balls being in baulk, Roberts made a neat break of 45. During this he got the ball on the spot, but did not succeed in maintaining the position \ for more than half-a-dozen strokes. Shorter's next break totalled up 48, a, j fluke being included iij the break, In the

next breaks Roberts made 24 and Shorter 4. Roberts then got the balls together, and made about a dozen cannons before they were separated, the brealc adding,' 3,° to his total. Shorter followed suit' getting the balls well together, and adding several cannons before separating them ; he concluded his break of 40 with several spot strokes. A series of small breaks having been made by both players, Shorter added 21 to his total. Roberts then made the break of the match, totting up 109 b3' some fine all-round play ; but his break was greatly improved by get ting the balls together and " nursing'' them for some time. Many of the shots in this break were really brilliant, Roberts being roundly applauded on retiring. The play at this point was the most interesting in the match. Shorter having played a small break, an adjournment took place, the game being—Shorter. ; Roberts, 440. A number of small breaks having been played, the game was called— Shorter, 700 ; Roberts, 473. The next noticeable feature in the match was a break of 02 by Roberts, made in tine style, and including 10 consecutive spot strokes. Then followed some small breaks, and Roberts having played a break of 48, the game was announced Shorter, 750 ; Roberts, (>OO. From this time breaks of an unnoticeable nature prevailed, though some excellent play was exhibited by both gentlemen, a losing hazard by Shorter being greatly admired. Shorter had by this time greatly improved his position, the totals being—Shorter, 005 ; Roberts, 710. By some small breaks the game was brought up to— Shorter, 907 ; Roberts, 732 ; and people were fully convinced that the champion would be beaten. Roberts having added 28 to his total, Shorter brought his score up to 987- Roberts then made a break of 01, and the game was declared— Shorter, 987 ; Roberts, 821. In his next break, Shurter made 7, and Roberts failing to improve his position, Shorter, with the aid of a fluke, scored the requisite number to win the game, the figures being—Shorter, 3.001 ; Roberts. 821. Tile match was plaved in two hours and a I half.

There will be another exhibition this evening, when, in addition to a match of 750 up, Roberts and Shorter will play several games of pvramids.