Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 1342, 18 August 1877, Page 17

Billiards.

THE BILLIARD OHAMPIONSHIP. jThursday evening, May 3Jst, Tammany. Hall, U.Yj, -waai filled with close upon 2500 people, including ,a. great many ladies, "The attraction was a- game of biffiards' f or the* championship, between Wto." Sexton -tod J. Dion (champion). ThjHierms ,of t^e giwne were to play 600 pointa. J French, pn a regular-size table, •t*ke, $500 a aide. Sexton; during the wiiiter, lias been in constant play through, the South, and West, having for a foil as it .were Slosson. Both these experts did. big things in a billiard way. The account of their exhibitions and quasi matches abounded with runs of great magnitude, Sexton continually rushing far into the hundreds, and astonishing his audiences by the skill at his demand. Arfaras Ihe winning went, honours were «tp^ Ip^ be_remembered that Sexton crossecTtHp big pond and failed to bring back^Ke 1 object; he Vent after; although he.gave Vignaux a lively, rattle. All in all; since Sexton's advent in billiards, he has been a constant ' sensation, and built up ait enviable 'reputation in point of •kilL So 'great' a favourite' was he' in thU match, 'that his friends backed him heayUy at f 100 to !60 against Dion. In addition to this, so confident w^ere they that the result would prove a mere walkover" for him, that the lowest average mjirjied by the Sextonites was 16, and from.,, that --.to -25. Money was freely offered that he would make a run of 300 in^the game, 'and some went so far as to bet" even that IHon Would not make 300 pojnis^ ..ThejiDion parly quietly picked upthese various offers, and came to the hatt as confident as possible in an atmosphere so imbued -with Sextofl feeling. The The game was intensely disappointing to partisans on each side, , and until the closing' innings uninteresting to the general public. Both men were equally i afraid of each other, and it would have beiin "a' difficult task to decide which was thej/xnpst. demoralized. ' Innings after inningsjßolldd along with, execution which ft tym would be athamed ot In spite of repeated good lea vei, Sexton revelled in

singles or child-like misses ;'s'o completely had his hand lost its cunning, that, with the balls in perfect position, he could not make more than one carom. His friends were chagrined, frightened, and as the average smashers kept repeating themselves they left the hall to escape witnessing their seeming certain defeat. ,■ , Dion was much the steadier of the two. He did not reach triple figures during • the game, but of doublets his score shows - twelve, while it is marred with thirteen blanks. As regards good chances', Sexton had* ten-fold the best of it, for Dion seemed persistently to leave them in position ; in fact, Sexton's two best runs were made from nursing nositions .left by Dion, for which there was no excuse, Bave a nervous inability to do otherwise. At the forty-second innings it was evident to an unbiassed mind that Sexton felt that he was badly beaten, and that he was coaching himself for the inevitable. Had Dion been able to improve his opportunities, he would have made the winning carom before he reached the fortieth innings, but he could not. Nervousness caused him to miss the simplest shots, and scattered his nursing powers to the wind. The closing innings of Sexton's was a magnificent display of nursing skill. Six innings previous to this, from a corner cluster kindly left him by Dion, he had picked up 80 billiards, at the same time regaining command of himself. This was the turning point of the game, as Sexton I notably threw more vim into his efforts, and when Dion gave him another cluster to nibble at, he was himself, and went to work brimful of : confidence. Although it had taken him two, hours to, conquer his fear, once he was settled, he stuck to it with a winning grip, nursing the bails the entire circuit of the table, scoring 247, a stunning run, and a god-send to himself and friends. Their recovery from despair to joy was amusing to note, the one being matched with the corresponding recession of Dion stock to, zero. ' As, soon as the tedious game waa' over, Sexton was carried out of the hall on the, shoulders of this backers, who may well be excused for their violent ebullitions of satisfaction. , : • The entire play may be summed up as forty-nine innings of mediocre, billiards from Dion, forty-eight innings of even worse, and one innings of - brilliant nursing display from Sexton. The average of, both was surprisingly low. Sexton played his first twenty-five innings with an average of less than three, with Dion only ,a . shade better, and one inning ' previous to the last, Sexton stood at an -average of less than eight, to Dion's nine. .1 SUMMABY. 1 Match game, for the Delaney champion medal aud $500 asid& ; game, -600 points; French. MassS — Sexton, 13 ; Dion, 7. Blank SAoi^Sexton, 2 ; Dion, .4. ' Mist C'«fr^-Sexton, 2. " ' , •' ' '■ Sexton.— l ,oßoo 93 0 3 12 2 10 00 3 0329 13 1 50369014 033 0 0 71 4 25 0 0 3.20 0800 71 0 $,247 ; totaLQOO. JJ. Dion.— o 18 02 1 2 Q l3 10 280 0 q 3 7; 30 112 0.40 0 0 0141 8413 9 8 2 38.19 11 40 0 798 1 3 1 3 18 26 6 ; total, 443.^-iy'.' . Vi Spirit of the Times.- ■>■