Billiards.

Southland Times, Issue 18810, 1 May 1920, Page 9

Billiards.

(By ‘‘Spot.”)

A very fine exhibition of billiards \v:> given by Clark McConachy, a Now Zeals a: champion player in LHnmdin. on Wodnoday night, when lie defeated BurU-nsl.avv a well-known Dunedin player, by 802 U 018. The winner made a remarkable breal of 428, one of SI, and another of 75. 11l opponent's best breaks were 74, 42, 85, am several from 15 to IS. i When the last mails left England, Now 1 man looked a sure winner of the Victorv tournament., lie had not. lost a game, am even if he was downed in the bout wit! Reece, he would divide (he 2200 first prist with Claude Falkiner. Reece has bet tout that he wins and wanted to make- tin amount £IOOO. but critics think he is foolish At the time of the latest advice the tahk of Jesuits of the tournament stood: R. W. L T. Newman (rec. loOOt .... 8 8 ( C. Falkiner (rec. 20001 ..4 8 1 T. Reece (rec. 150(,M .... 8 1 2 M. Inman (scratch' .... 8 1 2 H. \\ . Stevenson tree. 5()0i .. 8 0 The games to he played are Newman v Recce and Stevenson v. Inman. Stevenson’: falling away is looked on as remarkable. r l ■: elate he had not won a game. Regarding the English Amateur Championship. the London correspondent of the Sydney Referee writes: — After the most snee-rs-’fit) bouts of bil lianLs that have taken pla-e during the 8! I years the amateur championship has been I played, last year's holder. Mr S. 11, Fry, proved victorious. it was no easy win either, for his opponent in the final (Mr W. B. Marshall i got away in the early j sessions • scoring 501 to 211 and 1002 to | 648, Thus, wiih a third of the game gone, | the eventual winner was 85i) had. This was n serious proposition for the champion, as he was up against a player who had marie the higlv.-t break of the tournament - 201 in his h'-al against Hind.-- - -and one who always looked like hitting up a century Marshall i> a dtisher, Fry more of a plodder. And it was his steadiness that stuck to him in the end. Being shut out in the first two ,-cssions did not perturb tir champion. He ju.-t, stuck to the task before him, as he did a few years previousdy, when Graham-Svmes put in I that 224 break on him. do when Marshall ran breaks of 109 and 105 early in the game, Fry took them as a part of his burden. Filtering the second stage, Fry steadily gamed on Marshall, who had fallen away a t-rille. After entering ihe third session Fry went to the front for a time, hut Marshall was not done with, and at its close led hy 1501 to TIIS. Fry had averaged 14, Marshall 9. The fourth sc-sion saw the scoring very even, Marshal! making 499 and Fry 505, and they went into the third day with the scores: Mar-ball (if. play I 2000, Fry 1928. The story of the final day’s play shows Fry all the way. In the afternoon lie averaged 19 for 57S points, while Marshall fell away to 7.18 for 228 points. In the firm! session at night Marshall's decline was even more noticeable, as lie only managed to knock up 200 to Fry’s 499. The latter put in one great run of 109, and by fine generalship closed (he game on Ids opponent, who, in his one only real chance, strung up 77. Considering that it took Fry 14 innings to make the last 115 points, his average of 21 >■ was full of merit, while the averages for the whole game of 16 for Fry and 18 for Marshall were excellent. It- is now 30 years since Sid Fry first competed in the championship, but ho certainly does not look like a veteran of the cloth, as Sir Conan Doyle remarked, when presenting him with the championship cup. Fry has now won the championship six times, evening up in that respect with Messrs A. R. Gas-kell and Harry Virr, but in the bad old days more than one championship was piayed each year. Lady Doyie presented the runner-up with a silver cigarette case for his fine play—billiards so good that one critic claimed that for technique and polish Marshall was the most finished amateur cueist in England. What he lacks is that groat essential of billiards, consistency.