THE BILLIARD TABLE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16904, 1 December 1922, Page 2

THE BILLIARD TABLE

Notes and Comments by

"Cue.”

The 7 , c ' A. billiard and snooker elmmpionships w*?:e started last. Monday, but so far o?ly one game has been played. Several players have drawn byes for both,.champion steps. The competition is on the two life system and will take some time to complete. Players should endeavour to decide their games ns quickly as possible so that finality can bo reached early, as the season, has now practically closed. In fact the championships should have been started a month ago and the club will only have itself to blame if the competition falls through. The only result so far is in the billiard section in which H. M’Leau beat TT. Ritchie by 200 to 0(i. Jackson. M’ Kay and Butters all hare byes in the first round. The snooker championship has not yetbeen started. Jackson and Prctty.john have byes in the first round. The annual smoke concert at the Canterbury Billiard Association will take place at the Foresters’ Hal tonight at 8 p.m. The Lutjohann Cup and. Billiard’s Ltd. Shield will be presented at this function and a good musical entertainment has been arranged. The R.S.A. billard team, winners of the League competition, had their photographs taken at Stand isli and Preece's last week. They were told, I understand, that each member would receive a small unframed photo of the team and that tlva club would receive a large framed copy. This is not in accordance with tho following resolution passed at a meeting of the association on June 1 of this year:—“ It was decided that the club represented enlarged framed photograph of the winning team and each player shall receive a smaller framed photo of the team of five players and not more than two emergencies, each to receive one.” Each member of the R.S.A. team consequently will receive a framed copy at the smoke concert to-night. This week’s exhibition game by M’Conachy with the Wellington amateurs came to an end on Saturday evening last, ending in a complete rout of the amateurs. The game was 9000 up in afternoon and evening sessions of 750 each, the amateurs receiving a start ! of 450 in 750. or 5400 in 9000, a task which M’Conachy could accomplish against the four next best in New Zealand. The final score was 9000—6581 i.t favour of M’Conachy, the amateuis having scored 1181, a proportion of rather less than eight to one. Against such a formidable antagonist (says a Wellington writer), the amateurs have not shown up too badly, although he was kind to them in the last two or three sessions. A red hall player he may be, but not only a red ball player, for only on two occasions has he made long runs off the red; the first in his big break on Thursday of 106-5 out of 1182, and again on Saturday night, when, losing the white through a kiss a: about 200, he went on to 363. In the closing session ,on Saturday evening he gave a magnificent display of nursery cannons, on one occassion making a string of over seventy of them, his touch being perfect. The following is the complete list of breaks made bv M’Conachy during the week:—3o9. 151. 209. 116. 203. 155, 284- 130, 308, 100, 187, 327, 1182 (1065

• off the red. lecord break for Xew ZvhMand>. 162. 222. 374. 217. 272. 150. 148, j 107. 118, 137. 365. 148. 170 and 144 un- | finished. Of these fifteen are from 100 jto 200. six from 200 to 300. five belt ween 300 and -100. and the record on * 'of 1182. The. total of these breaks is j 6435. an average of 23* 3, n record worthy of the greatest exponents. Of ; the amateurs the best breaks were made by Richardson, 40, and Tucker 48. Billiards had its origin in an outdoor game called “ paiUe' maifle.” an old French pastime ployed like (‘•roquet. It was this game which gave its name to |a. famous London, street —Pall Mall- ! which is built on the site of an alley where 4i paille maille ’’ was played in j the old days. When the billiard table ] was invented is not known, but it is mentioned in a manuseript dated 1591. ' For many years the indoor game continued to be played on, the same linos as “ paille maille.** The cues were curved like hockey sticks, and the balls, which were larger than those in use today, were made of wood. Gradually the hoops of the original game were rej placed by pockets and the table was ! reduced to its present size. The balls i and cues were also altered as time went ion. and for the last hundred years or I so the game has retained the form with | which we are familiar to-day. j Melbourne Inman has decided that j championship billiards and horse racing ! don’t mix. i£ Tam in better health | than I have been for three years.’’ he told a sporting pressman lately, ,£ and T a msure lam going to play finer billiards than ever. I have no anxieties now. I have sold all my horses and have given up that game. How can a. mar. concentrate on billiards when he is wondering how his horsee are g°ing on in training, and on the afternoon of a race—well, what can you expect ?” There is a lot of sound sense in the fr Rowing remarks of the English champion :— “ Tf my alteration of red ball play is made either bv limiting continuous strokes or by decreasing the value of points for strokes on or off the red ball, billiards, as we know it, will suffer. After all. what does the game of billiards consist of? Three balls and six pockets to make contact with or drop into. Tn most countries the cannon game is the chief game. In the British Empire the game is more diversified, as cannon, winning and losing hazards may be made. Of these shots or ‘strokes the hazard is the mest difficult, tor the reason teat on a match table the pockets are about 3Jin wide, while the hall that goes into them is abortt 2 l-16in So there is about double that space of contact in making a cannon. Of all the strokes on the table, the winning hazard is the most difficult, next is the losing ha.'sard, especially if it has to be forced and position retained. This is probably the reason why may appeals of placers who specialise in plav and runs of close cannons have never been erven much quarter by the sportsmen elected to make and adjudicate on the rules o: Euglish billiards. It is understood that an attempt is being made to get the next New Zealand Amateur Billiard Championships played in Chi i-tchiirch.