The Billiard Table

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17193, 9 November 1923, Page 11

The Billiard Table

BY

"CUE"

The Commercial Travellers’ Club will play the annual billiard match against the R-S.A. Club on the formers’ tables on Friday evening next.

The following are additional results in the handicap snooker tourney at present being played at the K.S.A. rooms:—Fourth round—Turnbull (12 on) heat Hammon (35 on). Semi-final— Seeker (2 on) beat A- Campbell (25 on). Seeker will meet the winner of the Turnbull-J. Campbell game in the final.

The Australian Billiard Association cabled to London nominating G. B. Shailer as Australia’s representative in connection with the Empire Billiards Championship. A reply was received stating that the championship was not yet constituted and Shailer’* nomination could not therefore be accepted. The meaning of the cable is hardly clear, as it was fully understood in Australia that arrangements for the holding of the championship was well under way- Perhaps the championship has been put back until after the amateur and professional championships of England are decided. The former finishes on March 1 and the latter about the middle of April. The Empire Ex-h,-Viltl u n npens April, and as London wall be crowded with oversea visitors then and during May. the match may be arranged for Atay.

BILLIARD CHAMPION’S PROPOSAL. (Special to the “Star.”) , LONDON, September 20. Some of the rules which govern billiards are farcical- They do not operate in some respects so far as the vast majority of players are concerned, and in others, where they do, they impose unfair penalties. This is entirely due to the fact that the game is controlled for the dozen or so professionals, who entertain us with amazing break-build-ing feats, and try to persuade us. though not very successfully, that billiards is a very easy game. For in-

stance, it is laid down that the player must not make more tiran twem.y-.uve bail to bail cannons. Un reuenmg tms numoer or nurseries, he must, n lie wisnes to continue ilie sequence, from one ball on to a cushion bexore making the second contact. To at may ue all rignt so tar as the .Newmans ana the FalKiners are concerned, but the amateur who can compile a dozen nurseries is an exception, even in the Highest flights or the game. Again, it a player makes more than two consecutive winning hazards from the spot, the red ball must be placed on the middle spot. and tho position broken up. Of course, exhibition billiards would be impossible without this rule, because the professionals, as in the old days of Peail. would pot the red backwards and forwards all day long- Indeed, to all intents and purposes. billiards would become a onestroke game. But the amateur cannot control the balls to make this stroke regularly, and, if it were removed from tho rules, billiards would lie still the same for the amateur. Now Willie Smith, the champion, has made another proposal. lie has specialised in losing-hazard striking-—he was the only English player who could approach George Gray, the Australian, in making huge red ball breaks—and he says bo is willing that the number of consecutive •* in offs ” from hand should be limited to twenty-five. His reason for this is that lie considers it unfair that, whilst his rival Newman should not be able to make more than twentyfive nursery cannons, no restriction is put on his losing hazards. It i<? very magnanimous on his part, but the truth is that he can play anywhere on the table, and the restriction he suggests would not affect him more than anyone else- It is safe to say that it would not affect the amateur. But there will be no surprise if Smith has his way in the matter. In fact, it is quite a logical proposal, though ridiculous in so far as it will only apply to the professionals. All that need be said further is that billiards is the only game in which the rules are made to suit the expert alone.