BILLIARD CHAMPIONSHIP

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 309, 24 September 1918, Page 9

BILLIARD CHAMPIONSHIP

CRITICISM BY THE REFEREE

Mr. J, H. Owen, who refere'ed the billiards championship just concluded is himsolf a player of versatility and undoubted ability. His remarks on tho championship play are, therefore, worth tho consideration of billiard players. First, Mr. Owen direct attention to the faulty stance and bridge of the great majority of players, and points out that unless a correct stanco is taken, the feet, being firmly planted, the body comfortably, naturally, and correctly poised, the bridgo firm, with the arm well thrown out, tho cuo held lightly in the fingers, and'tho cue stroke truly executed, thero is little hope of gaining, proficiency. Another great fault is, -so few players get down to' their work, and instead of bending low over their cue, they remain in-a stiff, upright position, which ' makes correct striking an impossibility. Evory good book on billiards makes a strong point of what has just been said, and yet thore is hardly, a player in the front rank of amateur billiards who does .not hampor his play, and limit " the' possibility : of, acquiring I greater.. skill, by failing to observe them. Many .-players have only a most limited knowledge of the game,' beyond perhaps one or two of the simpler or better-known shots, cither for scoring or for gaining position. Few have grasped the great value of-bringing the balls : together, and have little idea of tho radons means by which this can bo : effected. Not one in the championship made any attempt worthy of the name at top-of-ijhe-tablo play.* Screwing, ■ except from the most elementary positions, was lamentably weak. _ Invariably, almost, too littlolife is invoartcd to the cue ball, ant! beyond the immediate necessitr of snoring'a.:shot..-no reeard at all is given. to position: Slow, delicate screwp appear to jje. almost a lost art. Rnn-ihrbugh cannons with sido off the cushions were;.only attempted whop compulsory, -and we're almost invariably faultily executed. On the whole. winning : hazards,'. ■ slow shots, were badly played,"" when in th« few instances they were attempted. Undoubtedly the neglect of this drnisrtment of billiards is due 'to faulty cueing. No ono can possibly succeed with winning hazards'unless, of course, with tho impossible to miss kind, .unless thoy cue with absolute precision. There is so little margin for error, and when a player finds ho-is unsuccessful it is high timo for him to give particular attention to his cueing, for almost of a surety his Vault lies there. Drag shots, swerve, .-masse, pique, stuns, half-stuns, kiss cannons",. and caiiuons off tho cushions are littkIcnown and ssldom played. On the other hand, few players did not' show considerable ability with losing hazard* or long and short jennies, and it would •appear that without exception they regard the former shot as the mainstay of their game. This,is undoubtedly largely correct, no one gainsay the value of the loser, but it can be and is greatly.overvalued. eo much, so that, thero is a .tendency to regard this ono shot in its variations as the beginning and the end of billiards, and thero lies the danger. ■ : Much of the real charm of billiards is being sacrificed, and if the tendenoy continues much of the fine, delicate work of such great players as Boberts, Stevenson, Iniiiari, Recce, and others will becomo merely a. memory. There j is nothing so monotonous to the on-1 looker as a big loser break—a. mere i procession of. the samo variety of shot. | Thero is only one other stroko like it —if ono excepts s the anchor—and that is. the spot stroko, now happily barred. Thero must soon come a similar restriction on tho loser; and it.is; very evident from.tho action of tho leading professionals that they realise tho public .. feelings by the restrictions they place i. upon themselves in their own matches. This, in many 'cases, is undoubtedly dona for. tho sake or the gate.. , Still, after all, they recognise that enthusiasts desire .to seo the. game in all its phases; and- are not content to watch two balls repeat indefinitely the samo evolutions. It is just about-as tame as watching-a wheel go round. Technically, greater skill is required for purely cannons, and already there has been a' limit placed upon them.'

Billiards in its true sense is an accomplishment worthy of attainment. As an' indoor game it has never had ft serious rival. It exercises tho mind as. well as tho body, and the continuously varying positions of the balls, and the looking, ahead for tho shots that are to follbw, present an unending source of interesting problems to the intelligent 1 player'who Approaches it in 'the right spirit. Thero is.no.limit to tho acquirement of skill if- the ilovotees would only realise the importance that •intelligence "plays, ', •' Tho .'Standard ■ of, th« championship play, was not at ali bad. ; It merely lacked variety and an appreciation of the subtleties of tho game, and an intelligent application of them. ,•■. ■•■-The-'faults'-pointed out here arc not entirely thofco of the contestants of the championship, and: are intended very largely to be a criticism of play in general. Strategy is a thing of. which our players know little. : Time and again they play safety, when such could ■he done in;a manner which leaves the player position, or make's it imperative' for-his ■Opponent to open up. -Mere safety without some such advantage cramps the game, and is worse than valueless, beins; merely stupid. • ..-. ■ These remarks are _ made not in a spirit of carping criticism, but in. the hort'e that some players at' any -rate will strive for hettennent;' not only, for themselves, but; for the good of the game' in general." ,