THE CHAMPION BILLIARD PLAYER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 130, 20 September 1876, Page 2

THE CHAMPION BILLIARD PLAYER.

The name of Roberts has been in the mouths of everybody taking the slightest interest in billiards for the last month or more—in fact, since the great player arrived in New Zealand much, anxiety has been manifested-to witness his play. First, Invercargill was afforded that pleasure, then Dunedin, and last evening Oamaru was treated to an exhibition of skill in the • billiard line superior to anything that has been seen here before. The billiard-room at the Star and Garter Hotel was selected as the battle-field, and the Champion's opponent was a well-known billiard amateur in this town. Before proceeding to allude to the play, it would not be out of place, perhaps, to refer to what we consider was a great mistake in connection with this match. Instead of playing in the billiardroom at the Star and Garter, the game should have come off in the Masonic Hall, when the prices of admission might have been reduced to half what they were last evening, and thus the greater number of the public would have availed itself of the treat afforded, and th 3 actual takings, we feel sure, would have been doubled. Of course this is no affair of ours, and concerns Mr. Roberts and Mr. Cole only; still we feel justified in mentioning the fact, in order to give expression to the views of those who would not favor last night's entertainment with their presence. The table for the match was re-clothed yesterday afternoon, and the Champion, after playing on it, pronounced it to be a very good one, but the cushions were not quite up to the mark. A few minutes before eight o'clock there must have been about sixty gentlemen present, and at eight punctually Mr. Cole introduced Sir. John Roberts, jun., to his audience. No time was lost in preliminaries, and play began at once, the Champion commencing with a-miss in baulk. The Amateur followed suit, and then Roberts missed an easy cannon, and so did his opponent. The Champion was the first scorer with a cannon off the red ; then the local man made a five shot. The play for a time was what may be termed slow, neither party exhibiting any great display of skill, twos and threes being the order of the evening. The Amateur, it is only fair to state, appeared to be in very bad form, and his luck, or, more correctly speaking, ill-luck, was most discouraging, the balls breaking very badly. When the game stood at 720 —98, the local man made a clever screw back off the white into the top pocket, which secured for him well-merited applause. This put the Champion a little on his mettle, for, after making a cannon off the white twice, and potting the red, he went in for the first two-figure break of the evening, the total being 28; game, 736—111. A little more single-stroke play was indulged in, till Roberts scored two cannons ; then he holed the red, and. getting pretty adjacent to the spot, he commenced that stroke which is so intimately associated with the name of Roberta. He made fifty-nine spot strokes, and, witli a few shots before, which totaled up to 13, he concluded the largest break of the evening, 190, amidst the li6artiest applause. The score now stood, 742 —300. Some more small play followed, the score increasing but slowly, till Roberts tried a fancy shot. He had the red between the two whites, and endeavored to cannon by forcing his ball over the red one on to the white, but the stroke did not eventuate. The Amateur then made a break of 14, being one losing hazard off the white, and four off the red. The game now stood 376—774. It was not to remain long at this, for Roberts commenced an all-round break, with a 3, and then nursing the balls carefully, he put 87 together in splendid style ; game, 462—774. Both players then increased the score by twos and threes, till Roberts again got the balls to his liking, and commencing with a losing hazard off the red, he followed with a cannon ; then varying the play between hazards and cannons, he brought his score up to 501, his opponent's being 783. The Champion had thus made 501 in 54 minutes, while the Hibernian .had occupied the same time in putting 83 together. An adjournment was then made for twenty minutes, and at 9.25 play was resumed, Roberts continuing his break, but only adding 3 to it. Steady play on both sides for a short time, till at 9.30 the gams was called, 800—535. It will be seen by the score what bad luck our Oamaru representative had, for it tobk him one horn: and twenty-five minutes to score a century. The Champion got the balls together at this point of the game, and nursing them, made 14' cannons in a very short time ; his opponent scored two cannons, and then followed a magnificent one by the Londoner, which drew down the house ; game, 811—565. Here he made a miss, which brought forth a disparaging remark from a gentleman who had evidently been toasting in bumpers the health of the local mflTi. The great player, turning round/

inquired of his Bacchanalian friend if he redly thought it was a bad shot. The answer, was., promptly returned in the affirmative. The bad shot, however, was soon compensated for by a splendid allround break of 66, composed chiefly of cannons and losing hazards off the white ; game, 815—636. Another good shot was made by Oamaru's representative, which drew forth hearty applause, and then the visitor showed what he could do by holing the red with his cue behind his back. Threes and twos followed till a 7 shot by the Champion brought his score up to 700, the Amateur being 827. The Irishman was now beginning to play much better, in fact his play all through since the interval was far superior to what it was in the earlier part of the game. He made a pretty little break of 16, and then left the balls for Roberts, who scored 32, nearly all cannons. The board soon showed Roberts 744 against 855. Play was now much faster on both [-sides, and the marker called the game, 800 —881, the visitor being only 81 points to leeward. A break of 24 followed, and some more shorter ones, and then the Champion got on to the spot again, putting the red down thirty-three times- in succession. This brought his score up to 919 against 898. Both men now were playing well, especially the Amateur. The scores rose rapidly, and the Champion getting a chance made a pretty all-round break for 18. His opponent followed with one for 11, and the game was called—Roberts, 965 against 939. Here the visitor collared the balls, and played right out, making a break of 25, which was loudly applauded. It will be seen that Oamaru's representative was within 61 points of Roberts when the game closed. The winning shot was made exactly at 10.30, so that, deducting twenty minutes for the interval, Roberts made 1,000 points in two hours and five minutes. With the exception of the 190 break and the 87 one, the play could scarcely be called brilliant, but, at the same time, the exhibition of skill afforded the audience a good treat. After the game was concluded, Roberts performed a few fancy shots, which were loudly applauded. We cannot conclude without noticing the accurate marking of Mr. C. J. Harris, which was voluntarily undertaken by that gentleman, and gave entire satisfaction.