Pool, Billiard and Snooker Players Challenge
Here is a good round up of an interesting event featuring a diverse field of stars from diferent specialities.
Note that Quinten Hann of Australia won this event both years it was held. He also has won the world championship in English 8-ball, an event not included in this challenge, but a very competitive sport in several countries.
THE LINDRUM MASTERS
North Sydney Anzac Club, Sydney, Australia (10th-13th August 1999)
The WPBSA multi-cuesport tournament was again staged in Australia during August, keeping the title of "Lindrum Masters" which had been acquired last year when it was held as part of the Walter Lindrum centenary celebrations. The unique format involved each player competing in games of billiards, snooker, 8-ball pool and 9- ball pool. Each discipline was 100 up, which for billiards at least, was quite straightforward.
For Snooker the scores were aggregated over as many frames as were necessary. If 100 points was not reached in the first frame, a new game was started with the player who had potted the black in the previous frame making the break. The pool games counted 25 points each, which effectively made them “a race to four”. The scores from all the disciplines where added together to find the winner of a match.
A late change to the line-up saw John Higgins drop out, and last year´s champion Quinten Hann take his place. Ostensibly, the event was to gather together four exponents from each of the cue sports disciplines. In practice however, more weight appeared to have been given to the inclusion of “personalities” who may be more recognisable to the public, particularly amongst the nominated “pool players”. The event commenced on Tuesday 10th August amidst a small army of television crew from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who were recording proceedings for later transmission.
Each group played a round-robin contest to find which of them would progress to the semi-finals. Each game was worth £200 to the winner and £100 to the loser, with the event winner receiving an additional £10,000 and the runner-up £6,000.
The referees had been instructed to offer advice on the rules of the games outside a player´s specialist discipline. In this respect the pool games in particular proved unfamiliar to a lot of the players.
Group A: The Billiard Players
Roxton Chapman (England) 277 Geet Sethi (India) 250
Roxton Chapman (England) 333 Peter Gilchrist (England) 271
Roxton Chapman (England) 400 Mike Russell (England) 171
Geet Sethi (India) 325 Peter Gilchrist (England) 275
Geet Sethi (India) 313 Mike Russell (England) 295
Mike Russell (England) 375 Peter Gilchrist (England) 325
All the competitors in the billiards group had arrived from India just days after taking part in the World Championships. Roxton Chapman had reportedly been putting in some intense practise at nine-ball in the weeks leading up to the event and he looked by far the best of the group in the pool disciplines.
Chapman won all his matches to take the group, including a “maximum” 400 points against Mike Russell. The billiard players seemed generally to be the least informed regarding the rules of the pool games, and their inexperience may have explained to lack of spectators for some of their matches.
Chapman and Russell began their eight-ball match with just 10 people in the audience. Chapman broke and sent the cue ball off the table. Russell, with cue ball in hand, eyed a ball just inside the baulk line, which, as with billiards, could not be struck with a direct shot. Russell asked the referee what he was allowed to do. “Play forward from baulk” was the reply. Russell lined up a pot on the ball into the top pocket, and still unsure, asked again what he was entitled to do. He received the same advice. Russell potted the ball and the referee immediately called a foul. Five of the spectators left the room.
Group B: The Snooker Players
Quinten Hann (Australia) 283 Jimmy White (England) 225
Quinten Hann (Australia) 400 Stuart Lawler (Australia) 225
Quinten Hann (Australia) 310 Dene O'Kane (New Zealand) 275
Jimmy White (England) 302 Dene O'Kane (New Zealand) 288
Jimmy White (England) 337 Stuart Lawler (Australia) 299
Stuart Lawler (Australia) 350 Dene O'Kane (New Zealand) 265
Quinten Hann was the only player other than Chapman to score 400 points in a match, winning all sections against Stuart Lawler. He went on to top the group with additional wins against Jimmy White and Dene O´Kane.
In his snooker game against Jimmy White, Hann produced a break of 134, being allowed to continue after the target 100 points had been reached. This was one of the few occasions where only one frame of snooker was required to determine the winner.
Group C: The Eight-ball Players
Oliver Ortmann (Germany) 375 Mike Massey (USA) 215
Oliver Ortmann (Germany) 374 Eddie Charlton (Australia) 274
Jim Rempe (USA) 288 Eddie Charlton (Australia) 275
Jim Rempe (USA) 293 Oliver Ortmann (Germany) 263
Mike Massey (USA) 300 Jim Rempe (USA) 262
Eddie Charlton (Australia) 300 Mike Massey (USA) 294
Big wins by Ortmann over Mike Massey and Eddy Charlton were enough to put him top of the group on aggregate count-back. Eddie Charlton is now in his 70th year and had obviously not been playing billiards for some time. When faced with a double baulk in his match against Mike Massey, he felt the need to ask the referee if he had to hit the balls !
“King James” Rempe is now 52 years-old and at the end of a glittering career in American Pool, which has been recognised by his election to the Billiards Congress of America Hall of Fame. However, his chances of victory in this tournament vanished when he was defeated by fellow- countryman Mike Massey. This left him needing a 286 point victory over Ortmann in his last match to proceed to the semi-finals. Although he managed to win, the margin proved to be insufficient.
Group D: The Nine-ball Players
Steve Davis (England) 350 Joe Johnson (England) 296
Steve Davis (England) 320 Cliff Thorburn (Canada) 222
Steve Davis (England) 387 Willie Thorne (England) 169
Joe Johnson (England) 350 Willie Thorne (England) 266
Joe Johnson (England) 282 Cliff Thorburn (Canada) 209
Cliff Thorburn (Canada) 325 Willie Thorne (England) 259
The star performer of the nine-ball players was undoubtedly Steve Davis, who comprehensively defeated all the others in the group to progress to the semi-finals.
Cliff Thorburn opened his eight-ball match against Joe Johnson by sinking a ball from the break and then proceeded to run out. Johnson, relaxing in his chair remarked, “This is a good game”. Thorburn also took the second and third games from the break. “I´m not playing well today” quipped Johnson, who had not yet been called upon to leave his seat. However, he played sufficiently better in the other sections to win the match, although with both players having already lost to Davis the result proved to be academic.
SEMI-FINALS
Quinten Hann 300 Roxton Chapman 154
Oliver Ortmann 276 Steve Davis 207
Chapman and Hann began their semi-final with snooker, played in front of 70 spectators. Hann—wearing a white suit reminiscent of Kirk Stevens—took the game 100-4 with breaks of 40 and 29.
The billiards didn´t last long. Hann played the standard opening break. Chapman made eight in reply, then potted the yellow and double baulked. Hann attempted to disturb the balls via the top cushion but missed and Chapman ran to game on the next visit. There was just one anxious moment when Chapman´s break had reached 85. The balls were in top-of-the-table position and he was attempting a cannon with the rest when an announcement was made over the club's public address system. Chapman paused, re-addressed the cue-ball and almost missed the cannon.
This result put Chapman ahead in the match 104-100, but Hann came back to win the eight-ball section 4-1. Hann took the first three frames, with Chapman securing the fourth before Hann took the fifth to establish an overall advantage of 200-129. Chapman, who now needed to win the nine-ball 4-1, started well by taking the first game. But that was his last success as Hann won the next four to take the match 300-154.
In the other semi-final, Davis found himself trailing Ortmann 75-200 after the opening pool disciplines and faced an uphill struggle to recover ground in the snooker and billiards. A 100-44 result at snooker really wasn´t enough as it left Ortmann needing to score just 32 points at billiards for a place in the final. He opened with a break of 19 which contained two flukes, causing him to comment “I don´t know this game, but I love it !” He wrapped up the match shorty afterwards by reaching his required 32 points and an overall winning score of 276-207.
FINAL
Quinten Hann 352 Oliver Ortmann 255
There was some discussion regarding to order of play for the events in the final, which was only resolved shortly before the start. It was decided to begin with snooker, followed by the pool games and finishing with billiards. As the pool and billiard tables were set up in different rooms, this meant that spectators would be required to relocate twice during the match.
Hann began the snooker well, and was leading 88-26 after the first frame. Continuing with the second frame, Ortmann made a red from a four ball plant and went on to complete a break of 74, taking the game 100-88.
The Australian television producer failed to anticipate the start of the eight-ball, and the players were required to repeat their string for break, this time with the camera's rolling. With the match underway, Ortmann went three games up, but Hann came back to level it before Ortmann took the decider, giving him a 100-75 result. Hann won the nine-ball 4-2 and an interval was taken with the Australian leading 263-250. Hann, with his greater skill at billiards entered this event as favourite, requiring 88 points to win the match. An opening strategy of pot-white double-baulk eventually left an opening which allowed Hann to run to his required points with a break of 53 unfinished.
The presentation was made by Joy Lindrum, widow of the late Horace Lindrum, who additionally gave each of the finalists a copy of a small limited edition book chronicling the history of the Lindrum family over the last 150 years. The event is planned to be shown on Australian television in 27 weekly episodes, starting in September.
