NORTHERN OPEN BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP
North Ormesby Institute, Middlesbrough
29th November - 2nd December 1999
The Players and Seedings
Australia Robby Foldvari (4) England Paul Bennett David Causier (3) Roxton Chapman (8) Bob Close (14) Brian Dix Peter Gilchrist (5) Mark Hirst Mike Russell (1) Andrew Sage Peter Sheehan (11) Chris Shutt (6) Mark Wildman Rex Williams (16) Ian Williamson (12) Lee Lagan (Am) Tony Mackinder (Am) India Arun Agrawal (15) Balachandra Bhaskar Manoj Kothari (13) Devendra Joshi (10) Nalin Patel (7) Geet Sethi (2) Ashok Shandilya (9) Russia Ashot Potikyan Thailand Rom Surin (Am)
The professional tour arrived in Middlesbrough on Monday 29th November with both Joe Grech and Mike Ferreira still absent. In addition, Mark Wildman withdrew due to prior commitments in his new role as Chairman of the WPBSA. This prevented what would have been an interesting encounter with the outgoing Chairman, Rex Williams, who he was scheduled to meet in the first round. Special "wildcard" entries had been granted for English Amateur Champion, Lee Lagan, and National CIU Champion Tony Mackinder, both of whom also represented North Ormesby Institute in various local Leagues.
In addition to rescheduling the opening matches to take account of absentees the early rounds were also reduced from the advertised 750 up to 500 up. This was based on an analysis of scoring at the Harrogate event which convinced Tournament Director, Stuart Bennett, that he would be unable to complete the fixed points matches if they were played over the longer run. (Holding the event in a Social Club meant that all matches had to be finished by 11.15pm)
| R. Surin 121, 118, 97, 54 | 500 | (26.3) | L. Lagan | 185 | (9.3) |
| T. Mackinder | w/o | J. Grech | scr |
| R. Surin 98, 88, 78 | 500 | (26.3) | P. Bennett 69, 59 | 303 | (15.2) |
| T. Mackinder 50, 63unf | 500 | (12.2) | B. Dix | 204 | (5.0) |
The last meeting between Surin and Bennett—in the final of the IBSF World Championship—resulted in a comfortable victory for the Thai player. With a target of just 500 points, Bennett must have felt he was in with a real chance to reverse that result. However, he was always struggling to keep in touch with Surin who drew steadily away and won comfortably. Ian Williamson, Surin´s next opponent, was an interested spectator, taking his first look at the Thai player. Brian Dix held Tony Mackinder for the first hundred points of their match, but thereafter the CIU Champion had matters all his own way and never looked to be in danger of losing.
| B. Bhaskar 158, 51 | 500 | (15.2) | A. Agrawal 66, 63, 50 | 397 | (12.0) |
| B. Close 54, 50, 56unf | 500 | (15.6) | M. Hirst 80 | 339 | (10.3) |
| R. Surin 137, 63, 56 | 500 | (20.0) | I. Williamson 116, 68 | 399 | (16.0) |
| T. Mackinder 81 | 500 | (13.5) | M. Kothari | 297 | (7.8) |
| D. Joshi 135, 59 | 500 | (17.9) | A. Potikyan | 135 | (4.7) |
| A. Shandilya 90, 85, 53, 191unf | 500 | (45.5) | A. Sage | 67 | (6.1) |
| P. Sheehan | w/o | M. Ferreira | scr | ||
| R. Williams | w/o | M. Wildman | scr |
A solid performance by Bangalore based B. Bhaskar gave him a notable victory over Arun Agrawal. A break of 158 by Bhaskar was countered by runs of 66, 63 and 50 in consecutive visits by Agrawal, which gave him a nine point advantage within 200 of the required target. From this stage however, Bhaskar proved the more consistent and finished a winner by 103 points.
Surin continued his winning ways with a fine victory against that tough competitor Ian Williamson. With nothing between the players at the half-way mark, a break of 137 gave Surin a lead he would keep until the end.
Manoj Kothari's form has taken a nose-dive in recent years, as he continues to experiment with his technique. His quest still looked a distant goal in his match against Mackinder where he didn't even show the glimpses of form he had displayed against Paul Bennett at Harrogate. Mackinder started with a break of 81 at his first visit and thereafter was given all the opportunities he needed to take the scalp of the 1990 World Amateur Champion.
After a cautious start, Ashok Shandilya warmed up for a fourth round meeting with Geet Sethi by producing an impressive display against Andrew Sage—his last six visits producing 459 points with runs of 53, 90, 85, 40 and 191 unfinished.
| C. Shutt 101, 90, 88, 88, 58, 51 | 750 | (20.3) | R. Williams 70, 56, 53 | 448 | (11.8) |
| P. Gilchrist 210, 92, 75, 64, 56 | 750 | (32.6) | T. Mackinder 98, 64, 50 | 462 | (19.3) |
| M. Russell 245, 122, 82, 69, 62 | 750 | (41.7) | B. Bhaskar 123 | 293 | (15.4) |
| D. Causier 195, 100, 91, 78, 61, 54, 78unf | 750 | (26.8) | P. Sheehan 152, 128, 60 | 435 | (15.5) |
| A. Shandilya 103, 91, 81, 76, 70, 50, 144unf | 750 | (25.9) | G. Sethi | 191 | (6.4) |
| R. Chapman 262, 168, 112, 84 | 750 | (50.0) | B. Close 99, 58 | 248 | (15.5) |
| N. Patel 101, 93, 86, 67, 53 | 750 | (21.4) | R. Surin 135, 78, 67, 53 | 501 | (14.3) |
| R. Foldvari 101, 70, 133unf | 750 | (15.6) | D. Joshi 238, 53 | 702 | (14.3) |
Chris Shutt was struggling to keep pace with Rex Williams for the early part of his match, at one stage training 190-165; but in the space of seven visits he produced breaks of 88, 101, 90, 88 and 51 to take him clear of the ex-World Champion. Another run of 58 sealed what was eventually a comfortable victory. After the game, Williams admitted that he found it very frustrating to play so far below the standard which he could produce in his prime, and was contemplating leaving the professional circuit.
Nobody gave Tony Mackinder a realistic chance of beating Peter Gilchrist, although after he had put together consecutive breaks of 50, 98 and 64 to lead 326-216, it began to look a distinct possibility. However, this seemed to spur Gilchrist into life as he responded with a fine run of 210. Immediately following this with breaks of 92 and 52, he put the game beyond the reach of the CIU Champion, who nevertheless must be well satisfied with his performance in this tournament.
Mike Russell entered the competition in characteristic style. His first scoring visit against Bhaskar was a run of 245 and from this point he proceeded to dominate the game. Bhaskar provided little in the way of opposition, a break of 123 when nearly 500 points behind, being by far his highest in the match.
Peter Sheehan's ability is held in high regard amongst the top seeded players, although perhaps due to being deprived of a "warm-up" match in the previous round, he started his game against David Causier rather slowly. Not so Causier, whose first two scoring visits produced 54 and 91. Adding breaks of 195, 61, 78 and 46, he opened a 558-142 lead before Sheehan struck back. Seemingly unperturbed by the deficit, he coolly put together breaks of 152 and 128 at his next two visits, drawing to within 140 points of the No.3 seed. Not wishing to leave any further chances, Causier resorted to some effective safety tactics which produced just two chances. From the first of these he made a break of 100, and from the second he ran to game with 78 unfinished.
Geet Sethi has a dismal record at Middlesbrough and he didn't improve on it with his latest appearance. A break of 110 made up the majority of his final score of 191 with his second-best break being just fourteen! Although Sethi was sadly out of touch, nothing should be taken away from Shandilya's performance. His first visit produced 103 and his last an unfinished run of 144. In between he made a string of good breaks and was probably as amazed as everyone else by the margin of his victory.
Fresh from his victory at Harrogate, Roxton Chapman produced a series of big breaks to overwhelm Bob Close. Heading for a substantial defeat, Close produced late contributions of 99 and 58 to make the score a little more respectable.
Rom Surin made a good showing against Nalin Patel who is one of the best of the Indian players, keeping level with him for the first 280 points of their game. Then Patel, with breaks of 86, 93, 46 and 101 opened a gap of almost 300 points, and, despite a run of 135 by Surin, scored consistently heavily to maintain this advantage to the end. The format of this competition had been specifically introduced to counter a perceived advantage by "slow" players in time-limit matches. However, what may suit the players doesn't always help the organisers, and Tournament Director Stuart Bennett was given some problems by Robby Foldvari in his match against Devendra Joshi. In a slow-paced game Foldvari carved out a lead of 174 points before Joshi took the initiative with runs of 238 and 53. With the evening sessions looming, the match ground on, well past its allotted time, until the score stood at 702-618 in favour of Joshi. At this point Foldvari defied the odds and put together a fine 133 unfinished to clinch what had appeared to be an unlikely victory in 4½ hours.
| M. Russell 292, 188, 187, 113, 98, 58 | 1000 | (62.5) | N. Patel 106, 99, 77, 58 | 449 | (26.4) |
| D. Causier 189, 119, 106, 97, 85, 75, 71, 68, 61unf | 1000 | (40.0) | R. Chapman 281, 84, 67 | 567 | (22.8) |
| C. Shutt 214, 168, 121, 117, 72, 57, 52unf | 999 | (25.6) | A. Shandilya 68, 57, 56 | 523 | (13.4) |
| P. Gilchrist 292, 127, 111, 98, 88, 72 | 1000 | (41.7) | R. Foldvari 122, 100, 98, 82, 54, 54 | 671 | (26.8) |
Russell and Patel started their quarter-final match 40 minutes late, having had to wait for the completion of the Foldvari/Joshi epic. Not seeming to be perturbed in any way by the delay, Russell again started impressively, his first scoring visit being a break of 187. Patel never really looked like posing a threat to the World Champion, although on occasion producing some stylish play. Russell piled on the points with a devastating sequence of 58, 113, 118 and 292 to take him within 50 points of game. Patel then added his highest of the match—106—to improve his final total, but the result was never in doubt.
Roxton Chapman had every right to expect new-found respect from his fellow professionals after his victory in Harrogate last week, but in David Causier he encountered someone who was simply determined to reverse the result of their last meeting, and with the confidence that he could do just that. After some tentative opening play, Chapman unleashed a tremendous break of 281 full of the wonderful touch-play which characterizes his game. Causier however, has some experience of coming back at Chapman, and proceeded to do so with runs of 85, 68, 75, 106 and 119 within the space of six visits. Now finding himself 164 points in arrears, Chapman responded with a break of 67, but the fluency which marked his double-century was absent. Now he was missing unexpectedly and frequently, but still managed to put together another run of 84 to bring him back within 100 points of Causier. At his following visit he looked set to produce another good contribution as he secured perfect top-of-the-table position, but a tremendous "kick" on a run-through cannon stopped his ball in its tracks and handed perfect position to his opponent. Causier made no mistakes until he had taken his break to 189, and now relaxing, added runs of 97 and 61 unfinished to complete a satisfying victory.
Ashok Shandilya struggled to reproduce the fine play of his earlier rounds as Chris Shutt established a lead of 515-131 with breaks of 72, 121, 168 and 117. There followed an extended period of inactivity until Shutt opened up again with a break of 214 and looking to finish the game, followed this with a run of 52. This ended when Shutt—still requiring one point—was faced with a red just above the centre pocket and his cue ball in hand. He tried to complete the match with a "grandstand" pot red at high speed along the side cushion, when an easier option would perhaps have been a screw in-off to the middle pocket. He failed in his ambitious attempt which rattled the jaws of the top pocket. Shandilya, who felt that he should have been afforded more respect from his opponent, promptly conceded the match with Shutt's score still standing on 999. The referee later reported Shandilya to the Tournament Director for "refusing to continue with the match".
Starting at ten minutes early at 7.50pm, the encounter between Peter Gilchrist and Robby Foldvari proceeded at a leisurely pace until "time" was called at 11.15pm with the scores standing at 918-644 in favour of Gilchrist—the players being required to continue at 10.00am the following morning. The scoreline at the "interval" could have been a lot lower, but was greatly accelerated during five consecutive visits by Gilchrist when he made contributions of 111, 48, 127, 88 and 292 to take him clear of his tough opponent. Continuing the next day, Gilchrist completed his victory in just two visits, which included a run of 72.
| C. Shutt 302, 138, 134, 122, 109, 74, 68, 66, 75unf | 1250 | (44.6) | D. Causier 158, 156, 126, 108, 60, 56, 50 | 901 | (31.1) |
| M. Russell 463, 217, 103, 95, 94, 76, 62 | 1250 | (48.1) | P. Gilchrist 100, 98, 97, 70, 53, 52 | 649 | (25.0) |
Although now based in Peterborough, Mike Russell prefers to be known as a Teesside player, which made the semi-finals an entirely local affair. There was a great deal of interest in the contest between Chris Shutt and David Causier, both are amongst the most likely candidates to succeed Mike Russell as the game´s No.1 and are currently engaged on a campaign to establish supremacy between themselves. On this occasion it was Chris Shutt who came out on top, a fine break of 302 taking him to a lead of 523-292 approaching the mid-point of the game. Consistent high scoring followed from both players, but Causier could not close this gap, Shutt completing the match with runs of 109 and 75 unfinished to win by 349 points.
Mike Russell was once more in devastating form against Peter Gilchrist. His first four scoring visits produced 94, 76, 463 and 103 leaving Gilchrist trailing in an impossible position at 736-74. Sticking to his task, Gilchrist still produced a creditable performance, but another break of 217 by Russell merely underlined his supremacy.
| M. Russell 661, 444, 92, 84 | 1500 | (60.0) | C. Shutt 115, 111, 68, 51 | 591 | (23.6) |
Mike Russell looked strangely tentative at the start of the final against Chris Shutt, an early break of 84 being by far the best he could muster as his opponent crept to a 301-195 advantage. The situation was then changed dramatically as Russell moved into top gear, producing a technically excellent break of 444. From this point Russell always looked in control. Breaks of 115 and 68 by Shutt were countered by a run of 92 from Russell, who then, in true theatrical style, waited until the end to produce the break of the tournament. As the local League activities finished, the audience was steadily increasing, and those amateur exponents who managed to arrive in time were treated to an exhibition of top-of-the-table play. Russell was even obliging enough to lose position every 100 points or so, in order to demonstrate how it should be recovered—baulk-line crossings merely forming part of his normal routine. When seeming as though he must surely run to game, the break terminated at 661. Failure at a run-through in-off into the treacherously tight top left-hand pocket had left him just 23 points of his required total. A few visits later and Russell completed his victory and collected prize money totalling £4,700, which included £200 for the highest break. Chris Shutt received £2,200 for his efforts. Presenting the trophies, Geet Sethi paid tribute to Mike Russell acknowledging him as the best of today´s players.