News from the Editor's Chair
The IBSF World Billiards Championship is scheduled to take place at Bangkok from 30th September to 7th October 2000. The championship will be a completely open tournament played on the short format of a set number of games of 50 points up. We understand that the final will be played to the best of 21 games up. A kind of three card brag with balls! Certainly not a game to be taken seriously by any experienced billiard player, and certainly not World Championship style billiards. What can we expect next in the quest for the almighty dollar?
One might have thought that the ruling bodies of the game may have learnt something from Carlow last year. The huge success in terms of entry, skill, camaraderie and organisation was an experience proud to be associated with, and a Championship well worth imitating. A real credit to the organising ability of the hitherto billiards inexperienced Republic of Ireland Association. We look forward in hopeful anticipation to a return to traditional billiards in New Zealand in 2001 and wish the NZBSA every success in its endeavours. The EABA will continue to push for the reinstatement of the World Amateur Billiards Championship and will defend the rights of all those players who wish to play the game for personal achievement and its enjoyment value only.
Another successful season completed on the English scene, Philip Welham, the new Champion, adds his name to the Roll of Honour, and unusually, this time, his is not a name from the Teesside camp. A new boy's Champion, Peter Gamblin, from Lincolnshire, and a revival in the Teesside Boys Billiards League under the competent management of John Hartley all augers well for the future of billiards. Junior names to watch in the future are Matthew Peaker from Huddersfield and Billy Bousfield, Middlesbrough, both these young men have excellent temperaments for the game and both assure me that they mean the business.
The season's last ABC ranking tournament at Stoke took place too close to our publication date for inclusion in this issue, but the completed ranking list when it appears with these details in the next issue, will show two new names in the top eight places; Richard Lodge of Bradford and David Rees from Derby. Both players will be invited to play in forthcoming International matches.
John Smith, Worcester; Bill Andress, Exeter; Peter Shelley, Stoke, and myself, travel to New Zealand in October for a good-will tour playing billiards around the North and South islands while visiting friends and relatives at various locations. This is an ideal opportunity to cement our already good relationships with our Antipodean friends and extend our International Billiards connections. John Smith is acting as the tour manager and he is receiving very sound advice and local guidance from my counterpart in New Zealand, Ray Habgood, the Editor of The New Zealand Billiards Letter. As well as being what promises to be a superb holiday experience this trip will be a very useful opportunity to prepare the way for what I am sure will be a very good English entry to the 2001 World Championship.
In closing I would say how much the EABA committee appreciate the support that the subscribers give to the Amateur Billiard Player. Subscriptions are growing steadily and financially we just manage to keep our noses in front. We would like to receive more enquiries from advertisers. If you have anything to tell or anything to sell, write to us, we are only too pleased to help.