CIU Individual Billiards
The draw for the preliminary round of the CIU National Championship has now been released and is as follows:
| F.H. Page (Swanley Junction) | v | J. Hedley (Maidenhead Ivy Leaf) |
| I. Stevenage (Nat. Ass. of Railway R&S) | v | B. Hall (Swanley Junction) |
| M.H.E. Chapman (Selly Oak Inst.) | v | A. Mellor (Crewe Pioneer Anglers) |
| M. Faddes (Crewe Pioneer Anglers) | v | N. Rewhorn (Unicorn Social) |
| P. Johnson (Monks Road WMC) | v | G. Hope (Crewe Pioneer Anglers) |
| I. Arrowsmith (Crewe Pioneer Anglers) | v | P. Shelley (Ball Green WMC) |
| J. Ingleby (Bradley & Colne Bridge) | v | M. Downing (Crewe Pioneer Ang.) |
| D. Townend (Oatlands Mount WMC) | v | P. Pearce (Main Line SC - Leeds) |
| D. Kell (Acklam Garden City Social) | v | J. Sinclair (Northern Social) |
| R. Beckham (Redcar WMC) | v | G. Charville (Acklam Garden City Social) |
| J. Hartley (Acklam Steelworks) | v | A. Mackinder (North Ormesby Inst.) |
| L. Lagan (North Ormesby Inst.) | v | S. Best (Billingham Social) |
| A. James (Throckley Union Jack) | v | A. Nolan (Western Social) |
| P. Davis (Chippenham West End Club) |
| M.A. Lowndes (Crewe Pioneer Anglers Club) |
| A. Fry (Mudeford & Dist. Mens Club) |
The twenty-nine entries for this year´s Championship were slightly up on last year (27). Some credit for this must go to Crewe Pioneer Anglers Club who risked some severe fixture congestion if all of their six entries had been drawn at home in the first round.
The line-up is certainly not short of previous title holders, these being Alf Nolan (1953, 1956, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1989); “Jack” Sinclair (1958, 1960); Darren Kell (1997, 2000); Neal Rewhorn (1998) and Tony Mackinder (1999). A number of runners-up are also hoping to go one better, including Peter Shelley (1990, 1993); Jack Hedley (1996); Lee Lagan (1999) and Geoff Charville (2000).
The North see two newcomers in Richard Beckham and John Hartley. The latter is already well known on the Amateur Billiards Circuit, but Richard Beckham is making his first venture into big-time billiards. Already recognised as one of Teesside´s best snooker players he is also very useful at the three-ball game, although he rarely chooses to display his skills. His first round draw against last year´s runner-up is quite a big hurdle, but he will not be short of confidence and with the assistance of a home draw Richard Beckham makes his first may be capable of a shock result. venture into National billiards The pick of the draw appears to be that of the current Champion, Darren Kell, who has been paired against ex-champion Jack Sinclair. Now well into the “Veteran” category, Sinclair, in earlier days, was one of the best red-ball players in the country. He also established quite a reputation on Teesside—where he lived for several years—before returning to his native Northumberland. Consequently there will be a lot of interest in the game which should provide a fascinating contrast in styles.
CIU Casualty
We regret to learn that Peter Miller, who has been the figure-head for CIU Billiards for as long as anyone can remember, has suffered a mild stroke which has kept him away from work for some months.
The latest news we have is that Peter continues to make good progress and is expected to return to work in the New Year. All of us at the magazine extend our best wishes for his complete recovery and trust that he will soon be back in his accustomed position.