INDIVIDUAL BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP

Four of the players who had been scheduled for action in the preliminary round of the CIU National Billiards Championship, were favoured with walk- overs as their opponents conceded their games. Of those matches which were played, the 1999 Champion, Tony Mackinder, set the high-break target with a run of 183. Adding another of 58, it was not surprising that he defeated his opponent, John Hartley, by a sizable margin.

Another good Northern Area match saw newcomer Richard Beckham put out last year's finalist, Geoff Charville. Early breaks of 63, 51 and 50 by Beckham gave him a lead of almost 200 points, and despite Charville replying with runs of 85 and 62, he held his advantage to the end, winning 500-390.

Veteran player, Alf Nolan, showed that he can still play a bit, producing a break of 80 in his tie against Tony James. However, this proved to be insufficient as the greater consistency of James saw him win by 118 points.

Lee Lagan had two century breaks in a comfortable win against Steve Best, while both Darren Kell and Neal Rewhorn came close to the century mark with runs of 94 and 93 respectively. Both of these players also going through without undue concern.