BRITISH OPEN BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP

North Ormesby Institute, Middlesbrough (28th November - 1st December 2001)

The Players:

Australia
Robby Foldvari
England
Paul Bennett
David Causier
Roxton Chapman
Brian Dix
Clive Everton
Peter Gilchrist
Mark Hirst
Gary Rogers
Mike Russell
Andrew Sage
Peter Sheehan
Chris Shutt
Ian Williamson
India
Michael Ferreira
Devendra Joshi
Nalin Patel
Geet Sethi
Ashok Shandilya
Dhruv Sitwala
Thailand
Rom Surin

The professional season opened at North Ormesby Institute on 28th November with a revival of the British Open Championship. This competition has not been held since March 1999 when Mike Russell beat Chris Shutt in the final at Liverpool Billiards & Snooker Club.

Twenty-two of the WBA members turned out for this running of the Championship, representing four Nations-England, India, Thailand and Australia. It had been expected that the Australian Open Champion Matthew Bolton would make his professional debut this season, but despite his recently stated intention to join the WBA, no application had been received.

With virtually no promotion or advance public information, it was hardly surprising that even in the billiards hot-bed of Teesside, attendance's were sparse throughout the event. The two special Riley's match tables, reserved for professional billiards, were erected in the club's function room. These tables are a legacy from Rex Williams' period in charge of the WPBSA, having specially cut pockets designed to be a "test of billiards". They would also provide an interesting test for several of the Indian contingent, several of whom had just returned from the IBSF Championships in New Zealand where they had set a string of record performances.

The first of these players in action was Dhruv Sitwala who had made a personal best break of 463 in reaching the quarter-finals of the IBSF event. However, he put up a disappointing display against Paul Bennett. A run of 62 was his best effort as Bennett, with a late break of 85, edged out the new Indian prospect 489-395.

Michael Ferreira made a welcome return to professional billiards.

Making a welcome return to competitive billiards was Michael Ferreira. He looked to be in control of his match against Mark Hirst until consecutive contributions of 58 and 96 by the Yorkshireman first caught, then passed the ex- World Amateur Champion.

Finishing strongly, Hirst completed a 524-318 victory in< good style. Ferreira, who had been suffering from back problems which kept him out of the professional game, co- incidentally had last appeared in the previous staging of the British Open in 1999. He commented after his game, "I wish I could play like I used to for just one match".

Rom Surin put up the best performance of the preliminary matches, a break of 172 helping him to a 650-234 win over Brian Dix. Ian Williamson and Clive Everton both struggled to overcome Andrew Sage and Gary Rogers respectively. Williamson in particular was critical of the tight pockets of the match table.

The drama of the second day took place off the tables, as Tournament Director Alan Chamberlain was rushed into hospital with a burst appendix. Having undergone an emergency operation, everyone was relieved to hear that he was expected to make a full recovery. However, his involvement with both this tournament and the following UK Championship was ended, and senior referee Bob Sconce took over his duties.

Geet Sethi (left) and Rom Surin prior to their first round match at Middlesbrough.

Back in the playing arena, Mike Russell made his entrance to the competition with a first round match against Paul Bennett. Most of the early opportunities fell to Bennett and with Russell struggling to make a break in double figures he would later regret not making more of these chances. With the scores standing at 169-130 to Bennett, Russell was suddenly transformed as he put together a massive run of 414. Then, lapsing back to his previous form, incredibly added just 42 points in his next 17 visits!

Although Bennett made a determined effort during this period, he never quite looked capable of closing the gap, and the match was settled some time before Russell played out the last minutes with a run of 71, winning by 215 points.

Chris Shutt looked to be in fine form as he opened his account with 71 at his first opportunity against Mark Hirst. Continuing to pile on the points he overwhelmed Hirst with an avalanche of scoring, his total of almost a thousand points being crowned by a magnificent contribution of 305.

Rom Surin made sure that Geet Sethi's dismal record in Middlesbrough remained intact, as he caused the upset of the tournament by eliminating the recently crowned IBSF Open Champion at his first hurdle. Surin had started well, building up a lead of almost a hundred points, but when Sethi recovered to overtake his opponent and establish an advantage of 150, the destiny of the match looked a foregone conclusion. But the impassive Thai, helped by a break of 101, closed the gap to just 14 points with 10 minutes remaining. At this stage, another contribution of 95 gave him an unassailable lead and secured an improbable win.

Another surprise was the elimination of Robby Foldvari by World No.9 Ashok Shandilya. The match was closely fought until a spell of three visits produced 51, 88 and 62 for Shandilya, opening a lead of 380-155. Although Foldvari fought back with breaks of 61 and a late 70, Shandilya held on to complete a 432-357 victory.

The remainder of the first round matches went much as expected. Roxton Chapman gave an immaculate exhibition of top-of-the-table in a 195 break against Clive Everton, breaking down only when his second baulk-line crossing left him out of position. Peter Gilchrist gave Peter Sheehan virtually no chances in a sound, if careful performance. Gilchrist, in common with several other players, seemed to slow his game markedly in respect for the difficulty of the match tables. In fact, only David Causier seemed unaffected by the uncommonly tight pockets as he progressed at full speed, coming close to a double century in his 742- 442 victory over Devendra Joshi.

David Causier appeared untroubled by the tight pockets of the match tables.

Mike Russell's "hot and cold" form continued in his 781-457 quarter- final victory over Ashok Shandilya. Three visits in rapid succession which added 200, 64 and 320 to his score accounting for three-quarters of his total points.

An early break of 165 was the signal for Chris Shutt to take control of his match against Rom Surin. Shortly afterwards, he added runs of 102, 98 and 234 in a devastating spell of seven visits which extended his advantage from a marginal 278-214, to a distinctly more healthy 765- 304. From here, there was no way back for Surin and although he kept up with Shutt thereafter, he never appeared likely to make serious inroads into the deficit, finishing the two hour period 464 points in arrears.

David Causier was no less impressive as he comfortably disposed of Nalin Patel's challenge. Causier's first scoring visit yielded 114, and quickly adding 176 and 104, he raced into an early lead at 455-90. Patel was never in the game after this and another big break of 181 by Causier later in the match sealed an impressive 860-420 victory.

The reduction in the speed of Peter Gilchrist's game was never more evident than in his match against Roxton Chapman. At one stage Gilchrist appeared to have matters well under control. Helped by an early break of 189, he had established a lead of 217 points going into the last 40 minutes. However, Chapman fought back, and with runs of 81 and 98 closed remorselessly on the World Champion. With Gilchrist taking even more care over his shot selection, time eventually ran out for Chapman, his great fighting finish ending a tantalising 12 points short. The relatively low two-hour score of 397-385 gives an indication of the pace at which the match was played.

WBA Chairman Peter Gilchrist presents Mike Russell with the British Open Trophy.

Mike Russell once more came from behind to snatch what had, at one stage, seemed a highly unlikely victory against Chris Shutt. After 27 visits and over an hour's play, the World No.1 was trailing 516-92. His average of 3.4 at this point must surely be some sort of record in itself for professional play. During this period Shutt had put together breaks of 80, 107, 93, and 87, all failing after losing position on the baulk-line crossing. He was left to reflect on his inability to continue any of these breaks as Russell suddenly decided to show the form with which he is more commonly associated. First he notched a run of 94, then two visits later, a massive 414 (31 minutes). Compiled almost entirely at the top of the table he executed three perfect baulk-line crossings, but the fourth went astray, and ultimately led to the termination of the break. The immaculate style with which he compiled this break was in stark contrast to his earlier attempts, where he hardly looked capable of reaching double-figures. There is perhaps no greater testament to Russell's temperament that he is capable of lifting his game so dramatically when it matters most. The break had put Russell three points in front with six minutes remaining, and having concluded with a double baulk, the pressure was now on Chris Shutt to force an opening. His attempts only resulted in another chance for Russell, who played out time with 63 to complete a remarkable match 695-619.

The other semi-final between David Causier and Peter Gilchrist was closely fought for much of it's duration. The turning point came with 40 minutes remaining when Causier put together consecutive contributions of 165, 173 and 48. Two visits later he added a run of 91, the sequence taking him from a deficit of 78 points to an impregnable lead of 380, the final score being 775-437 in his favour.

David Causier started the final briskly. Making 88 at his first scoring opportunity, he raced into a 366-23 lead after just 30 minutes including additional contributions of 75, 99 and 55. Russell stirred himself into action a little earlier than in previous rounds, ominously reducing the deficit with a top of the table exhibition amounting to 191 in the space of 15 minutes. Causier responded with his biggest break of the tournament, 292 (19 minutes). Throughout this effort, Causier rarely held top of the table for long and his all-round play was studded with skilful recovery shots. The first session ended with another big break of 242 from Russell, although he was favoured by a fluke cannon, with the finest of contacts, at 70. Even this still left him trailing 809-685 as probably the best session of billiards in the competition ended, producing averages for the players of 44.9 and 38.1 respectively.

Faced with an easy opening shot on his return for the second session, Causier speculated during the interval that he needed to "make 200" from the position. He actually only made 59, but adding 135 without reply still managed to secure the start that he wanted. However, with 80 minutes remaining and trailing by some 270 points, Russell swept into the lead for the first time with another big break of 302 (21 minutes) compiled entirely at the top. Immediately following this with consecutive visits of 188, 69, 93 and 43, Causier suddenly found himself trailing by 300 points. Now suddenly looking a tired player, Causier missed several opportunities to reduce the deficit leaving Russell to complete his victory 1,599-1,318.

In his closing speech, Russell paid tribute to Causier's play and expressed his relief to have come though such a tough match, although he could equally have made the same remarks about several of his earlier opponents. Russell collected £5,500 for his win, including £500 for his high break of 414 which he made against Paul Bennett and then equalled against Chris Shutt.