UK PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Final - Barbican Centre, York (Monday 10th December 2001)
David Causier confirmed his mastery of the short-game format when he retained his United Kingdom billiards title with a nail-biting 5- 4 victory in the final against Middlesbrough rival Peter Gilchrist. The early rounds took place at the North Ormesby Institute, Middlesbrough between 2nd-4th December, with the final held over and played alongside the UK Professional Snooker Championships in the hope that some of their extensive television coverage would be given to the billiards. To this end, the short-game format was again adopted, although extended from the 50-up of last year, to best-of-seven matches of 100-up. The final being a best-of-nine match. This move was apparently in order that "spectators might see a hundred break", although this particular task was not made any easier by imposing a requirement for a baulk-line crossing between 40-49, and again between 80-89 in any single break. Faced with these difficulties only four centuries were actually made during the competition, two of them by Chris Shutt (vs. Sitwala and Gilchrist), the others being made by Ashok Shandilya (vs. Russell) and Peter Gilchrist (vs. Shutt).
The preliminary round was notable only for a marathon match between Brian Dix and Clive Everton which lasted 4 hours 15 minutes, eventually concluding at 11.00pm and 4-3 in Dix's favour. Not exactly in the spirit of short exciting matches suitable for television transmission, but nevertheless a satisfying result for Brian Dix, bringing his first win on the professional circuit.
The entry of the seeded players to the competition saw the results go much as expected, with the exception of Mike Russell's elimination by Ashok Shandilya. This match was closely fought throughout, but Shandilya managed to edge the deciding game 100-44 helped by a break of 77. Another match which went to the ninth game was the encounter between Chris Shutt and Dhruv Sitwala. Breaks of 54, 86 and 100 carried Shutt into a 3-1 lead before Sitwala recovered to level the match, but Shutt clinched victory with an 88 break in the decider. The total playing time for this match was just 1 hour 40 minutes, an average of just over 14 minutes per game.
Neither Shandilya nor Shutt survived the quarter-final stage, going out to Nalin Patel and Peter Gilchrist respectively, these two winners meeting in the semi-final. After taking the first two games, Gilchrist always looked to be in command although a tendency to dwell in the 90's caused some anxious moments for his supporters as chances came and went for Patel. The 4-2 scoreline not really reflecting the closeness of this match.
On the adjacent table, the semi-final between David Causier and Geet Sethi was another contest which went down to the deciding game. When Causier raced into a 3-1 lead it looked as though he may finish proceedings early, but Sethi, cheered on by a group of supporters from the Indian team, looked a transformed player as he took the next two games to level the match 3-3. Encouraged by this turn-around, predictions from the Indian contingent that Sethi would not only win this match, but also the Championship, proved somewhat premature. Under great pressure, Causier made the most of an early opening to construct a break of 84 and earn his place in the final by taking the last game with a 100-5 win.
Nine-thirty on a Monday morning is not the ideal time of day for players to produce their best form, but such was the schedule of the Snooker at the Barbican, that this was the only time-slot available for the climax of what was once the most important professional billiards competition next to the World Championship.
The sacrifices of location, timing and format in pursuit of television exposure, once again came to nothing, as no coverage of the event was given. The two finalists certainly did their best to produce an exciting spectacle, Causier coming from behind to set up a deciding game. In this, a break of 79, the highest of the match, brought him to the brink of victory at 86-2. Gilchrist battled back with 25 and 36 before Causier finally made the points he needed to win the game 100-65 and the match 5-4. He collected the trophy and a cheque for £5,200. It is difficult to see how the professional players can now advance their quest for TV coverage having twice been rejected, even as a "filler", by the networks in the UK. Without positive promotion of the game by the WPBSA the existing WBA billiards committee seem to have insufficient influence in such matters. There is still talk of introducing a striped ball to the professional game, but the ability to view the effects of side-spin would seem to be of limited value without TV close-ups and slow-motion replays.