WORLD PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Centurion Hotel, Midsomer Norton, Radstock (18th - 24th May 2002)

The Players

Australia
Robby Foldvari
Belgium
Martin Spoormans
England
Paul Bennett
David Causier
Brian Dix
Clive Everton
Peter Gilchrist
Mark Hirst
Lee Lagan
Dave Nichols
Gary Rogers
Mike Russell
Peter Sheehan
Chris Shutt
Ian Williamson
India
Pankaj Advani
Arun Agrawal
Devendra Joshi
Manoj Kothari
Alok Kumar
Shushrut Pandya
Nalin Patel
Geet Sethi
Ashok Shandilya
Dhruv Sitwala
Thailand
Rom Surin

Mike Russell re-established himself as the undisputed head of his profession when he defeated Peter Gilchrist in the final of the World Professional Championship on Friday 24th May to take the title for the fifth time. Gilchrist had put a temporary stop to Russell's reign last year, but on this occasion had no answer to the scoring power of the World No.1, who throughout the competition, looked to be a class above his rivals.

One entry who failed to put in an appearance was the talented World No.7 Roxton Chapman. Players arrived at the Midsomer Norton venue to receive the sensational news that he would no longer be competing as a professional having joined the Royal Air Force!

In the absence of Chapman there were still twenty-six players who took part in this championship, including several new members, showing an encouraging demand for professional status. These should have included the Australian Billiards Champion, Matthew Bolton, who had confirmed his membership of the WBA but did not enter, claiming to have been given insufficient notice to make the necessary travel arrangements. Hopefully Matthew will display his talents on the professional circuit next season.

The event had been hastily switched to the West Country town after fears that the original venue in India could have been unsafe due to the continuing unrest in that country. Although it finished as a stylish showcase for top-class billiards, the championship started with controversy and an element of farce.

The farce centred around Lee Lagan, entering his first tournament as a professional, who had sent in his Application Form and entry fee at the beginning of April. To check that all was well, he telephoned the WPBSA administration at Bristol a few days later and it was confirmed that it had been safely received. However, on 11th April, the day before the deadline for entries, Lagan had a call from Tournament Director Alan Chamberlain who asked whether he intended to take part as he had not received his details. More phone calls to Bristol revealed that the application, previously acknowledged as received, had mysteriously "gone missing".

With the Bristol office adamant that they must receive another application by the stipulated deadline Lagan was now faced with a major problem. Usually relying on the traditional postal system for communication, he had to arrange for a duplicate entry form to be sent to him by Email via David Causier. However, he was unable to print the attached document and they had to journey across Middlesbrough to use the facilities of John Hartley. This done, the form was again completed and faxed back to Bristol, who still refused to accept the entry unless it was accompanied by payment of the appropriate £75 fee. As Lagan does not hold a Credit Card, and with the 5.00pm deadline looming, it was now necessary to find someone who would pay the fee for him by this method. Having tracked down a helpful friend who was prepared to do this, he again rang Bristol to give them the details, only to be told they had found his original application, and cheque! World No.1 Mike Russell had a word of advice for the rookie professional. "I always send my mail to Bristol by registered post" he said, showing the value of his long experience in dealing with the Governing body.

The controversy arose principally because of the last minute change of venue for the Championship. Rom Surin, who had been advertised in the draw as competing in the Indian qualifiers was now included in the English group. Additionally, while the main body of the qualifiers took place in Harrogate in April, Surin's match against Paul Bennett was scheduled for the day before the main competition at Midsomer Norton on Friday 17th May. It was stated that this was done to save Surin addition travel expenses, should he qualify. Although it was noticed that the same courtesy was not extended to Martin Spoormans who was obliged to travel to the Harrogate qualifiers from his home in Belgium and would have been required to make a second trip had he won through this group.

These arrangements may have suited Surin, but Bennett, who had already booked absence from work on the originally advertised dates, was less than pleased with the change. Not only would he be required to make the long journey from Teesside, but it was pointed out that should he win the match, his next game was schedule to take place after the week-end. This meant either an expensive stop-over, or a repeat journey two days later. The dispute was eventually resolved by arranging Bennett's match for the Monday, so that the winner would play their next match on the same day.

English Qualifying Group (Harrogate)

The majority of the English qualifying group was decided at the Manhattan Club, Harrogate, over 23rd-24th April. Lee Lagan made his debut against Bradford's Mark Hirst who more than matched the Teesside player over the first hour of their match, establishing a lead of 232-205 during this period. However, from this stage Lagan dominated. A break of 287, which opened a sizeable lead, could have been more except for the artificial hazard of the baulk-line crossing. His third attempt at this manoeuvre left his cue ball in the baulk area with the balls otherwise perfectly positioned for continuation. Even so, this break was the highest of the qualifying group and helped him to a two hour total of 848 and an average of 33.9. Both of these statistics also being by far the best performances seen at Harrogate.

Lagan then needed to defeat Clive Everton to book his place in the draw at Midsomer Norton. Everton, who was taking leave from his BBC commentary duties at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, put up one of his better performances in recent years, starting with a nice 77 break he held a 111-103 advantage after 30 minutes. Lagan was still struggling with the baulk-line crossing as runs of 91 and 95 both ended when his cue ball found the baulk pocket. However, these were enough to ease him into a comfortable lead, and although not at his best, a late run of 111 clinched an ultimately easy win.

Dave Nichols was the other debutante at Harrogate, but had less success than Lagan. Having had the misfortune to lose the tip of his cue a few hours before his opening match against Gary Rogers, Nichols was compelled to play with one which was newly fitted. This may have contributed to an undistinguished game which soon became slow and defensive. However, he demonstrated that he was not totally devoid of luck by scoring a fluke with his very first shot as a professional! The match eventually went Nichols' way 379-268, but although again starting with a fluke against Peter Sheehan in the next round, he found this opponent be a much tougher prospect. Even so, a much better performance and a break of 85 helped him to a good position, holding a 509-449 advantage with just 25 minutes remaining. However, at this stage, it was Sheehan to took the initiative and Nichols was unable to keep up with the seasoned Widnes professional, now in his fifth year on the circuit, who secured a narrow 30 points win.

Ian Williamson was the third qualifier to take his place in the main draw with a win over Martin Spoormans, who had previously recorded a narrow victory over Brian Dix.

Indian Qualifying Group (Mumbai)

The Indian qualifying stage took place at the Gymkhana Club in Mumbai over 22nd-23rd April. In his debut match as a professional, sixteenyear- old Pankaj Advani, who is perhaps India's brightest prospect, could have hoped for an easier draw than National Champion, Ashok Shandilya. Still not quite in the same class as Shandilya, he lost this encounter 645-551, but having progressed to the professional ranks after just six years of playing the game, he is surely destined for greater things.

Another young and improving player, Dhruv Sitwala, booked his place with a comfortable win over Arun Agrawal, while Devendra Joshi ran up the highest two-hour aggregate in a 858-394 result against Alok Kumar.

Manoj Kothari, whose constant experiments with technique and stance have seen his game deteriorate substantially over recent years, managed to scrape a narrow 30 point win over unknown rookie Shushrut Pandya and take the last qualifying place from the Indian group.

Main Competition

Midsomer Norton

The match to find the eighth and final qualifier was the re-arranged fixture between Paul Bennett and Rom Surin which took place on Monday 20th May at the Midsomer Norton venue. This pair had met in the final of the 1999 IBSF Championship in Ireland just prior to them both embarking on their professional careers. On that occasion Surin, competing under his alternative identity of Praprut Chaithanasakun, put up a brilliant display to outclass Bennett with a top break of 471 and an eight-hour match average of 40. Although he has never achieved this standard as a professional, nobody expected that he could perform so badly as he did in this match, failing to register a single break over 50, as Bennett swept to an easy win. Surin was obliged to return to Thailand without a penny in prize-money while Bennett guaranteed himself a minimum of £1,000.

The main competition had actually begun two days prior to the qualifying match, proceedings starting at the uncommonly early hour of 9.15am with the defending Champion Peter Gilchrist taking on Lee Lagan. With both players struggling to produce any significant scores, Lagan, who made the best of the early exchanges, had opened up a 40 point lead when Gilchrist suddenly awoke with consecutive contributions of 221 and 97. This helped him to an advantage of 681- 473 at the interval. Although Lagan picked up his game in the afternoon session, Gilchrist still scored the more heavily of the two, and although neither produced a century during this period, Gilchrist won comfortably enough at 1298-770.

Nalin Patel had a subdued start against Ian Williamson, but in a match dominated by safety exchanges, established an interval lead of 389- 238. Bearing in mind the pedestrian pace at which the match was played, this was a more significant advantage than it may otherwise have seemed, and Patel duly hung on to his advantage to win 762-638. This win ensured that Patel retained his position in the top eight of the rankings for his fifth successive year.

Just as the Patel/Williamson match produced only yawns from those spectators brave enough to endure it, the contest between Peter Sheehan and Chris Shutt gave the starkest contrast in excitement and drama. Sheehan took an early lead and for some time looked as though, unbelievably, he would cruise to an easy victory, holding a lead of 461- 155 after 90 minutes of the first session. However, Shutt came back in the last 30 minutes and with consecutive runs of 62, 80 and 193 finished the first two-hours barely a hundred points in arrears. The match resumed the following morning, with Shutt continuing his charge, breaks of 70, 120, 91 and 78 taking him to the front 917-758. To his credit, Sheehan responded in great style to a come-back which would have disheartened a lesser player. Helped by breaks of 84, 62 and 76, he regained the lead at 1113-1016 and then closed down the game. In a tense and nervy conclusion, Sheehan's tactical play now afforded little opportunity for Shutt, whose best chance allowed him to compile a run of 38 unfinished, still leaving him 17 points short of his target the end. A disappointment for Shutt, but a worthy victory for Sheehan who was probably overdue a success against one of the leading players.

Geet Sethi looked sharp in his match against fellow-countryman Ashok Shandilya. In the first two-hour session he averaged 45.7 to establish a healthy 646 point lead at the interval. With breaks of 95, 90 and 141, Shandilya then fought back to reduce the deficit to 350, but this was as close as he came as Sethi then settled the match with a run of 295. This was Sethi's highest break under the baulk-line rule for the last three years.

Opening his account in the Championship, Mike Russell showed no signs of rustiness as a break of 225 at his second scoring visit, gave him immediate control in his match against the 28 year-old Indian prospect, Dhruv Sitwala. With little coming back from his opponent, Russell cruised to a 737-336 advantage at the end of the first session. Then, thrilling the audience with a display of exquisite billiards he added consecutive contributions of 134, 186, 83, 197 and 288, averaging 64.3 for the second session, and completing an easy victory.

David Causier started in similar fashion to Russell, a run of 213 coming at his fifth visit, but thereafter he was given a much tougher examination by Devendra Joshi who proceeded to match him break for break. But try as he may, Joshi could never quite manage to get within a hundred points of Causier, the Teesside player eventually finishing winner by a 133 point margin.

Paul Bennett was given a couple of hours rest between the completion of his two-hour match against Rom Surin and the start of his four-hour encounter against Robby Foldvari. A slow start from both players saw them level-pegging after thirteen visits each with the referee not required to count above 22 for either player. Then Foldvari opened a gap with a run of 148, his highest of the match. This signalled the start of a familiar exhibition of safety tactics from the Australian, which his opponents find so frustrating and the spectators so tiresome. It is ironic that Foldvari is known for his ability to play fast and attractive billiards to at least as high a standard, should he choose to do so. However, the tactics were successful on this occasion as Bennett could find no answer, and despite late breaks of 187 and 51 in consecutive hands, was never in the match and Foldvari went through comfortably 783-513.

Roxton Chapman's unexpected absence gave a walk-over to his scheduled opponent, Manoj Kothari, who being the weakest of the four Indian qualifiers would surely have had little chance of reaching the quarter-finals under any other circumstances.

The quarter-finals were played over two days with the first session of each match commencing on Tuesday 21st May.

Peter Gilchrist soon pulled clear of Nalin Patel who struggled to put together a break in double figures over the first two hours of their match. The following day Patel played a great deal better, an improvement which may have been related with the table having been stripped down and recovered overnight following a complaint regarding its level. He averaged 39.3 for the second session, but Gilchrist also stepped up several gears, averaging 55.8 over the same period, making a top break of 205 supported by three more centuries. The result was an easy win for the defending Champion by almost half the game.

Peter Sheehan was never in front against Geet Sethi who highlighted an otherwise lack-lustre first session with a break of 171. Looking to be well in control Sethi was then given some anxious moments as Sheehan charged back with contributions of 140, 107 and 148. Adding a run of 87 midway through the second session he was now only 33 points adrift. But after this surge of scoring, neither player was able to strike a decisive blow and the match ended with Sethi having restored his advantage to 180 points.

There was an intriguing clash of styles when David Causier, perhaps the fastest and most unorthodox player on the circuit, met Robby Foldvari, one of the slowest and most deliberate. Although they could only manage one century break each on the opening day, it was Causier who went into the second session with an advantage of 231 points. The Australian made the start he needed when a run of 96 recovered some of the deficit early after the resumption. However, Causier did enough by punctuating the long periods of tactical play with two centuries, and although Foldvari added a run of 151 he did little else, Causier progressing to the semi-finals.

Manoj Kothari found Mike Russell far too much of a handful. Sporting a new cue, the result of yet further experimentation to rediscover his lost form, the 1990 World Amateur Champion struggled to put together a break in double figures. In fact, other than a break of 46 early in the second session, his highest single contribution in four hours was just 27. Meanwhile the World No.1 was running in a series of big breaks. A 285, 162, 149 and 100 came in the first session (average 45.2) and then opening the second session at a blistering pace, three more centuries helped him to add over 600 points to his score in the first hour. The result was a foregone conclusion long before the end which saw Russell progress to a meeting with David Causier in the semi-finals, and Kothari return to India with a £2,000 reward for his brief contribution to the Championship.

The semi-finals were extended to five hours, both being played over two 2½ hour sessions on 23rd May. Peter Gilchrist wasted no time in seizing the initiative as he compiled 104 from Geet Sethi's break-off shot. Adding a run of 217 three visits later, and 135 soon after that, he powered into a lead of over 400 points. Sethi never recovered from this disastrous start and could do no more than try and hang on as Gilchrist forged further ahead reaching the interval with an advantage of almost 700 points. Sethi's first century (139) came at the start of the second session and although he managed two more by the end of the match (163 & 108), it was far too little as Gilchrist extended his lead with consistently heavy scoring to simply outclass his illustrious opponent, recording an excellent match average of 45.3

Mike Russell gave the spectators a little time to settle in their seats before starting the show, scoring just 27 points in his first ten visits (having failed to trouble the Marker at all with his first seven). He then unleashed a truly magnificent effort of 581, easily the highest break of the competition. Causier, who had been left unchallenged to carve out a lead of 137 points before this, suddenly found himself in a match. Russell soon followed his great break with consecutive efforts of 133 and 201, completing the first session with 287 and 55 unfinished to average 65.1. Causier had no answer to this onslaught, and now trailing by nearly a thousand points at 1301-349, was facing a second session almost superfluous other than for exhibition purposes. This was duly delivered as Russell took his unfinished break to 210 adding no less than three more double centuries during this final period. Causier contributed to the entertainment with breaks of 162 and 224, but was never in with a hope of recovery.

There was no doubt that the players who met in the final had been clearly the two most outstanding during the course of the Championship and a keen contest was anticipated. Three two-hour sessions were arranged for the day, the first starting at 10.00am and the last concluding at 9.00pm. Unlike his slow start against Causier, Mike Russell was immediately out of the blocks with contributions of 114, 189 and 223 in his first four scoring visits. The latter break, unusually for Russell, being played all round the table and occupying 32 minutes. All this left Gilchrist trailing by over 400 points and although he did his best to limit the scoring opportunities thereafter, he would never be closer than this to his Teesside friend and rival. Russell, who had been slowly increasing his advantage, struck again when he ended the second session on 376 unfinished. Taking this to 421 on the resumption, he had extended his lead to over a thousand points, effectively settling the match. If the contest was over, the entertainment wasn't, as the capacity audience were treated to a final session which was full of big breaks. A double century (224) from Gilchrist, and runs of 98, 198 and 106, were countered by 196, 86, 81 and 85 from Russell. Gilchrist, who had been playing the final session only for pride in performance averaged 46.9 for the last two hours, but the honours went to Mike Russell for the fifth time in his career.

In the last hundred years, only Rex Williams (7) and Tom Newman (6) have won more contests for the Professional Championship. At the moment it looks to be short odds that Russell, with his unrivalled mastery of the floating white technique, will exceed even these performances before the end of his career. Russell received £13,500 from the total prize fund of £45,000 which included £1,000 for his high break of 581. Gilchrist collected £7,500 as runner-up.