On Thursday 12th March, I travelled by train and taxi to Liverpool to watch the opening day's play in the Strachan World Matchplay Billiards Championships. Conditions were first class and I was made very welcome at Liverpool Billiards and Snooker Club.
The format was the best of seven games, each being 100 up. The audience was quite sparse, probably due to the format, or the fact that the higher seeded players, in the main, came into the competition at a later stage.
A lot of matches finished early, leaving plenty of time to fill in. Having never seen the Indians play before, I took the opportunity of watching Geet Sethi and co. on the practise tables. It was an education and experience for me to watch them, but the highlight of all was their frankness and open manner. Freely discussing all aspects of the game with just an onlooker, made the day for me.