Of all the "stars" in the billiard world at the present time, none is attracting more attention than that remarkable youngster, Tommy Newman. Three years ago he was practically unheard of outside his native district in Lincolnshire and no one expected then that he would ever reach even his present eminence. But Tommy was fired with an ambition, which all the persuasive powers of his parents could not subdue.
In spite of the fact that his father had planned out a business career for him, Tommy Newman would heed no callings but that of the game he loved —the game to which he would steal away from parental guardianship and devote the whole of his spare moments. One could almost say that he was predestined to become a great cueist, for, as a mere child he could control the balls in a manner which astounded many professional players.
Improvement came more rapidly when he was able to play exhibition games with several of the better-class professionals about three years ago, but it was not until that most capable of all tutors, John Roberts, took him under his wing that Tommy mastered those methods of all-round play which enable him to string together his 200 and 300 breaks.
His successes during the present season indicate that even yet he has not finished improving, and many people assert that this lad- he was only 20 years of age last month—will develop into the greatest billiard player the world has ever known.
I know of only one young player who is likely to keep pace with him, and that is the "mysterious Willie Smith," of Darlington, who gained second position in the London Tournament two seasons ago. I remember well the day on which Willie Smith first jumped into fame. It was at the time that George Gray was scoring his huge breaks off the red ball immediately after his importation into this country from America. You will remember that Gray simply ran rings round the best of our English professionals, defeating them as he liked.
Gray was then backed to play a match at Middlesbrough with the Darlington youth, who was at the time employed as a compositor in the offices of The North Star. The match was timed to start at Hinton's Billiard Rooms, Middlesbrough, at 7.30, and at six o'clock Smith was able to leave his machine and rush to catch the train at the Darlington Station. He had hardly sufficient time to change his clothes, but he managed to reach his destination just in time to meet the great Australian.
The details of the game may be fresh in the minds of some of my readers, so I will merely state that Smith played Gray at his own game—with the red ball—and not only defeated his great opponent, but did so by more than the start which Gray was conceding.
That was the first defeat which Gray suffered in this country, and it made people inquire who this mysterious Smith was. You could imagine how proud his South Durham friends were. At any rate, from that time Smith had no occasion to look far for financial support, and when he forsook his trade, he had as his backers one of the wealthiest firms of commission agents in the North of England. In fact, he still has as much money behind him as any of the first-class professionals. And but for his success against George Gray he might still have been plodding along at his linotype machine, content with playing little exhibition games round the countryside on old-fashioned institute tables.
Thus, I have briefly sketched for you the careers of the two youngsters who are racing for the championship of England. Their development will be interesting to watch.
Of the games which these two have played, I believe that Smith holds the upper hand. Only last week he finished a match of 16,000 up against Newman at Newcastle, and won by nearly 3,000 points. Probably we shall see them struggling together in the London Tournament next year.