It is with regret that the B.Q.R. has to report that the B.& S.C.C Under 16 Billiards Championship will no longer be held - for the foreseeable future at least. The Under 19 will continue to be held. Boys who would have played in the Under 16s may of course enter the Under 19s but will have little chance of making much progress. Furthermore, travelling expenses and meal allowances will no longer be paid and the entry fee has been raised to £7. 50. Last year's event attracted only 26 entries and the B.& S.C.C's motives are understandable. But it is a great blow to boys billiards. To journey, say, from Widnes to Middlesbrough for the Teesside and then on to Bradford for the National was a great adventure for a 12 or 13 year old. This Magazine has no wish to join the long list of those who criticise the B.& S.C.C but the Boys might have been saved and might have been expanded. Perhaps it will reappear in a different guise. Previous winners of this event include, Walter Donaldson, Laurie Steeples,, Sidney Lee, Fred Davis, Rex Williams, Marcus Owen, Mark Wildman, Clive Everton, Willie Thome, Ian Williamson, David Taylor, Eugene Hughes, Stephen Naisby, Peter Gilchrist, and Mike Russell. The columns of this magazine are at the disposal of the B.& S.C.C. for comment.
The 1990 Australia V New Zealand Billiards Test Match was played on May 24th at the Kooyong Club, Melbourne. This match is played for the Lion Brown Trans-Tasman Shield which was retained by Australia by 6 games to 3. Australian No.1 David Collins recorded his highest tournament break of 271 in beating New Zealand Champion David Meredith. Joe Minici recorded his personal best of 163 against Meredith in a game which saw Meredith make 4 centuries and average 40.0.
A look at the scores and breaks shows this to be closer than 6 - 3 would suggest.
Professional Billiards tournaments are to become 'Open' in the sense that anyone who wishes will be able to play in them. A player must first register as a member of the Professional Billiard-Players Association, registration fee is estimated at £100. Tournament entry fees are likely to be £50. The new registration fee will not, of course, apply to those players who are already members of the W.P.B.S.A. It is a moot point as to how many players would abandon their Amateur status and pay for the pleasure of meeting (say) Russell, Dagley, or Williamson, in the World Championship. There are a few players who might welcome the opportunity to join the Professional ranks in this way but much depends on what competitions there would be to play in.
It seems that the World Professional Championship will not take place in July as last year. The date of the Championship is as yet unknown but it is hoped that there will be a championship before the end of the year.
Following on last years highly successful match in Killiney, involving England, Northern Ireland, The Republic of Ireland, and Belgium, (England winning at the last gasp,) the event will be repeated this year on the 13th and 14th of October at the Beaconsfield Club, Derby. The event will be sponsored by David Rees Enterprises and the likely England Team will be Martin Goodwill, Peter Shelley, David Rees, Jim McCann, and Mark Hirst. Details of Session times, teams, format, etc, will be available from this Magazine towards the end of September, Stamped Addressed Envelope please.