The Kenilworth Cannon

No, it's not an Iraqi super gun The heading refers to the very first British Professional Carom Championship which was held September 14th - 16th at the Kenilworth W.M.C. The Championship was won by Mike Russell in a close finish against veteran player, National Coach, and well-known T.V. commentator Jack Karnehm.

Carom

Carom - English Cannon - is the Continental form of Billiards. It is played on a table measuring 10ft x 5ft which has no pockets. The cloths on these tables are very fast and are kept that way by means of an in-built heater. The balls, a red, a white, and a yellow, are roughly twice the size of the English ball. A noticeable feature of the table was its height which was two or three inches lower than an English table. Very tall players (Everton, Gilchrist) would be at a disadvantage. The continental players on the whole do not get as low over the cue as British players.

One-Cushion Carom

There are several versions of the game the most difficult being the three cushion game in which, after striking the first object-ball, the cueball must strike at least three cushions before making the cannon. The Kenilworth Tournament was played to the one-cushion format in which at least one cushion must intervene between the striking of the first ball and the completion of the cannon. There is also a version known as, "Libre," (Free) where any kind of cannon may be scored. The Professionals soon found that the type of cannon so easily scored in English Billiards was not always quite so easy under carom conditions as the effects of side and screw were quite different in these conditions. Those players who were quickest to adapt to the type of game played by the Continentals were the most successful. Wildman, Karnehm, and Russell being just about the best of the bunch. Jack Karnehm's Balls - one Billiards, one Carom The matches were of one hour's duration, and whilst all the players claimed to have enjoyed the game, an hour seemed over-long and half-an-hour or forty minutes might have been a better length game.

Russell becomes first Champion

The Final between Karnehm and Russell was entertaining in-as-much as both players demonstrated their knowledge of the Billiard table angles and ability to adapt these to the smaller playing area, both players brought of some great shots, and both made runs of eight and nine cannons which is much better than it sounds (Mark Wildman claims the record break with 10 cannons.) Russell won the game 67 - 63 (One point per cannon.) Karnehm was rather unlucky towards the end when some good efforts missed by a whisker. For those who have not seen this game played, rest assured that even with balls the size of ostrich eggs if there is room round then as often as not they will go round - just as in our game. Russell played with a continental type cue, rather like a pool cue, whilst Jack stuck to his trusty old English Billiards cue. Ludo Dielus of Belgium and Torkien Blondel of Sweden played a three cushion match and then gave a remarkable exhibition of trick shots and masses. It was all good fun and the game could provide a lot of entertainment in between the serious Billiards - and, if I remember rightly, that's what they used to say about Snooker!

The Kenilworth Classic: Russell Doubles up

The Carom Tournament was played in conjunction with the first Kenilworth Classic Professional Billiards Tournament. The format was one-hour games and the competition was just about as hot as it could possibly be. Russell, Gilchrist, Charlton, Wildman, Sethi, and Ferreira all played. The only notable absentees were Norman Dagley and Robby Foldvari though the Australian was there practicing for the British Open and World Matchplay preliminary rounds and didn't seem to quite know why he hadn't got himself into the Classic and the Carom.

The Kenilworth Classic

Of the new Professionals only David Edwards made any impression doing well to beat Mark Wildman before losing to Ferreira in the Semi. The Semi-final between Russell and Sethi was very one sided. Russell had a brilliant game averaging nearly 50 whilst Sethi had little to go at. The Final was something of an anti-climax.

Russell's best efforts were 84 and 65 whilst in 20 visits to the table Michael Ferreira could score only 158 points though there was an extended bout of safety play at one stage - unusual for two such brilliant stroke-makers. Just as the game seemed to be in the final stages of dying of boredom Ferreira gathered the balls at the spot-end and made a lovely break of 121 failing at a relatively easy in- off the white when he might have perhaps played the red ball. There was just time left for Russell to score 5 so the Indian might not have made it had he carried his break on; but it was a great effort leaving Russell the winner by just 25.

John Barrie

During the Kenilworth week, players, officials, and spectators were delighted to see John Barrie who had come with Mark Wildman to see some of the play. John Barrie was a highly talented player whose career was dogged by ill-health. He was born Barry Smith but changed his name to avoid possible confusion as, at the time, there were already two Smiths active in Billiards (Willie and Sydney.) Barrie was U.K. Champion in 1946 and 1950, and figured prominently in the U.K. as late as 1981. He appeared in the Final of The World Professional Championship in 1951 losing 6,681 - 5,057 to Clark McConachy. Barrie demonstrated some of his old skill on the practice table at Kenilworth and is said to have made a big break.

Carom

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