Strachan U.K. Carom

During the period of the Strachan U.K. Professional Billiards Championship at the Radion Plaza, Sheffield, a parallel Carom competition was held. Most of the players entered but it must be said that, despite a first prize of £300, the game was not taken very seriously. None of the players had even seen a Carom table since playing at Kennilworth last September. The table seemed slower than at Kenilworth with the consequence that cannons involving two or three cushion were not quite so easy.

The version played was the, "Libre," i.e. anything goes. 1 point for a direct cannon with extra points being gained for the number of cushions involved. So, a cannon involving three cushions would score four points. If a player could hit the balls hard enough to score a cannon after the cue-ball had struck the cushions, say, twenty times, then that would score twenty-one and would be a pretty good shot if not an impossible one.

Michael Ferreira thus became Strachan. U.K. Carom Champion for 1991 though there must be some doubt as to whether or not the Indian player will count this as one of his greatest achievements. With the players having no practice Carom must be regarded as something of a lottery with the leading players thoughts and efforts being concentrated elsewhere.