Professional billiards seems set to receive its biggest ever injection of cash. It is reported that a deal has been made with the management of India's Radiant Sports which will be worth in the region of £250,000 over the next three years. The World Championship should be held in Calcutta from September 22nd-29th, and there will be a further three-event Grand Slam series. The qualifying matches for the World Championship, the last Grand Slam of the season, and the first Grand Slam of next year are likely to be held in Sheffield starting on the 2nd of September (Check!) It is a pity that enthusiasts in England will be denied the opportunity of seeing the World Championship (1993 is likely to be in Australia.) However, he who pays the piper calls the tune. There are (at the last count) six Indian Professionals, all of them pretty good players and one of them with claims to be the best in the world at the moment. One wonders how long it will be before they will lay claim to having the qualifiers in their own country - it is, after all, their money. In the meantime billiards followers must be thankful for small mercies, we do at least have the chance to watch Sethi and Co. once a year.
The WPBSA billiards section held its A.G.M. in Sheffield on June 7th. The present Committee was re-elected with - Mark Wildman (Chairman), Clive Everton (Vice-Chairman), Bob Close, and Des Heald. Mark Wildman reports that a decision was taken to introduce a baulk-line rule into the short game format. Broadly speaking the cue-ball would have to cross the baulk line once every 100 points if the break was to continue past the hundred mark. The rule will need to be carefully drafted so as to avoid any ambiguity. The idea is, of course, to make it that little bit harder to run out in one break and (hopefully) produce more close finishes. There were nine unfinished breaks of over 100 (5 x 150s) in the recent Sethi-Foldvari final. Whether such a rule will make very much difference remains to be seen. It might make a difference to the number of people who are prepared to travel to watch the qualifying games! Fans on the whole want to see big breaks. 150 is already the maximum possible in the short-game format and there may be less of even these.
The Editor of the BQR circulated the members of the Billiards Committee with a consultation paper concerning the future of the Mini-Prix. The Mini-Prix cannot function without sponsorship of some kind and this is becoming increasingly harder to get. If any reader is interested in seeing the full text of the paper then sufficient to call BQR and a copy will be forwarded. Basically the suggestion was that the WPBSA could sponsor a six event Pro-Am series for a top-up sum of around £3,000, thus providing the basis of a regular professional circuit. Fewer amateurs are competing, preferring the ABC. It was pointed out that over a period of 21 events from June '89 to April '91 professional players entry fees amounted to 9.2% of the total entry whilst they had accounted for 79% of the prize money. Clearly it is in the professionals' interest that the Mini-Prix should survive - and not only for reasons connected with prize money. There are other considerations, match practice and publicity being but two. The proposition was turned down hence the doubts concerning the future.
The following is an extract of a letter received from Arthur Johnson:-
"Due to the very disappointing low entry and also due to the WPBSA's refusal to sponsor the Mini-Prix events, I have decided that Aughton will no longer sponsor the Middlesbrough Mini-Prix. We will however continue to sponsor the Widnes event."